A Library That Reflects the Community in Bronzeville
South Side
In 1931, the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library opened to the public in Chicago’s Bronzeville/Grand Boulevard neighborhood. Head Librarian, Vivian G. Harsh, saw a specific community need for materials reflecting the community she served. She began collecting books and materials relating to the Black experience in America. The collection became known as the “Special Negro Collection” and was visited not only by prominent artists, writers and intellectuals but also by people from the neighborhood.The Hall Branch also served the community with programs, lectures, forums, and events regularly attended by neighbors. Children flocked to Hall Branch where they were shepherded by children’s librarian, Charlemae Hill Rollins, who led the charge demanding positive portrayals of African Americans in children’s literature. Harsh remained head of the Hall library until her retirement in 1958.
In 1942, the Special Negro Collection expanded with the gift of the WPA’s “Negro in Illinois” documents. The “Negro in Illinois” was part of the larger Illinois Writer’s Project, but the research was cancelled before it could be published in book form. The documents represent thousands of hours of research dedicated to uncovering the history of Black Illinoisans, from enslavement to the Great Depression. When the project was cancelled, the documents were donated to Harsh for safe keeping and are the cornerstone of the now-named Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago’s Washington Heights neighborhood. The “Illinois Writer’s Project: Negro in Illinois” Papers, including research notes, oral histories, and original manuscripts, were recently digitized and are now widely available, expanding Vivian Harsh's vision beyond the neighborhood.
