Chicago Public Library is turning 150 and we have stories to tell. Library for the People six-episode limited series podcast takes us on a journey – from building a library after the Great Chicago Fire to reimagining what libraries could be. Along the way, we will meet different Library People: librarians, patrons, authors, and so much more. Each episode will bring a mix of voices and stories found in Chicago’s 80+ branches that make Chicago Public Library a city treasure and a leader in the space.
Read a transcript of episode 2.
Take a deeper dive into episode 2 of the Library for the People podcast, focusing on community.
Vivian Harsh
1932, opening day of the George Cleveland Hall Branch.
Vivian G. Harsh seated at her desk with the Special Negro Collection pictured behind her, early 1930s. Source: George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, photo 019
Vivian G. Harsh, the first Black branch manager at Chicago Public Library. Her first branch manager position was at Hall Branch.
1952, Charlemae Hill Rollins, children’s librarian at Hall Branch.
Children’s librarian Charlemae Hill Rollins with Willard School’s first grade class, circa 1955.Source: Charlemae Hill Rollins Papers, photo 008
Photograph of Charlemae Hill Rollins (librarian and children’s author) and a poem from Gwendolyn Brooks dedicated to Rollins upon her retirement from Hall Branch.Source: George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, photo 047 and box 3/folder 14
Letter to American Library Association bulletin editor Lucile DeaderickSource: Charlemae Hill Rollins Papers.
Letter from Langston HughesSource: Charlemae Hill Rollins Papers
Charlemae Hill Rollins, CPL librarian, trailblazer in literacy advocacy and activist.
Hall Branch exteriorHall Branch Library Archives Photo 021
Patrons gather at Hall Branch.
Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes at Hall Branch, undated.Source: George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, photo 146
Author Richard Wright and Vivian Harsh, Hall Branch opening day, January 1932.(Source: Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, Photo 018)
Harsh and Rollins helped turn Hall Branch into a resource and a haven for Black intellectuals and artists, such as Langton Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Richard Wright, who went to Hall for research.
ASNLH 1935 meeting; Woodson is seated on the far left, next to him is CPL librarian, Vivian G. Harsh(Source: George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, Photo 044, Harsh Research Collection, Chicago Public Library)
Carter G. Woodson(Source: Marjorie Stewart Joyner Papers, Photo 805, Harsh Research Collection, Chicago Public Library; photo by Scurlock Photographic Studios)
Woodson Regional Library
Harsh Archives addition/renovation groundbreaking, June 27, 1996Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library Archives
Woodson Regional Library, renovated in 2018, is home to the Vivian G Harsh Research Collection, which is the largest African American history and research collection in the Midwest. Woodson is named after Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History.
Locations Discussed in This Episode
Read More
- Staff List: Library Legacy: Celebrating Charlemae Hill Rollins
- View the George Cleveland Hall Branch Digital Collection
- Read Vivian G. Harsh: Librarian of the Chicago Black Renaissance
- Read CPL Librarian Charlemae Hill Rollins Championed African Americans in Children’s Literature
- Read The Chicago Origins of Black History Month
- Read CPL Receives $2 million Grant from Mellon Foundation for the Renaissance Project
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