Claire Hartfield Reads from, A Few Red Drops

The Western Illinois Museum with the WIU Departments of English and History, along with the WIU Expanding Cultural Diversity Project, and the McDonough County Chapter of the NAACP hosts award-winning author Claire Hartfield for a reading from her most recent book, A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 (Clarion, 2018). The nationally recognized children’s book author and education leader will be at the Western Illinois Museum on Friday, April 26^th. The doors will open at 4:30 pm and her presentation will begin at 5:00 pm.

The title of Claire Hartfield’s book, A Few Red Drops, is taken from a Carl Sandburg poem and delves into the Chicago race riots of 1919. Drawing on first-hand accounts from her grandmother she heard as a child, the author examines the racial tensions created as waves of Southern blacks, like her grandmother, migrated north. Carl Sandburg, working as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News, covered the riots and is considered one of the few journalists to record the events and its causes accurately. The author recently commented, “I want to share this story with young people to give them perspective on the world they are facing now, and tools for shaping better ways to move forward.” The book is the winner of the 2019 Coretta Scott King Author Book Award and is a Los Angeles Times Book Award Finalist. This book has also been honored as a Junior Library Guild Choice, a 2019 Illinois Reading Council Top Book, and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018. The program provides an opportunity to meet the author and hear her read from this award-winning, personal, and timely publication.

Hartfield’s last book, Me and Uncle Romie (Dial Books for Young Children, 2002), is a historical fiction picture book based on the life and art of world-renowned collage artist, Romare Bearden. The book received national honors including favorable review in the New York Times Book Review, Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book of the Year, Junior Library Guild Choice, and selected as one of New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing. It has also been reprinted in three textbooks.

Hartfield’s career has centered on providing underprivileged children with the opportunity to achieve their potential through education. After graduating from Yale University and University of Chicago Law School, she oversaw development of school desegregation plans for the cities of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. More recently, she led a non-profit organization that develops leaders for elementary and secondary education. She is currently Board Chair and a senior consultant for one of Chicago’s highest performing charter schools. Hartfield is a lifelong resident of Chicago.

Hartfield’s visit is co-sponsored by the Western Illinois Museum, the WIU Department of English, WIU Department of History, WIU Expanding Cultural Diversity Project, and the McDonough County Chapter of the NAACP.

The event takes place at the Western Illinois Museum located at 201 South Lafayette Street, one block south of Macomb’s Courthouse Square. Doors will open at 4:30 pm and the reading will begin at 5:00 pm. Light refreshments will be served and there is a suggested $5 donation at the door. For information, contact Peter Cole at p-cole@wiu.edu or Sue Scott at info@wimuseum.org or (309) 837-2750.