PROSPECTUS CHRIS ABANI EDWARD ABBEY ABIGAIL ADAMS HENRY ADAMS JOHN ADAMS LÉONIE ADAMS JANE ADDAMS RENATA ADLER JAMES AGEE CONRAD AIKEN
DANIEL ALARCÓN EDWARD ALBEE LOUISA MAY ALCOTT SHERMAN ALEXIE HORATIO ALGER JR. NELSON ALGREN ISABEL ALLENDE DOROTHY ALLISON JULIA
ALVAREZ A.R. AMMONS RUDOLFO ANAYA SHERWOOD ANDERSON MAYA ANGELOU JOHN ASHBERY ISAAC ASIMOV JOHN JAMES AUDUBON JOSEPH AUSLANDER
PAUL AUSTER MARY AUSTIN JAMES BALDWIN TONI CADE BAMBARA AMIRI BARAKA ANDREA BARRETT JOHN BARTH DONALD BARTHELME WILLIAM BARTRAM
KATHARINE LEE BATES L. FRANK BAUM ANN BEATTIE HARRIET BEECHER STOWE SAUL BELLOW AMBROSE BIERCE ELIZABETH BISHOP HAROLD BLOOM JUDY
BLUME LOUISE BOGAN JANE BOWLES PAUL BOWLES T. C. BOYLE RAY BRADBURY WILLIAM BRADFORD ANNE BRADSTREET NORMAN BRIDWELL JOSEPH
BRODSKY LOUIS BROMFIELD GERALDINE BROOKS GWENDOLYN BROOKS CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN DEE BROWN MARGARET WISE BROWN STERLING A.
BROWN WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT PEARL S. BUCK EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS OCTAVIA BUTLER ROBERT OLEN BUTLER TRUMAN
CAPOTE ERIC CARLE RACHEL CARSON RAYMOND CARVER JOHN CASEY ANA CASTILLO WILLA CATHER MICHAEL CHABON RAYMOND CHANDLER JOHN
CHEEVER MARY CHESNUT CHARLES W. CHESNUTT KATE CHOPIN SANDRA CISNEROS BEVERLY CLEARY BILLY COLLINS INA COOLBRITH JAMES FENIMORE
COOPER HART CRANE STEPHEN CRANE ROBERT CREELEY VÍCTOR HERNÁNDEZ CRUZ COUNTEE CULLEN E.E. CUMMINGS MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM RICHARD
HENRY DANA JR. EDWIDGE DANTICAT REBECCA HARDING DAVIS HAROLD L. DAVIS SAMUEL R. DELANY DON DELILLO TOMIE DEPAOLA PETE DEXTER JUNOT
DÍAZ PHILIP K. DICK JAMES DICKEY EMILY DICKINSON JOAN DIDION ANNIE DILLARD W.S. DI PIERO E.L. DOCTOROW IVAN DOIG H.D. (HILDA DOOLITTLE)
JOHN DOS PASSOS FREDERICK DOUGLASSOur THEODORE Mission DREISER ALLEN DRURY W.E.B. DUBOIS ANDRE DUBUS II PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR STEPHEN DUNN
RICHARD EBERHART JONATHAN EDWARDSThe JENNIFER mission EGAN of LOREN the American EISELEY T.S. WritersELIOT RALPH Museum ELLISON is RALPH to WALDO EMERSON LOUISE ERDRICH MARTIN engage the public in celebrating American writers and ESPADA JEFFREY EUGENIDES JAMES T. FARRELL WILLIAM FAULKNER EDNA FERBER F. SCOTT FITZGERALD ROBERT FITZGERALD LOUISE FITZHUGH MARTIN to explore their influence on our history, our identity, FLAVIN JOHN GOULD FLETCHER HORTON FOOTE JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER ESTHER FORBES RICHARD FORD BENJAMIN FRANKLIN JONATHAN FRANZEN our culture, and our daily lives. CHARLES FRAZIER IAN FRAZIER BETTY FRIEDAN ROBERT FROST WILLIAM GADDIS ERNEST J. GAINES RUTH STILES GANNETT CRISTINA GARCIA WILLIAM
GASS THEODORE SEUSS GEISEL ELLEN GILCHRIST CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN ALLEN GINSBERG ELLEN GLASGOW SUSAN GLASPELL JULIA GLASS LOUISE
GLÜCK WILIAM GOLDMAN PAUL GOODMAN JAIMY GORDON ULYSSES S. GRANT SHIRLEY ANN GRAU ZANE GREY JOHN GRISHAM DAVID GUTERSON
A.B. GUTHRIE JR. JESSICA HAGEDORN ALEX HALEY DONALD HALL ALEXANDER HAMILTON DASHIELL HAMMETT LORRAINE HANSBERRY PAUL HARDING
MICHAEL S. HARPER BRET HARTE NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE ROBERT HAYDEN SHIRLEY HAZZARD LAFCADIO HEARN ANTHONY HECHT LARRY HEINEMANN
JOSEPH HELLER LILLIAN HELLMAN ERNEST HEMINGWAY ALEKSANDAR HEMON PATRICK HENRY JOHN HERSEY JUAN FELIPE HERRERA OSCAR HIJUELOS
ROBERT HILLYER CHESTER HIMES EDWARD HIRSCH DANIEL HOFFMAN OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES KHALED HOSSEINI RICHARD HOWARD FANNY HOWE IRVING
HOWE JULIA WARD HOWE WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS LANGSTON HUGHES ZORA NEALE HURSTON JOHN IRVING WASHINGTON IRVING SHIRLEY JACKSON
HARRIET JACOBS JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN HENRY JAMES WILLIAM JAMES RANDALL JARRELL THOMAS JEFFERSON GISH JEN SARAH ORNE JEWETT HA JIN
ADAM JOHNSON CHARLES JOHNSON CROCKETT JOHNSON DENIS JOHNSON JAMES WELDON JOHNSON JOSEPHINE WINSLOW JOHNSON EDWARD P. JONES
JAMES JONES ERICA JONG NORTON JUSTER DONALD JUSTICE MACKINLAY KANTOR ALFRED KAZIN EZRA JACK KEATS WILLIAM KENNEDY JACK KEROUAC
KEN KESEY FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES TRACY KIDDER MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. STEPHEN KING BARBARA KINGSOLVER MAXINE HONG KINGSTON
JAMAICA KINCAID GALWAY KINNELL CAROLYN KIZER JOHN KNOWLES YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA E.L. KONIGSBURG JERZY KÓSINSKI ALEX KOTLOWITZ There’s a story that needs to be told: the story of the extraordinary men and women who have created the written works that have shaped our society since its inception and have informed, inspired and entertained us. Welcome to the American Writers Museum, the first and only museum of its kind in the United States. Opening in Chicago in March 2017, this vibrant, interactive museum will celebrate the lives and works of America’s great writers, and their influence on our history and our culture. • Permanent exhibits will feature your favorite works and tell the story of your favorite writers, whether they wrote non-fiction or fiction, plays or poetry. • Special galleries will showcase exhibits and artifacts on loan from our nation’s historic writers’ homes, joining with our museum to tell the behind-the-scenes stories of our great writers. • Diverse educational programs and special events will promote literacy and foster a love of reading and writing. In the pages that follow, you can explore the concept design for the museum. We invite you to join in the celebration. Amazon.com
CHAPTER 1. Loomings.
CALL ME ISHMAEL. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. Table of Contents
Visitor Experience 4 Where Will it Be? 6 Writers Hall 7 A Nation of Writers 8 American Voices 9 Surprise Bookshelf 10 Word Waterfall 11 Readers Hall 12 The Mind of a Writer 13 A Writer’s Room 14 Featured Works 15 Word Play 16 Chicago Writers: Visionaries and Troublemakers 17 Children’s Literature Gallery 18 Changing Exhibits Gallery 20 Advocates 22 Curating Team 23 National Advisory Council 24 Affiliated Author Home Museums
Business Plan 28 Exhibit Floor Plan 29 Attendance Projections 30 Leadership 32 Partners and Sponsors 33 Financials 34 Fundraising Plan 35 Your Opportunity 36 Naming Opportunities 38 Project Strengths WEST DIVISION STREET
WEST ELM STREET
NORTH LASALLE STREET NORTH LASALLE W HOBBIE ST
NORTHORLEANS STREET
EAST OAK STREET NORTH LAKE SHORE DRIVE W OAK ST EAST WALTON STREET Washington Square EAST DELAWARE PLACE
Museum of Contempory Art CHICAGO AVE.
CLARK ST. CLARK Northwestern
WEST SUPERIOR ST. AVE. MICHIGAN University
WEST HURON ST.
WEST ERIE ST. Olive Park
E. ONTARIO ST. WEST ONTARIO ST.
E. OHIO ST. Where Will it Be? WEST OHIO ST. E. GRAND AVE. W. GRAND AVE. Navy Pier AWM will be located in the E. ILLINOIS ST. heart of downtown Chicago W. KINZIE AVE.
on one ofHALSTEDSTREET NORTH the busiest blocks
Marina EAST WACKER DRIVE City
S. CLINTON S. ST. of famed Michigan Avenue.CANAL S. ST. Millennium Park, a magnet
N.WABASH AVE.
W. LAKE ST. for Chicago residents and Goodman Theatre CHICAGO visitors from all over the W. RANDOLPH ST. E. RANDOLPH ST. CULTURAL CENTER
N. MICHIGAN AVE. MICHIGAN N. world, is one block away. E. WASHINGTON ST. W. WASHINGTON ST. “I enthusiastically support the
N. FRANKLIN ST.FRANKLIN N. J. Pritzker Other cultural attractions Civic STATE N. Pavillon efforts to place a national writers Opera E. MADISON ST. House W. MADISON ST. museum in Chicago. Such a Millennium in the area include The Park museum will complement the rich
E. MONROE ST. Art Institute of Chicago, W. MONROE ST. ART offerings of the City’s theaters, S. FRANKLIN ST.FRANKLIN S. W. MARBLE PL. INSTITUTE CHICAGO STATE S. Sears OF CHICAGO museums, libraries and musical E. ADAMS ST. SYMPHONY WABASHS. AVE. Tower W. ADAMS ST. Chicago Symphony Center, CENTER activities and adds significantly Pritzker Military Museum W. QUINCY ST. to Chicago’s vitality.” E. JACKSON ST. W. JACKSON ST. and Library, and theDESPLAINES S. ST. Grant Park – RAHM EMANUEL E. VAN BUREN ST. MAYOR, THE CITY OF CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Architectural ARCHITECTURE
S. MICHIGAN AVE. MICHIGAN S. W. CONGRESS PKWY. FOUNDATION Foundation. The theatre Buckingham Fountain district lies two blocks to the W. HARRISON ST.
west. The AWM will be just E. HALBO DR.
S. LAKE SHORE DR.SHORELAKE S. a short walk away from a COLUMBUS DR. S. W. POLK ST.
S. WELLS ST.WELLS S. MUSEUM SITE number of Chicago’s major ST.CLARK S. NEARBY CULTURAL SITES hotels. NEARBY HOTELS
S.CLINTON ST. Roosevelt Park S. CANALS. ST. John G. Shedd E. ROOSEVELT RD. Aquarium
Park Field Adler Planetarium
DANRYAN EXPRESSWAY 479 Museum
S. JEFFERSON ST.JEFFERSON S. E. 13TH ST.
E. 14TH ST. 12th Street Beach
S. INDIANA STREETINDIANA S.
4 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Soldier WEST 14TH PLACE Field Coliseum Cotton Park Tail Park
S. HALSTED S.HALSTED S.
WEST 16TH STREET
Ping Tom Memorial WEST 17TH STREET Park
EAST 18TH STREET WEST 18TH STREET Northerly Island Park
Womens Park & Gardens
S. CANALPORT AVENUE
CERMAK AVENUE Children’s Literature A Nation of Writers Gallery
Changing Gallery Readers Hall
Writers Hall
Chicago Writers: Visionaries and The Mind of a Writer Troublemakers
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 5 Writers Hall Writers Hall provides a welcoming, literary-themed arrival, featuring a soaring book sculpture overhead and introductions to AWM’s exhibits, programs, and affiliates.
What to See and Do: • Great writers come from all corners of • Learn about the American Writers the country, including where you live. Museum’s broad network of author- Our “Home Town Authors” interactive home museum affiliates. lets visitors discover the American authors who have lived and worked near them.
6 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM A Nation of Writers Utilizing state-of-the-art projection mapping technology, A Nation of Writers introductory film traces the emergence of a distinct “American” form of writing that spans the breadth of the country and the range of writing types.
What to See and Do: • What defines “American” writing? Where does this writing come from and how is it exemplified? What will I discover at AWM? In an innovative film format that can be viewed from The American prairie – illustrated Mark Twain in front of his boyhood multiple directions, visitors will be The Ozarks of Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of by Garth Williams in the ‘Little House’ home in Hannibal, Missouri. Wrath,” illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton. invited to discover answers to these books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. questions as they explore AWM.
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 7 American Voices American Voices chronicles American literature from the early Native American oral traditions up to the explosion of voices of the 20th century.
What to See and Do: • The 60-foot-long multilayered • Explore American Themes with Ivy exhibit wall takes you on a journey Wilson, Maureen Corrigan and Ilan through the literary history of the Stavans, who narrate a chronological United States. presentation of 100 American writers throughout our history categorized by themes.
8 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Surprise Bookshelf While the American Voices timeline chronicles the literary history of America, the Surprise Bookshelf illustrates the breadth and range of American writing by showcasing novels, poems, plays, speeches, editorials, lyrics, screenplays, and more.
What to See and Do: • The Surprise Bookshelf will present a series of stunning, edge-lit boxes, each with a hint on its face about an example of American writing. Visitors will slide the face to the side to discover inside something interesting, memorable or unusual about the work. When the box lid is slid to its side, the edge lights will animate in a playful pattern.
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 9 Word Waterfall Magic happens here. Words float down and assemble in interesting and memorable ways.
What to See and Do: The presentation will combine dynamic animation of words from featured works, • From a distance, you will be accompanying imagery (photography, art, enchanted by an evocatively lit, video) and a soundscape. In contrast to the floor-to-ceiling waterfall of words. highly interactive, content-rich American • Up close, watch words assemble Identity and Surprise Bookshelf experiences, Word Waterfall is contemplative and meditative. themselves in stanzas or paragraphs.
10 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Readers Hall This is the museum’s primary gathering and multipurpose space. It offers flexible seating and viewing configurations for films, talks, readings, and other events and programs. Readers Hall also offers interpretive exhibits celebrating the role of the reader and writer in American literature.
What to See and Do: • Discover the reading habits of our • Share your favorite authors ancestors through the books they had and favorite books at a on their shelves. touch-screen kiosk. • Learn about the social, cultural and technological developments that influenced written works.
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 11 The Mind of a Writer Could you be a great writer? In this gallery explore what it takes to produce a masterwork in four distinct exhibit areas: Story of the Day, A Writers Room, Anatomy of a Masterwork and Word Play.
What to See and Do: • A giant roll of paper will be suspended from the ceiling to an easel, providing the opportunity to create a story. Every day, AWM staff will begin a story by writing a single sentence on the paper, then let visitors continue the story by adding a sentence or paragraph or two of their own. Visitors will be able to download the complete story from the AWM website or order their own copy as a permanent memento of their visit to the museum.
12 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM A Writer’s Room This semi-enclosed space includes an artifact case built to high-end museum conservation standards so that AWM will be able to display artifact loans from other institutions, beginning with the famous Jack Kerouac scroll.
William Faulkner Mark Twain
Edith Wharton
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 13 Featured Works Here a multi-user touch- table allows you to explore in depth 20 masterworks of American Literature.
Draft page of Robert Lowell’s “Epilogue”.
What to See and Do: • Select a work to explore. Through a • View a long, multi-touch table loaded series of screens, choose to learn with deep, relevant, and interrelated more about the work or the writer: information related to a specific discover influences, backstories, and masterwork. biographical information. • Learn about author-home affiliates Draft page of Sylvia Plath’s related to Featured Works. “Stings” in the Plath Collection at Smith College.
14 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Word Play Interactive tabletop consoles offer multiple games that encourage visitors to get creative with words.
What to See and Do: • Consider how careful word choice • Explore words made up by American gives meaning to a sentence. Create writers; invent new words and sentences by adding and removing meanings in an interactive game. words to see how the meaning When San Francisco “Chronicle” changes. columnist Herb Caen coined the word • Explore word choices and phrasing of “Beatnik” he said it was because great American writers; try to guess Russia had just launched Sputnik. the name of the author. Are hipsters the new beatniks? You can decide!
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 15 Chicago Writers: Visionaries and Troublemakers Here you will find compelling evidence for why the American Writers Museum is located in Chicago. As the “new American city,” Chicago eschewed tradition and “the old rules,” fostering literary experimentation that has had global impact. Many great American writers of the 19th and 20th centuries worked in Chicago for a significant portion of their careers and in turn, the city inspired some of their greatest writing.
What to See and Do: • Explore Communities using an • Explore classic works of Chicago interactive map. Locate publishing literature, such as Nelson Algren’s houses, newspapers, libraries, “Chicago: City on the Make,” through bookstores, and other literary an interactive touchscreen. institutions in Chicago’s history. • Explore tactile display objects relevant to the “communities” stories such as meeting announcements, brochures, leaflets, sample works, and group memorabilia.
16 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Children’s Literature Gallery Great American writers have created beloved children’s works of enduring power and characters who are an indelible part of the American imagination. Children’s literature will be showcased exclusively in the Children’s Gallery.
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 17 18 – W. Merwin S. want to plant atree” the“On last day of the world Iwould international debut at this space. the installation will have its the artist duo Sayler/Morris, interact with poetry. Created by writers and spaces for viewers to spoken words by aselection of museum, sound design with a living forest inside the immersive experience including Foundation -will create an – sponsored by The Poetry readers to Nature. This installation capacity of writers to connect poet W.S. Merwin and the titled “Palm,” that celebrates the space will feature an installation exhibit, gallery the changing itsAs inaugural temporary organizations. from partner loan on produced by the AWM and those exhibitions those including The AWM will host temporary Gallery Exhibits Changing
AUGUST 2016 AUGUST
© Tessa van der Waals AMERICAN WRITERSAMERICAN MUSEUM
© Roger Willems “The American Writers Museum is a grand, highly worthy idea. I’m all for it. Imagine all there will be to work with and what a center of inspiration it will be! The importance of our novelists, poets, dramatists, writers from every part of the country, every kind of background, has been part of the American story for more than 300 years. Think of what we owe them and how much we continue to learn from them!”
DAVID MCCULLOUGH, AUTHOR & HISTORIAN Advocates
“Chicago is an ideal place for the American “Anyone invested in the cultural landscape “How thrilling to imagine a museum “In a country established as an idea Writers Museum. The capital of our nation’s of the United States would welcome an dedicated to the great achievements of explicated in written documents and heartland, Chicago can boast of authors like American Writers Museum—even those of American literature. Such a museum would embellished by generations of poets, Mike Royko, Nelson Algren, Carl Sandburg, us who believe that a picture might be immediately become both a national novelists, and critics, the case for and Saul Bellow, who brought a frequently worth a thousand words. A museum center and a national symbol for creativity, commemorating the written word is gruff, but insightful and uniquely American devoted to American literature would play education, and the highest aspirations of self-evident. After all, what is written style to their work. Chicago has been a a vital role in keeping the creative impulse our culture.” describes a people and what is celebrated fertile training ground for generations, from alive in the national psyche.” – DANA GIOIA defines their values.” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., James T. Farrell, and – DOUGLAS DRUICK CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT – JIM LEACH Studs Terkel to Gwendolyn Brooks. They PRESIDENT AND ELOISE W. MARTIN FOR THE ARTS, 2002–2009 CHAIRMAN, THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT drew on their experiences of Chicago for DIRECTOR, ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, FOR THE HUMANITIES, 2009–2013 “The train line goes from Mississippi to their most inspired work.” 2011–2016 Chicago. …The music informed the history; “There is no better place than Chicago and “You have my enthusiastic support.” “This is such a great idea. Museums make the stories followed the music. This no better time than now to bring to life the – ALDERMAN EDWARD M. BURKE history three dimensional, and museums museum is great!” lives of the people who create magic and DEAN, CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL bring people together into that three- – NIKKI GIOVANNI reality with words. The writers are the ones dimensional space to learn about and POET who help us laugh when we want to cry, “The essential literary experience, of celebrate that history. This is needed for think when we want to laugh. They are the course, takes place in silence inside a book, American literary history—a communal “American writers have produced some of keepers of our past, present and futures. but why shouldn’t the abundant joy of space to celebrate our rich legacy of prose the world’s great literature, essays and Onward to the next page! Always to the American writing have its own museum, and poetry. And maybe I’m biased, but I poetry, and it is time that their authors and next page!” a physical place that readers can walk into think Chicago, home of Bellow, Brooks, and their works be gathered and presented to and learn and marvel?“ – JIM LEHRER Terkel, is the perfect place for such a the American people in a major cultural JOURNALIST AND NOVELIST – BILLY COLLINS museum.” museum. The educational opportunities are U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2001–2003 – DAVE EGGERS endless, and I support the creation of the “The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at The AUTHOR, EDITOR, AND PUBLISHER American Writers Museum with enthusiasm.” University of Iowa pioneered the teaching “Here is a promise to create a museum in of creative writing at the university level. Chicago that will stimulate our young – HENRY A. KISSINGER “Our nation’s libraries are dynamic cultural AUTHOR & FORMER U.S. SECRETARY There is a significant underlying principle people to read, imagine, and write. Using centers which make America’s literary OF STATE here in Iowa: that the literary arts are for interactive digital media, the American riches available to widely diverse everyone at every age, in every walk of life. Writers Museum will bring to life the “Rooted in the private, individual pleasure of audiences. A museum devoted to American We believe an American Writers Museum captivating stories of our great writers and reading, there is a compelling excitement in authors is an exciting idea—one which we would serve to keep alive our stories for explore their influence on our nation.” learning more about America’s writers in believe will be welcomed by librarians generations to come.” – JAMES R. DONNELLEY across the United States.” the shared, public experience of a museum. CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, THE CHICAGO It will be a place to meet one’s old friends— – SALLY MASON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION – KEITH MICHAEL FIELS PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Twain, Dickinson, Frost—and make new 2007–2015 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION acquaintances. What fun that will be.” – RICHARD LARIVIERE PRESIDENT AND CEO THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
20 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Advocates
“Those of us whose main task it is to instill “The American Writers Museum promises “How brilliant: An institution that will tell “Chicago, my home and birthplace, nurtured within the museum visitors an active and to be a vibrant cultural institution the stories of the people who tell us stories. many of America’s greatest writers of the probing interest in nature and culture can dedicated to preserving American The American Writers Museum promises past: Dreiser, Farrell, Hemingway, only respond to the plans of a writers literature in an entirely contemporary narrative riches of every kind, in and well Sandburg, Algren, Bellow, Brooks, and museum: This is the right thing to do!” manner. PEN/Faulkner is pleased to beyond its own walls. It is set to work some Terkel, to name a few. With so much of – JOHN MCCARTER JR. endorse this exciting project.” very powerful magic.” America’s literary heritage rooted here, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF REGENTS – PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION – STACY SCHIFF it would be an ideal site of the American SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUTHOR AND NEW YORK TIMES Writers Museum.” “A national museum, which would offer a GUEST COLUMNIST “The idea of an American Writers Museum – SCOTT F. TUROW chance to explore the richness and vitality AUTHOR seems to me long overdue. The literate of one of the world’s great cultural “I write to express my hearty and world has known and prized American resources—the heritage of great American enthusiastic support for the American “This exemplary project, to found a national writers since the generation of Emerson writing—is a remarkable idea and long Writers Museum. The technological and museum devoted to celebrating the story and Thoreau. Whitman and Emily Dickinson overdue.” economic revolution underway in the of America through the tales and lives of its have influenced poets and readers in presentation and reception of the written remarkable writers, is an idea that I suspect – MAX RUDIN English and in translation into many PUBLISHER, THE LIBRARY OF AMERICA word makes this an auspicious time for will prove as durable and as inspiring as languages. The great current continues, establishing an institution whose focus is Betsy Ross’s flag.” and a museum honoring and portraying on writers.” “I love the idea of the American Writers – STEVE WASSERMAN American writing would be an honor to Museum. The American project has been – DAVID SPADAFORA EDITOR AT LARGE, YALE UNIVERSITY the suffering and vision from which our fueled since the beginning by impassioned PRESIDENT, THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY PRESS literature came.” writing, and the Museum would be a “Establishing a national institution that will “Our greatest writers contribute to the – W.S. MERWIN wonderful place for that history to be U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2010–2011 embodied and rediscovered….” celebrate American writing is an inspired intellectual vitality of our country, and the idea. Through its programs, exhibitions, American Writers Museum is an ambitious – GEORGE SAUNDERS “What a brilliant idea, to establish an AUTHOR public readings, and film presentations, way in which to honor and recognize American Writers Museum! It is very fitting the museum will kindle a new appreciation their contribution to scholarly inquiry and that this ambitious museum is Midwestern “From its beginning in the 19th Century to of our literature and deepen our cultural expression. I welcome the potential in its setting, and particularly in the great the present day, Chicago has provided understanding of American writers.” to create such a museum both as a literary city of Chicago. Here is a project inspiration for renowned novelists, poets, – THOMAS F. STALEY resource for research and engagement, that will be both educational and thrilling, journalists and essayists. Having the DIRECTOR, HARRY RANSOM CENTER as well as a symbol of literature’s lasting inspiring to all who love to read and to American Writers Museum here would be UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, importance.” 1988–2013 write. I am honored to be involved in this both appropriate and a wonderful addition – ROBERT J. ZIMMER original enterprise and will be very to Chicago.” PRESIDENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO intrigued by its development and the ways – MORTON SCHAPIRO in which it will flourish.” PRESIDENT, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY – JOYCE CAROL OATES AUTHOR
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 21 Curating Team
CONTENT LEADERSHIP TEAM SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
Marie Arana Michael W. Clune Sandra Gilbert Carolyn Saper Author, Literary Critic, Associate Professor of English Professor of English Education Consultant Specializing in Senior Advisor to the Library of Congress Case Western Reserve University University of California, Davis Children’s Literature and Curriculum Robert Casper Head of the Poetry and Dr. Reginald Gibbons Literature Center, Library of Congress Jacqueline Goldsby Dr. Werner Sollors Francis Hooper Professor of Arts and Professor of English & African American Retired Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Humanities, Northwestern University Maureen Corrigan Studies, Yale University Professor of English Literature and Professor Journalist, Author, and Literary Critic, of African and African American Studies, Leonard Marcus The Washington Post, NPR David Kipen Harvard University Author, Critic, and Children’s Book Historian Getty/Annenberg Arts Fellow University Thomas Dyja of Southern California Ilan Stavans Max Rudin Author Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American Publisher for Library of America Jill Lepore and Latino Culture, Amherst College Shelley Fisher Fishkin Author, New Yorker contributor, Donna Seaman Joseph S. Atha Professor in Humanities David Woods Kemper ‘41 Professor of Ivy Wilson Senior Editor, “Booklist,” Stanford University American History and Harvard College Associate Professor of English and Director of American Library Association Professor, Harvard University American Studies,Northwestern University Dr. Ed Folsom Natasha Trethewey Roy J. Carver Professor of English, Robert Polito Gary K. Wolfe Poet, US Poet Laureate 2012 and 2013 The University of Iowa Director, MFA Writing Program and Professor of Humanities, Roosevelt University Editor, Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, Professor of Writing, The New School Director, Walt Whitman Archive President, Poetry Foundation, 2012–2015
John Russick Vice President for Interpretation and Education, Chicago History Museum
22 AUGUST 2016 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM National Advisory Council
Nicholas A. Basbanes Elliot Figman Alice McDermott Noreen Tomassi Author Executive Director Author Executive Director Poets & Writers Foundation The Center for Fiction Robert Casper Nancy S. Miller Head of the Poetry and Literature Center Dr. Ed Folsom Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Publishing Scott F. Turow Library of Congress Roy J. Carver Professor of English Author The University of Iowa Alice Quinn Michael W. Clune Director, Poetry Society of America Steve Wasserman Professor of English Case Western Reserve Mia Funk Editor at Large University Artist and Founder of The Creative Process Mary Rasenberger Yale University Press Travelling Exhibition Executive Director John Y. Cole The Authors Guild Stephen Young Historian, Library of Congress Dr. Reginald Gibbons Program Director Author and Director, Center for the Writing Max Rudin Poetry Foundation Patrick K. Coleman Arts, Northwestern University Publisher, Library of America Acquisitions Librarian Minnesota Historical Society Nikki Giovanni Jr. Donna Seaman Poet and Author Senior Editor, Booklist Billy Collins American Library Association United States Poet Laureate (2001–2003) Daniel Greene Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University Dr. Werner Sollors Daniel DeSimone Guest Curator, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Retired Professor of English Literature Eric Weinmann Librarian Museum Harvard University Folger Shakespeare Library David Kipen Dr. Victoria Steele Ellen S. Dunlap Former Literature Director Clark Librarian William Andrews Clark President, American Antiquarian Society National Endowment for the Arts Memorial Library, UCLA
Stuart Dybek Dr. Jeffrey Lependorf Dr. Robert B. Stepto Poet and Author Executive Director, Council of Literary Professor of African American Magazines and Presses Studies, English and American Studies David W. Fenza Yale University Executive Director Haki R. Madhubuti Association of Writers & Writing Programs Founder and Publisher Tree Swenson Third World Press Executive Director Richard Hugo House
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 23 Affiliated Author Home Museums
Louisa May Alcott, Orchard House u Frederick Douglass National Historic Site u Helen Hunt Jackson, Colorado Springs 399 Lexington Road 1411 W Street SE Pioneers Museum u Concord, Massachusetts 01742 Washington, D.C. 20020 215 S. Tejon Street Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903
William Cullen Bryant Homestead u u The F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum u 207 Bryant Road 919 Felder Avenue 5 Portland Street Cummington, Massachusetts 01026 Montgomery, Alabama 36106 South Berwick, Maine 03908
Pearl S. Buck House u Robert Frost Farm u Jack Kerouac, The Beat Museum u 520 Dublin Road 122 Rockingham Road 540 Broadway Perkasie, Pennsylvania 18944 Derry, New Hampshire 03038 San Francisco, California 94133
Frances Parkinson Keyes, u Alex Haley Museum & Interpretive Center u Pearl S. Buck’s Birthplace The Beauregard-Keyes House:u 200 South Church Street 8129 Seneca Trail 1113 Chartres Street Henning, Tennessee 38041 Hillsboro, West Virginia 24946 New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
Truman Capote & Harper Lee, Joel Chandler Harris, The Wren’s Nest u Jack London State Historic Park u u The Old Courthouse Museum 1050 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard 2400 London Ranch Road 31 North Alabama Avenue Atlanta, Georgia 30310 Glen Ellen, California 95442 Monroeville, Alabama 36460
Longfellow House: Washington’s u Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House The Willa Cather Foundation u of the Seven Gables u Headquarters National Historic Site 413 North Webster 115 Derby Street 105 Brattle Street Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970 Salem, Massachusetts 01970 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
u Emily Dickinson Museum u Ernest Hemingway Foundation u Wadsworth-Longfellow House 280 Main Street 200 North Oak Park Avenue 489 Congress Street Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Portland, Maine 04101
Ralph Waldo Emerson & Nathaniel Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Herman Melville’s Arrowhead u Hawthorne, The Old Manse u u Educational Center 780 Holmes Road 269 Monument Street 1021 West Cherry Street Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201 Concord, Massachusetts 01742 Piggott, Arkansas 72454
u The Edna St. Vincent Millay Society William Faulkner, Rowan Oak Washington Irving, Sunnyside u at Steepletop u 916 Old Taylor Road 639 Bedford Road 436 East Hill Road Oxford, Mississippi 38655 Pocantico Hills, New York 10591 Austerlitz, New York 12017
24 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 Affiliated Author Home Museums
Margaret Mitchell House u Carl Sandburg Home u Noah Webster House u 990 Peachtree Street 81 Carl Sandburg Lane 227 South Main Street Atlanta, Georgia 30309 Flat Rock, North Carolina 28731 West Hartford, Connecticut 06107
John Muir National Historic Site u The National Steinbeck Center u Eudora Welty House and Garden u 4202 Alhambra Avenue One Main Street 1109 Pinehurst Street Martinez, California 94553 Salinas, California 93901 Jackson, Mississippi 39202
Flannery O’Connor’s Andalusia Farm u u Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Edith Wharton’s Home, The Mount u P.O. Box 947 77 Forest Street 2 Plunkett Street Milledgeville, Georgia 31059 Hartford, Connecticut 06105 Lenox, Massachusetts 01240
Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site u Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site u Walt Whitman’s Birthplace u P.O. Box 280 1205 Pleasant Point 246 Old Walt Whitman Road Danville, California 95426 Rome City, Indiana 46784 West Hills, New York 11746
William Sidney Porter, O. Henry Museum u Henry David Thoreau & Ralph Waldo John Greenleaf Whittier Birthplace u u 409 East 5th Street Emerson, Concord Museum 305 Whittier Road Austin, Texas 78701 200 Lexington Road Haverhill, Massachusetts 01830 Concord, Massachusetts 01742
u Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum u Poe Museum Thurber House u 330 8th Street 1914-16 East Main Street 77 Jefferson Avenue Walnut Grove, Minnesota 56180 Richmond, Virginia 23223 Columbus, Ohio 43215
Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home Poe Baltimore u Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum u and Museum u 203 N Amity Street 120 North Main 3068 Highway A Baltimore, Maryland 21223 Hannibal, Missouri 63401 Mansfield, Missouri 65704
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home u Mark Twain House and Museum u Thomas Wolfe Memorial u 528 Lockerbie Street 351 Farmington Avenue 52 North Market Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 Hartford, Connecticut 06105 Asheville, North Carolina 28801
Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library u Will Rogers Memorial Museum u The Emelie Building u = link to website 1720 West Will Rogers Boulevard 340 N. Senate Avenue Claremore, Oklahoma 74017 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM AUGUST 2016 2 5 “What a fantastic concept—a museum devoted to great American writing.…At a time when life moves so fast and so much of what we encounter is disposable, an institution that allows us to immerse ourselves in that which is permanent and meaningful, which allows us to embrace American writing and American stories…
– DAVE ISAY FOUNDER, STORYCORPS
26 BUSINESS PLAN 28 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE Storage 60 Coats C G E Children's Literature F M D 50 C E A Gallery Chicago
6 .Question six. . . Lorem ipsum 3 .Question three . . Lorem ipsum D . Amy B . Jo
5 .Question five . . Lorem ipsum 2 .Question two . . Lorem ipsum C . Beth A . Meg . . R
4 .Question four. . Lorem ipsum 1 .Question one. . Lorem ipsum A