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…
Read moreJessica 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…
Read moreThe 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
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreBy 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…
Read moreBy 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…
Read moreClayborn 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…
Read more"I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." - Frederick Douglass. The above quote is striking, is it not? But like many great sound bite quotes, it says so much more in context. This comes from a lecture that Douglass gave in 1855 to the Ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society: My point here is, first, the Constitution is, according…
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