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Black History Month: National Afro-American Council

By heather on Feb 8, 2014 12:39 PM

Alexander Walters The National Afro-American Council was the first nationwide civil rights organization in the United States. It was organized in Rochester, New York in September 1898 by Timothy Thomas Fortune, editor of the nation's leading black newspaper The New York Age, and Bishop Alexander Walters of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Walters is pictured above. Alarmed by ongoing violence against African Americans, especially the brutal…

Celebrate Black History Month with Us!

By MPL Staff on Feb 7, 2014 11:37 AM

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, a Coretta Scott King honor book, uses poetic verse to describe Emmett Till; a fourteen year old boy who was lynched in 1955 for whistling at a white woman while at the grocery store. The illustrations by Philippe Lardy offer powerful, bold symbols that follow the verse. Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till…

Promise Land by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro

By MPL Staff on Feb 7, 2014 11:21 AM

Jessica Lamb-Shapiro is well-versed in the language of self-help. Her father is a psychologist, parenting expert, and self-help author. In Promise Land she explores the culture of American self-help, trying to find why self-help has such a strong appeal and how the self-help industry became so huge. She goes to conferences, walks on hot coals, makes a vision board, attends lectures, takes a class to…

East Library Concept vs Construction

By margaret on Feb 6, 2014 2:45 PM

The new East Library is really starting to take shape! How do you think it compares to these architect renderings of the final building? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Renderings from East Library architects Engberg Anderson. Â

We are 136 years old today!

By heather on Feb 5, 2014 11:41 AM

The Wisconsin State Legislature authorized the City of Milwaukee to establish a public library on February 7, 1878. Luckily, the new public library did not have to start from scratch; MPL inherited 10,000 books from the Young Men's Association. The Young Men's Association was a subscription library founded in 1847. They collected dues from members to maintain a library and members were permitted to borrow…

Black History Month: Fannie Lou Hamer

By MPL Staff on Feb 5, 2014 9:22 AM

By Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." - Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer was a central figure in the African American civil rights movement. She was the founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and later the National Women's Political Caucus. The courage she demonstrated in…

Black History Month: Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

By MPL Staff on Feb 5, 2014 9:22 AM

By O'Halloran, Thomas J., photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) may be most remembered for their organization of the Freedom Rides, a series of interracial protests against segregated bus seating in the late 1960s. Founded in 1942 by James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, Homer Jack, and George Houser in Chicago, IL, CORE was created to improve race relations and end…

African American History with Clayborn Benson

By jennifer on Feb 4, 2014 12:05 PM

Clayborn Benson at a Kwanzaa celebration. Photo provided by Clayborn Benson In celebration of Black History Month, Milwaukee Public Library is hosting several events at multiple library locations throughout the month of February. One of these events, African American History with Clayborn Benson will be held on Wednesday, February 12th at the Martin Luther King Library. What impact did African Americans have on Wisconsin's inception as a…