Hidden Women Stage Company LLC

04/26/2026

Stories of the Back Country and Fairfield

04/19/2026

In 1932, a forgotten Black librarian in Chicago looked at the children's books on her shelves. Every page was an insult.

The George Cleveland Hall Branch was new. It sat on South Michigan Avenue. It was the first library in the city built specifically for a Black neighborhood.

Charlemae Hill Rollins was the children's librarian. The city sent her the standard inventory. She opened the boxes and looked at the covers.

Exaggerated lips. Broken English. Ragged clothes. Bare feet. The standard commercial depictions of Black life.

She watched the neighborhood children walk through the doors. They were looking for stories. She realized she was handing them poison.

She started pulling books off the racks. She pulled so many that the children's section began to look abandoned. There was almost nothing left to lend.

At the time, major American publishing houses operated under a rigid commercial consensus. Industry guidelines assumed that books featuring dignified Black characters would not sell in Southern states. To maintain national distribution, publishers standardized caricature. They printed dialect as a default, shipping the same editions to Northern libraries without alteration.

The library system evaluated branches based on circulation numbers. Empty shelves meant low circulation. To succeed at her job, she needed to distribute the books the publishers provided.

A new shipment arrived in the spring. Standard titles. She read the first three pages of one.

She didn't stamp the circulation card. She put it back in the box.

She stopped returning the boxes quietly. She started attaching letters explaining exactly why the books were unacceptable. The publishers ignored them. They were massive New York institutions. She was one librarian in Chicago.

She found a different target. She stopped writing to editors and started writing to teachers.

She drafted a manuscript. She called it We Build Together. It was published in 1941.

The document was not a plea. It was a manual. It instructed parents and librarians on how to spot racist stereotypes. It listed the specific titles to avoid. It provided a very short list of books to buy.

She distributed it nationwide. The segregation era had created a tight, word-of-mouth network among Black educators. The guide moved through it quickly.

They controlled the printing presses. She controlled the shelves.

The financial impact was quiet but cumulative. Schools stopped ordering the standard inventory. Library branches returned shipments. The major houses noticed the drop in institutional sales.

For a supposedly forgotten Black librarian, her paper trail in the corporate archives is extensive. The publishers started writing back. Then they began sending her manuscripts before they went to print, asking for her approval. The dialect began to disappear. The caricatures were slowly erased.

She worked at the Hall Branch for thirty-one years. The American Library Association now gives an award in her name. The library on South Michigan Avenue is still open. The children's section is full.

Charlemae Hill Rollins: the woman who purged the shelves.

Source: Charlemae Hill Rollins.
Verified via: American Library Association Archives, Chicago Public Library Special Collections.
(Some details summarized for brevity.)

04/08/2026

03/30/2026

Elizabeth MumBet Freeman shared her story at the library!

03/29/2026

03/14/2026

Don't miss this Sunday's special performance brought to the museum by Hidden Women Stage Company.

The story of Elizabeth “MumBet” Freeman will be told by actor and storyteller Tammy Denease. Freeman was the first enslaved African American to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts. This historical interpretation from Freeman’s perspective will highlight her experiences and contribution to Massachusetts history. This event will be held Sunday, March 15th, 1:00-2:00pm.

Tickets are available on Wistariahurst’s Eventbrite page. Sliding scale admission is offered for this event:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982383268721?aff=oddtdtcreator

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Holyoke Local Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

03/11/2026

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982383268721?aff=oddtdtcreator

Learn about the story of Elizabeth “MumBet” Freeman during this performance by Hidden Women Stage Company.

03/11/2026

https://midbrow.org/sarah-margu-comes-to-life/

Along the human story of the Amistad case, at Prosser Library reenactment.

02/12/2026

Lewis Latimer and the light bulb story you were never fully taught. Thomas Edison did not single-handedly invent the light bulb. What he helped commercialize was a system. What Lewis Latimer helped make possible was light itself lasting long enough to be useful.

In the late 19th century, early electric light bulbs existed—but they burned out quickly, were expensive, and were impractical for everyday use. Lewis Latimer, a brilliant draftsman, engineer, and inventor, developed an improved carbon filament that made light bulbs last longer, burn more evenly, and become affordable for widespread use. Without a durable filament, a bulb could not function reliably. In simple terms: without the filament, there is no usable light.

Latimer’s work transformed electric lighting from a laboratory curiosity into something homes, streets, and businesses could actually depend on. His designs helped expand electric lighting across cities and made indoor lighting accessible beyond the wealthy.

Ironically, Latimer later worked for Thomas Edison, drafting patents and improving systems at Edison’s company—even though his contributions were rarely highlighted in popular history. Latimer was also one of the only Black members of Edison’s elite engineering team, the Edison Pioneers.

This is not about taking credit away from Edison. It’s about telling the complete story. Innovation is rarely the work of one person. Progress is built layer by layer, often by people whose names history chose to minimize or omit.

Lewis Latimer didn’t just improve the light bulb—he helped light the modern world. And for generations, his contribution remained in the shadows of the very invention he helped illuminate.

I write and research stories like this, you can support my work:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AfricanArchives (I post blogs and book recommendations there)