When Chicago Turned Its Nose Up at Books From the Queen

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871

• Date: Started on the night of October 8, 1871.
• Impact: Destroyed much of Chicago, emerging as a key city in the industrial world.
  • Destroyed 17,450 homes and left 95,000 people homeless.
  • Significant losses to libraries and booksellers, with up to 3 million volumes lost.
  • The fire devastated numerous cultural and educational institutions including the Chicago Historical Society.

British Aid to Rebuild Chicago's Library

• International Sympathy: Massive support from both sides of the Atlantic.
• British Contribution:
  • Focused on creating a new free public library for Chicago.
  • Led by Thomas Hughes, gathering 8,000 books.
  • Contributions from notable British figures including Prime Minister Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, and Queen Victoria.
  • Books were labeled as humanitarian gestures.

Big Bill Thompson's Political Antics

• Personality: Mayor of Chicago, known for his eccentricity and connections to Al Capone.
  • Opposed British influence and prohibition.
  • Famous for his anti-British stance and threats against King George V.
• Library Purge: Attempted to remove pro-British literature from the city library.
  • Efforts led by appointee Urbine Sport Herrmann, largely unsuccessful.
  • Carl Roden, director of the library, offered limited resistance.

Library Bill of Rights

• Need for Free Speech: Incidents highlighted the necessity for libraries to support free speech.
• Library Bill of Rights: Drafted by the American Library Association in 1939.
  • Affirms the librarian's right to choose book collections.
  • Revised over time to reinforce the protection of diverse literature.

Notable Figures

• Carl Roden: Library Director, elected chair of the ALA despite willingness to remove disapproved books.
• Frederick Rex: Purged the municipal reference library of pro-British content, promoting an "America-First Library."