Ray Bradbury: Read Steinbeck, Shakespeare & Frost at Waukegan Library

"Libraries raised me.  I don't believe in colleges and universities.  I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money.  When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression, and we had no money.  I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years." (Ray Bradbury)

It is ironic that the author of Fahrenheit 451, about a book burning, in essence an author witch hunt, is the descendant of Mary Bradbury, who was tried at the Salem Witch Trials.  But Ray Bradbury's story did not begin in a Massachussetts courtroom, but rather an Illinois library.  

Ray Bradbury was born and raised in Waukegan, Illinois in 1920.  His aunt would read him short stories, building the foundation for a future writer.  Bradbury became a frequent visitor to the Waukegan Carnegie Library where he would read H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe.  By 11 years of age, he was already writing stories on Depression era butcher paper.

The Bradbury family fell on hard times and twice they moved to Arizona where his dad looked for worked, but returned to Waukegan, Illinois.  Finally, in 1934, the family moved permanently to Los Angeles, arriving with 40 dollars in their possession.  Bradbury, thrilled to be in town, roller-skated through Hollywood, hoping to meet some celebrities.  His encounter with George Burns led to his first paid writing job on the Burns & Allen Show at the tender age of 14.

In 1936, Bradbury joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society which met once a week.  Bradbury loved to read comics and was heavily influenced by Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.  By 1938, he was writing for fanzines.  In 1942, Bradbury's first short story was published, The Lake, for $13.75. At 22 years of age, he was a full time writer.  By 1947, his first short story collection, Dark Carnival, was published.

The novel, however, had proven elusive to Bradbury.  But the young author had developped self discipline.  From the time he was a young boy, he had been writing everyday.  By the time he and his wife were expecting their first child in 1949, he was hard at work on a story.  He visited UCLA's Powell Library where he rented out a typewriter for ten cents every half hour until he had completed his manuscript.  Bradbury bought a bus ticket for New York City, checking into a YMCA for 50 cents a night.

Bradbury walked up and down Madison Avenue trying to get a contract for his book.  After a dozen rejections, he was ready to go home.  However, he would try Doubleday first.  He explained to the publisher that everyone wanted a novel, but he was selling a short story.  The publisher asked him if he had enough short story to make a book.  They could call it The Martian Chronicles.

In 1951, Bradbury approached a publisher with a story, The Fireman, about a book burning future society.  It was published in Galaxy Science Fiction that year.  The publisher at Ballantine Books convinced Bradbury to double the manuscript, which he accomplished in just nine days, and resubmit the book as a full-fledged novel.  Re-titled Fahrenheit 451, it was published in 1953 and went on to become Bradbury's greatest work.  

In his lifetime, Bradbury penned 27 novels and over 600 short stories.  His works were translated into 36 languages.  The sci-fi author credited John Steinbeck with his writing style which earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 2007.  While he received many literary awards, Bradbury never forgot where he got his start.  Remembering the Waukegan Library, the famous author raised money to prevent the closure of several California libraries.

As Bradbury explained:  "Libraries raised me.  I don't believe in colleges and universities.  I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money.  When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression, and we had no money.  I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury)

Waukegan Public Library courtesy 

                                                    http://www.waukeganpl.org/history.

Nobel Prize Winner Ernest Hemingway Read A Great Number of Books

"He read everything around the house, all the books, all the magazines, even the AMA journals from dad's office downstairs.  Ernie also took out a great number of books from the public library." (Marcelline, sister of Ernest Hemingway)

Growing up in Oak Park, Illinois, Ernest Hemingway used to read everything he could get his hands on.  His older sister, Marcelline, said that their bookshelf was filled with authors like Shakespeare, Scott, Stevenson, Dickens and Thackeray.  Periodicals such as National Geographic, Atlantic Monthly and Harper's were on the bookshelf at the family cottage on Walloon Lake in Upper Michigan.  

Hemingway also visited the public library on a regular basis.  By the turn of the last century, libraries had sprung up in many towns and cities across the United States, thanks in large part to the generosity of Andrew Carnegie.  Books were starting to come down in price with Little Leather Library, the book of the month clubs and paperback publications.  

Hemingway translated his long hours of reading into a successful writing career, penning seven novels, six short collections, two non fiction works and endless articles.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.  

The year before, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Oak Park Library, he wrote:  "I was at sea or I would have sent you a message telling you how much I owe to the Library and how much it meant to me all my life."    

Hemingway worked as a correspondent for the Toronto Star Weekly at the time of this photograph courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Cuba_and_the_Nobel_Prize.

Eleanor Roosevelt Invites Martin Luther King Jr. to Tea

"I am greatly interested in the Deerfield situation, because the problems of integration -- in schools, in churches and in job opportunities -- will not be resolved until all people can live anywhere in this wonderful land of ours." (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Eleanor Roosevelt presents Martin Luther King Jr. with an award from the Americans for Democratic Action circa 1961 courtesy http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2011/02/troubled-times-dr-king-and-abe-lincoln.html.

In March of 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, reached out to Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.  She invited him to discuss an integrated housing project at Deerfield, Illinois.  The letter was unusual in two ways:  in the past, First Ladies had not gotten involved in politics; second she was a white woman socializing with a black man, a practice still questioned in the 1960's.

Developper Morris Milgram had successfully planned an integrated community in Concord Park, Pennsylvania.  He hoped to do the same in Deerfield, Illinois.  His plan included 51 housing units, 12 of which would be reserved for blacks.  However, when the community found out, they fought to stall the development.  The builder launched an appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court.  

Eleanor Roosevelt penned a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. inviting him to tea to discuss the issue. The former first lady pointed out:  "I am greatly interested in the Deerfield situation, because the problems of integration -- in schools, in churches and in job opportunities -- will not be resolved until all people can live anywhere in this wonderful land of ours."(http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/letter-eleanor-roosevelt-mlk)

In a time when blacks were usually found in the kitchen, not the Oval Office, of the White House, these words from a former First Lady were considered revolutionary.  In fact, Mrs. Roosevelt had been a vocal opponent of segregation from the time her husband first became president.  She was not afraid to take a stand.  At a public meeting in 1938, she defied Jim crow laws by moving her chair out of the whites only section of the audience to the aisle which separated the blacks from the whites.  Mrs. Roosevelt resigned from the daughters of the American Revolution after they refused to let black singer Marian Anderson perform at Washington's Constitution Hall.  

Eleanor Roosevelt & Marian Anderson in Washington DC courtesy http://newdeal.feri.org/library/k16.htm.

For her stance against segregation, the KKK threatened to have her kidnapped.  FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, had her followed.  Mrs. Roosevelt carried a pistol around with her for protection.

While Eleanor Roosevelt stood up for the proposed integrated neighbourhood in Deerfield, Illinois, the Supreme Court refused to side with the builder and the development was never completed.  The former First Lady might not have won the battle, but she did win the war.  In 1963, President Kennedy initiated Civil Rights legislation which President Johnson signed in 1964.    

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in a 1960 letter to Mrs. Roosevelt:  "Once again, for all you have done, and I'm sure will continue to do to help extend the fruits of Democracy to our southern brothers, please accept my deep and lasting gratitude."  Eleanor Roosevelt passed away on November 7, 1962.

Cicero Race Riot

"Get out of Cicero and don't come back in town or you'll get a bullet through you."

(Chicago police officer to new tenant, Mr. Clark)

On July 11, 1951, a mob of 4,000 whites attacked a Chicago suburb apartment building where one black family had moved in.  When the fires burnt out, and the rubble was cleared away, 19 people were hurt and 117 arrested.

Mob of 4000 riots at Cicero apartment buildling courtesy originalpeople.org.

Mrs. DeRose, the landlord of a Cicero, Illinois apartment building, supposedly had a disagreement with some of her renters.  To get back at them, she rented out her unoccupied apartment to the first black family in the neighbourhood.  On June 8, police stopped a moving van with $2000 worth of furniture inside, which arrived at the apartment building.  The black family, the Clark's, were pulled aside by police and warned:  "Get out of here fast.  There will be no moving into this building."  Mr. Clark was hit eight times by police officers and warned:  "Get out of Cicero and don't come back in town or you'll get a bullet through you."

Harvey Clark and his wife circa 1951 courtesy https://plus.google.com/communities/113086078474409920236.

Mr. Clark, a World War II veteran, filed a lawsuit with the NAACP and tried to move into the Cicero apartment building again on June 26.  Some whites in the building stored their furniture and moved out.  Others plotted.  On the night of July 11, 4,000 whites gathered at the apartment building.  Twenty-one occupants fled to the rooftop.  The mob set to work destroying the building:  radiators were ripped from the wall; holes were punched through the plaster; windows were smashed, and furniture was set on fire.

Fires set at Cicero apartment building courtesy img.groundspeak.com.

For the first time in America's history, television crews were there to document what happened next. The police were called to the scene:  they could not do much given there were only 60 officers.  Their chief was supposedly "out of town".  Firefighters were called to the scene.  Asked by police to turn their fire hoses on the unruly mob, they refused.  Their fire chief was also "out of town".  The firemen were greeted by the protesters with a shower of bricks.

National Guard on front lawn of Cicero apartment building circa 1951 courtesy img.groundspeak.com.

Finally, the National Guard, armed with bayonets, rifle butts and tear gas, ended the riot the following day.  Damage was estimated at $20,000.  However, a Cook County jury did not charge the rioters.  Instead, they went after the NAACP lawyer and Mrs. DeRose.  But the charges did not stick. The apartment buildng was so severely damaged, all of the tenants, including the Clark's had to move out and the building was boarded up.

Boarded up apartment building courtesy img.groundspeak.com.

Note:  For more information, read As Long as They Don't Move Next Door (Hirsch).