Skyla S. Hearn: Wk 6@The Woodson/Harsh

This week at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library and Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature I began to fulfill the dual role of archivist and archival reference librarian. I provided archival reference services to Professor Brian Dolinar, a scholar of African American literature and culture from the Depression era, who teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prof. Dolinar dropped by the Harsh to work on edits and needed to look up some details. I accompanied his research by providing the requested Illinois Writers Project papers materials. I enjoy pulling boxes from the stacks!

Professor Dolinar is currently utilizing the Illinois Writers Project: "Negro in Illinois" Papers archival collection to complete his book entitled The Black Cultural Front: Black Writers and Artists of the Depression Generation. This Illinois Writers Project study of the African American experience in Illinois from 1779 to 1942 consists of draft chapters, research notes, newspaper extracts, oral history transcripts and draft essays. All the work was destined for the “Negro in Illinois,” an unfinished book on which more than 100 researchers from the Illinois office of the Federal Writers Project collaborated. The study was supervised by Arna Bontemps and Jack Conroy. Among the writers who participated were Richard Wright, Fenton Johnson, Margaret Walker and L.D. Reddick.[1] The Illinois Writers Project is the most utilized archival collection at the Harsh Research Center. The online finding aid can be found at:
http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/iwpfindingaid.php

"The Black Cultural Front: Black Writers and Artists of the Depression Generation examines the formation of a black cultural front by looking at the works of poet Langston Hughes, novelist Chester Himes, and cartoonist Ollie Harrington. While none of these writers were card-carrying members of the Communist Party, they all participated in the Left during their careers. Interestingly, they all turned to creating popular culture in order to reach the black masses who were captivated by movies, radio, newspapers, and detective novels. There are chapters on Hughes’s “Simple” stories, Himes’s detective fiction, and Harrington’s “Bootsie” cartoons."[2]  

In Spring 2013, we plan to conduct an author's talk and book signing event that will highlight Professor Dolinar's publication.  

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[1] http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/woodson-regional/p/FeatHarsh/#exhibits
[2] http://briandolinar.com/