Making Modernism: Literature and Culture in Chicago, 1893–1955

FAIN: EH-261605-18

Newberry Library (Chicago, IL 60610-3305)
Liesl Marie Olson (Project Director: February 2018 to November 2021)

A four-week institute for 25 college and university teachers to study modernist literary and artistic expression through the collections of the Newberry Library and sites in Chicago.

The Newberry Library proposes a summer institute for college and university faculty that will explore Chicago’s contribution to the modernist movement. The institute will begin by considering the cultural resonances of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and will end with an exploration of work by artists and writers of the Chicago Black Renaissance. It will be led by renowned scholars in the fields of literature, history, art history, print culture, and African-American studies. Four themes will be emphasized: 1) the geographic centrality of Chicago both locally and internationally; 2) modernism’s distinctive reception history in Chicago; 3) the women in Chicago who served as key cultural arbiters; 4) and the connections between the Chicago Renaissance and the Chicago Black Renaissance. Making Modernism will provide summer scholars with a special opportunity to explore Chicago through both the Newberry’s vast collections on this topic and the experience of the city itself.