above what i found is an interest in rare books have increased in my shop there is 1,000 books but in my inventory there are 5,000 my specialize in four different areas bibles from the past 500 years classic santa literature and early american history. one of the items they enjoy collecting from well-known historical figures and one of the more popular items is the book of mormon it is housed in a nice protective clamshell this is a copy of

the book of mormon and if you open it up to the title page you can see his signature i enjoyed early american history this is one of the most important books in their original copy of common sense printed in in philadelphia if you go there today you will see this is where to the common-sense was printed it was a little bit like a pair of what it is quite rare and printed three times and it has an interesting story because thomas paine wanted to have

this printed with the proceeds to buy the soldiers mattins after went through three printings they had a falling out so thomas paine allowed anybody to print it that is one reason it is so well-known because they have that designation to have a high saturation of any book printed in america but my favorite find is a bible that is the author of "lord of the rings" i have this copy of the bible matinees protective case made for it but it was a very simple bible in the middle of writing llord of the ring

this is a recognizable signature but what most interested me is the fact he irritated the book to make comments in the margin in comparing it to the seven different versions of the bible with their translation of the original greek so the bible that he had when he was writing lord of the rings just said is worth over 10 million there is a few that are worth over 1 million apiece but that it is the starting level what i

enjoy so much it is the treasure hunt and to realize they are different with a different feel in a different look for a different story within a story. this is the perfect place to keep the books to be humidity controlled with no uv light. this book has a big story but looking at it you woolsey it is in latin and could be overlooked unless you see the symbol it has a great story but you have to know history and understand

the history of the time period to know who owned the book. you have to do some detective work if you see this is a crown to make you think loyalty. they think that is french royalty but why the two sides? because the person was married this would be a queens copy in the kenyan was lee 15 this is the seal of marie antoinette you may not recognize the book as it is in latin but if he knew that seal you could identify this very few of hers have survived because it was absorbed but this would have

been a book she with carried with her that each year there were given new copies that is why it is currently not in the french national library. finally another fun book, a shakespeare died 1616 than the complete works were first printed only about two o hundred 50 of these copies have survived and even before you open the book has

a story to tell with the working class with the complete works the shakespeare is open to romeoville and juliet i will collect books for the rest of my life. people last what will you do when you retire? so to track down their rare books here never know if that made in inscription that could increase the value of the book so i

always do this i never get tired and alex 42 every day. those bookshops are closing in records but 250 have closed in the past 15 years is important to continue to survive with is a meeting place is and it keeps history alive

spirit there is a great deal of nudity in the image of a number of men would put their hands between their legs which was forced

standing which was the of his technique of rumsfeld said he stands at his desk called day bed has nothing to do with the standing desk it was torture. >> the strained relationship during world war ii was the subject of major oil hamilton's book commander-in-chief that examines the tactical frustrations between fdr and winston churchill to to booktv for the complete schedule. >> query are we?

began though logia of the zero library located in chicago. >> what is special about this library? >> besides me? it is the vivian harsh collection the first african american branch manager of the public library she is my mentor and a few started the negro collection we now call a harsh research collection teeseven what is the negro collection? >> it opened in a black community in 1930 to zero for the first branch library in that community to was the first branch manager and had a mission to create a place or space for people to come and learn and to continue their love of learning how to learn to read your

discover or what they needed to know how to do to that end she would bring in special books or people to talk about with currency vince in the city and around the country and it was fantastic. >> where were they physically? >> that was unique for that time when it was the only black library in 1932 remember we had a huge influx of african americans fleeing the south coming to chicago.

because of babette that chicago was the place to come to have freedom of choice to have better education and leave the lynch mob for opportunities and because the defender was legal in the south -- was illegal as started 1905 bin of porter's would drop off the defender is ago to the south it was heavy on visual because we talk about a population that literally was not very literate so he advertised they would jump the trained they believe in the middle of the night and come to chicago. >> what did vivien harsh collect?

>> black history. black newspapers anything to speak to the black experience when you steadied vivian harsh the historian and never wrote the yet left a big imprint she was a socialite you see her empty parties but under the tutelage of the others she became a social activist so she started to go to the schomburg looking at other collections to make heard negro collection through the grant she did get the money to make the trips she started to collect books on black history there were not many at that time that she had been in a bookcase in her office that she called the special negro collection and from what people tell me

today you had to prove you were worthy to read the books that is the nucleus of the collection. >> how big is it today. >> we have 4,000 feet of a manuscript collection may be 40,000 books it changes we have one of the largest periodical collections of the united states because we started collecting 1932 so we have every issue of ebony and jet and negros digest of negro publications the chicago defender on microfilm and also a magazine collection that didn't last but we do have a few additions several left. >> and now we're going to look at defender items is is still published?

>> it is a weekly now started weekly in 1905 as a weekly 1940 it went daily after abbott died then now racing goes back to weekly but it is still very popular in very influential and heavily read in the black community. >> who uses the harsh collection? period we're all been seven days a week celebrity can use it but our constituents are from cradle to the grave i truly mean that it doesn't matter if you are black-white if because all races come we have international from france, japan, great britain, they come to use the collection in this case

researchers come to use the collection the use the manuscript collection then write their books talking about the rise of gospel music in chicago from the early church figures you have a professor right now at northwestern doing a book on the black chicago renaissance which i am happy to say we have really promoted that because everybody talks up the harlem renaissance the ones that died down the money dried up under fdr is so those writers came to chicago to finish their research in their work. >> actually that was 1937 or

35 through the early '60s. >> by the way are we located right now in an african-american neighborhood in chicago? >> yes we are. remember fdr started the project for the humanities for people to go back to work and to have writers and photographers and camera people and musicians they would go to the black community it would be open to them to get their story we still do that today the back in those days african-americans going into the community where it is your grandfather come from they get that firsthand story of the migration story they let people like charles

remember this outside community art center is still probably one of the few that was created under fdr so chicago has a lot what is this about? >> he looks at the economy during that time period and what didn't work can spins a lot of time to explain the rise of the black press people like johnson were the chicago defender, he does a lot of things hall the economy works during the black migration period during world war i and world war ii it is fantastic work one thing that people work is the king's work is a lot

of what people know about that this book is about policy yesterday's lottery. >> and racketeers it was a lottery? vinik yes. we legalize it. [laughter] in those days it was a numbers rely remember i even know what it was they said could industry to put $0.5 on this or that somebody else would turn the wheel to give out the numbers that is how people got the number -- the money if they won now the state decided to legalizes and now we have a lot of today. >> people had to take care their children. >> how did you end appear at the library? >> i started at the

rehabilitation institution i was getting tired of the job so live back to college and got my master's of library science. >> where is the connection? >> this collection was a lease in the black community i always lived in bronze vessel so i was there when it moved here i followed it because everything you needed to know you to find with the harsh research collection the most exciting new books people talk about it so they always saw me in that assisting curator said what he become a library and? he said the you are always out here so believe better not the next time i cannot hear he had an application to rosary college she made me fill out right then and there he mail that i was

accepted when i graduated he said day the call to get the interview? he said the seven interview for you he did a was interviewed i was interviewed monday hired the next i started december 23rd and have never regretted. >> and innuendo vacation december 28. [laughter] >> holiday i was very busty unlucky. >> not at this physical side of the chicago public library since 1986. >> kottich your role with a harsh collection? >> is the dual role because i am a library and by an archivist by passion and choice soy kerry both roles to does help the patient must i'm also the archivist to love to dig in other people's business.

[laughter] if somebody said i really interested in richard wright? could you help them? >> definitely. >> now you were headed towards the main exhibit gallery retried to do to exhibits per year and since you were coming out we decided to leave this out for you parker u.s. to richard wright everybody knows richer rated the -- richard wright and angry black man he lived in chicago for a while before he went to new york he spent more time in new york and chicago had such a huge influence on the chicago renaissance writers during that period because they moved back and forth so reclaim him from here is the

picture of the two it is an autographed copy of native son to her. >> was she white? >> know she was just very light of lot of the leaders were light door would pass for white. >> is that relevant? >> that means they created no animosity of the society around them. >> this is a first draft of blackpool way. >> the type being a and his rating in the editing. . .

in the south somewhere, probably teenagers then they decided they are going to go and swim in a swimming hole. one of the boys said mr. holliday doesn't like that and the other one said no let's go in the trash. so they took off their clothes and were swimming and all of a sudden they heard something and they saw a white lady standing there. she had come up upon them unexpectedly. they knew they were not supposed to be there so they jumped out of the water and two of them started to run away.

she starts screaming. they never say in the book if it's her husband or who put a white guy came along and shot two of the boys and they died. two of them wrestled the man and he showed no fear and said give me the gun and it discharged. he killed the white guy and ran home. it's about how for young men go from an idea what child to an angry young man because now you are running for your life. >> the >> they wrote this book in chicago. >> yes in 1936.

it's part of a later publication, uncle tom's children. >> the white man, taller and heavier. he dropped the clothes, jumped upon his back. >> you have to love the language. but even then you could see the anger because a lot of people were feeling the disconnect that they didn't have the same opportunity. >> is there any large enough population to buy the book and understand where he was coming from quite? >> it was a university from 84th

and michigan and that means the public was invited in. that was the home place. in that sense, yes. for them to be invited to an office. >> most african-americans here in the chicago area, what kind of jobs did they have? >> maids, selling th telling th. remember at this point in time they had the infestation so it's

not a good job for picking cotton because they have the machines that can do it. remember after world war ii the sheriff came in which meant i have to borrow money to rent your land. by the time it came in i owe you my whole paycheck. >> i think of him as they even darker. she was the international editor for countries like africa and the manager for the two years it

ran. i bring her up because at the same time she was writing on the world at large doesn't know the professionals in the field because the anger was louder. she had the same feelings he had coming from the south. she had to find another way to get her story out and she used humor. as the collection i think you'll see a lot of books coming out that compared to. it was published at the same time. they are both autobiographical stories of their years in afri

africa. very few people know this was published. it's called africa land of my fathers. >> it's published just people haven't noticed it yet but like the chicago renaissance you will be hearing about her. this is a letter that is from 1963 from a minister in seoul korea. we have so much great technology now they would call on one of my translators to read that. i'm going to read the first paragraph. no subject discussed in the

world racism has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years and the world continues to be sharply divided by race. isn't that fantastic? you see the connection between and about thompson before she retired and richard wright coming to the branch to tell his story. >> the publisher and founder of ebony magazine. during this time it started in

1945 in the same time they did. this is important to remember if they were here almost at the same time. they believe they were given whatever choices so it's about serving the community which fit in with the library. >> and now we get to langston hughes. >> he started in chicago and went back to new york but because the friendships he made, he spent a lot of his time and utilize to write the first draft. >> and we have the original and this is a copy of it.

a lot of times we've do the preservation conservation of the books so we had a new conversation put on. it's great because a lot of people like to come in and see the edits. >> how long did he spend in chicago? >> is about a 20 year span of letters. because of the friendships made back in those days the pen was a mighty weapon in the letters

they wrot wrote back and with re the developing friendship. thank you for publishing my power. by the end you can tell the friendship. i found this here in the collection this is langston hughes. it's during the days in this portrait it is fantastic also to

see the autographed copy. >> if someone wanted to come in and said i saw the original dropped by langston hughes, could they come in and see if? >> we are open to the public. it simply means when you come in you have to fill out a form telling us who you are and what you want to see. at the end of the table that we are using today but to let you know searchin certain patrons ht on gloves because we don't want the orioles from your fingers to touch the pages of the books because it would cause deterioration.

>> what else do you want to show from the collection? >> this picture is opposite on the wall. she worked hand in hand. charlie hill rogers was very open and a social. she was a mentor to langston hughes. on the other hand you can imagine she was from the old social elite, the settlers club in chicago so she had a tendency to be standoffish but was passionate. >> where did the money and her family come from? >> money isn't even the issue.

if blacks had settled in chicago from the very beginnings of it was a status that you had like if you could read were right back in the days you had a status. vivienne did graduate with a degree. she left the south and came to chicago for a better life and was married to joseph of one's and had a child. her passion and love was children. she was a gifted storyteller from what everybody tells me. we have all of the published works from her collection but she also had a passion about the type of books that should be in the library. she applied for a grant and what

it is is a manifest of the type of material would type of books they should have on the shelf and this brought a study where the chicago teachers symposium asks students would do you want to do when you grow up and they asked the white kids and the one little girl said i want to go to school to learn how to sew but i can't go there and question was why not and she said it's mostly in the black community. so even then there was a bias in this child didn't know why she was just repeating what someone else said but that structure so they started doing studies and looking at the books on the shelf.

you see examples she was fighting against. if a book doesn't present a positive image to the childish shouldn't be on your shelf. as a black child, the child, asian child they have to have a role model, something to look up to so she kept these to use as tools for work not to purchase. she took it not only locally but nationally. >> and why is this a negative book? >> look at the imagery, exaggerated features around the eyes and mouth it doesn't present an image to put kids atf what they can expect in life and that's the type of negative image she wanted off-the-shelf. another book i didn't put out

here was almost child-centered libraries around the country. she said this is negative. we don't want our children to believe this is what they will grow up to be or how people see them so it wasn't only on the black kids reading at the white kids reading it because that's what they saw as the face of a black child and you and i know that isn't quite true so her purpose was to fight this and she did. this is election season. this is from a dentist but also had to flee for his life. the citizens committee started

to get close to the kkk and how people criticize them so even though his family was part of the social elite he had to leave because he started getting threatening letters and he had forward with children but the point i'm making is even back then this one is from 1950. to vote you have to prove you could answer those questions and then someone would give you a document letting them know you paid reviewyou've paid reviews n register to vote. he kept these and when he died his family donated the papers to us. >> 1950, $2.

>> it doesn't look like much to us now but back in the day it used to count for something. >> who was chester, gore? >> he was a cartoonist that worked for the chicago tribune. we have his collections and original cartoons, his documents and memorabilia because he loved making trains. he also recognized the the public key does speaking to could read a lot so the idea that picturapicture is worth a d words toy story. the shame of mississippi is over there is also the supreme court decision is obvious, brown v.

board of education. this one speaks to what's happening today. >> this is from 1992 and 51 shootings this past weekend. >> is that on the southside of chicago? >> not the epicenter because what i noticed in the news lately it is jumping and not staying in one community now. i'm noticing the violence has jumping communities these days.

i don't know the answer but i do know wheknow we need to give ous something to do besides stand on the corner and think o about things. growing up they would say idle hands are the devil's workshop. that is so true. if you give the kids something to do whether it is worth or something, the library tries to provide where people can come in and express what they think the library should do for the community, we provide the kids with launches. it's a safe harbor for the kids to come in and we provide services from the time they are down here to three or 4-years-old doing storytelling and finger-pointing at the time that they are in college trying to write a dissertation and finding material to do their books, making a paper trail.

we are all things to all people. >> now joining us here is archivist beth lock. your partner mentioned chester, gore. >> hhe's on display right here s a chicago defender exhibit. we have quite a bit about him because he was integral to the newspaper. he drew the cartoon for them almost 50 years and was nominated the pulitzer prize great. he joined the paper and became an editorial cartoonist in 1954. this is the first cartoon he drew for the chicago defender in a very famous important case.