The Progress of Our People: A Story of Black Representation at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

By Anne E. Johnson and Eric Freeberg

It’s 1893, and Lorraine Williams can’t wait to attend the Chicago World’s Fair and see her idol, the Black opera singer Sissieretta Jones. But when activist and writer Ida B. Wells urges Black Americans to boycott the fair, Lorraine’s father forbids Lorraine from going. After all, there is no exhibition about the progress that the Black community has made since Emancipation, and the fair has lacked Black representation since it was first being planned. But Lorraine will do anything to see Miss Jones and ensure other Black people can hear Miss Jones sing. What does progress look like if not Sissieretta Jones, who embodies everything Lorraine wants to be?

It’s the storytellers that preserve a nation’s history. But what happens when some stories are silenced? The I Am America series features fictional stories based on important historical events about people whose voices have been excluded, lost, or forgotten over time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: North Star Editions
• Release date: Sep 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781631635403

Anne E. Johnson

Anne E. Johnson grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and often visited Chicago with her family. She went to Queens College for a master’s degree in musicology, a commute that took her past the remnants of the 1939 world’s fair nearly every day. One of her favorite albums was a set of spirituals sung by the Black opera singer Marian Anderson. Inspired by recent books and recordings featuring the Black composers Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, Anne has been keen to learn more about Black women in the classical music scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Writing this book proved the perfect excuse to do that, and discovering the story of Sissieretta Jones was an excellent reward for her research.

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The Progress of Our People: A Story of Black Representation at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair © 2022 by North Star Editions, Mendota Heights, MN 55120. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Book design by Jake Slavik

Illustrations by Eric Freeberg

Photographs ©: Library of Congress, 142 (top), 142 (bottom), 143 (top), 143 (bottom), 145, 147; Shutterstock Images, 146

Published in the United States by Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc.

First Edition

First Printing, 2021

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (pending)

978-1-63163-539-7 (paperback)

978-1-63163-538-0 (hardcover)

Jolly Fish Press

North Star Editions, Inc.

2297 Waters Drive

Mendota Heights, MN 55120

www.jollyfishpress.com

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

Lorraine Williams set down the newspaper and reached across the breakfast table to grab her father’s calloused hand. Papa, I can’t believe the Exposition finally opens tomorrow! Tell me more about it. Pleeeeease?

As he bit into his bread, Joseph Williams sighed. Lorraine knew he was sick of talking about the fairgrounds he’d helped build, but she couldn’t get enough information out of him.

There’s a big lake, you said, she egged him on.

You know perfectly well there’s lots of pools, Rainie, since I told you about them a thousand times already, he said. From the glint in his eye, Lorraine knew he didn’t really mind. There’s the great big Lagoon with the Wooded Island in the center, and the North Pond, and the canals. And below that, there’s the Basin and the South Pond. I laid the concrete for three of those. Helped fill them up too. Real big job.

Lorraine wriggled with excitement. With all that water at the fairgrounds, how’s there even room for any buildings?

Ha! There’s so many buildings, Rainie. Big, beautiful, fancy buildings. Make the ponds and such look like little barrels of water. Most of them aren’t built to last a long time though. Just paste over a wood frame, painted white. That’s why they call it the White City. All them huge buildings are like castles. When it’s sunny, you have to squint your eyes. And they got lights on them, so they even glow in the night.

Too excited to hold her questions until she’d swallowed, Lorraine asked with her mouth full, You said your favorite building is Machinery Hall, right?

Oh, my, that’s a fine one, Papa said, leaning back in his seat with a satisfied smile. Got steeples on it like a fancy old church, reaching right up to the sky. And all these columns and arches lining the outside. And curved roofs made out of glass.

But you didn’t build that one, did you? Lorraine asked.

Nope.

So how come it’s your favorite, Papa?

"Maybe I enjoy it because I didn’t build it. Ha! I didn’t have a chance to get sick of it like I did the ones I worked on. And the last few weeks, I was mostly putting staff on the Agricultural Hall, right across the South Canal."

What’s staff again?

Basically a mix of cement and plaster. Nice and light, but it isn’t meant to last. It spreads pretty easily, but my arms sure got tired. But all day long, I could look over and see that fine Machinery Hall, rising up from nothing and turning into something so grand.

I can’t wait to see it! Lorraine grinned.

Yeah, I know. Papa didn’t meet her gaze. What I don’t know is why they call it Machinery Hall. What kind of an ugly name is that for such a pretty building?

Jumping up from the table, Lorraine cried out, Ooh, I know, I know!

Sit down, now. This is no way to behave on a Sunday.

Sorry, Papa. Lorraine returned to her chair. They’re gonna put machines in Machinery Hall.

Machines? Who in the world wants to go look at machines while they’re trying to have a nice day at the fair?

Not regular machines. Special machines. Lorraine tried to remember what her teacher, Miss Kerry, had told her class at school. Like there’s a weaving machine, where the spools of yarn move on their own without a person guiding them. All the countries in the world are going to bring their most amazing machines to show off what they can do.

Papa chuckled and rubbed his head. Well, I’ll be.

And there will be incredible things to see in all those beautiful buildings. And food from all over the world. And music. Oh, Papa, when can we go?

Suddenly, he bowed his head, avoiding her eyes. Sure wish I could find some new work, Rainie. Almost two years I sweated on them fairgrounds. I cleared the trees. I drained the swamps. I laid the groundwork. I raised the buildings. Now all that work’s done, what are we all supposed to do?

Maybe you could be a ticket-taker at the Expo! Lorraine pictured herself with free access for the whole six months the fair stayed open. But the frown on her papa’s face told her she’d said the wrong thing. She knew he couldn’t read or write very well and hadn’t learned much arithmetic either. He’d dropped out of school in the fifth grade to help his family make ends meet. There must be another building going up somewhere in Chicago, she said more gently.

He shrugged. Not that I’ve heard. Last few years, everybody and his brother was building something in this town. Now it seems like nobody’s got any money left to build anything else. Sitting up straight, he gave her a weak smile. "But don’t you worry, Rainie girl. We’ll be okay. Maybe we can even make it to the fair one of these days. Now, put your Sunday dress on, young

Reviews for The Progress of Our People

[julieandbeli · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Anyone who has enjoyed the I Am America, Dear America, My America, or even the Royal Diaries Series will find The Progress of Our People, A Story of Black Representation at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, a welcome addition to their library or readings. It is lovely to see a new addition to the series from the perspective of Lorraine Williams, a young African American girl living in Chicago. My family enjoyed this edition, as well as all the others we own, and find the material included to be exceptional historical fiction to be used in our homeschool education setting.

[wearylibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have always loved the I Am America series and this is no exception. The author does a great job of combining historical facts with Lorraine’s diary entries. While this is fiction, it could very easily be diary entries from a young girl longing to sing. Her encounters with famous African-Americans of that era makes the book even more realistic. A must read!

[carolee888 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lorraine Williams, a young African American girl, living in the south side of Chicago, tells us about the Chicago World's Fair. Her father had worked at the sites of many of the buildings there. But his work was finished, and he had to scramble for odd jobs, the steady work was over. Lorraine heard about the fair from her father, read about it in the newspaper, and talked with everyone about it.The representation of black people was limited to the Haitian pavilion in it. That is the main theme of the book. We are introduced to the great Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass and Matilda Sissieretta Jones, who was trained in classical music but never allowed to perform in opera. The story highlights the lack of representation in important venues of the World's Fair, and also the denial of employment of talented people like the singer. It also connects time together. I was thrilled to know that I had been to of the permanent buildings of the Fair, the Palace of Fine Arts, later became the Museum of Science and Industry.I received this book from the publishers as a win in a LibraryThing contest. The above review reflects my own thoughts and feelings about the book.

[kristincedar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful book, and what I'm sure is a wonderful series. A journal written from the perspective of a young, African American girl, growling up during the Chicago's Worlds Fair. The writing is so well constructed that it's an easy try to submerge yourself into the thoughts of feelings of our sweet protagonist. It's also not a long shot to feel the message coming through as to the lack of representation, the struggle, and the systematic disconnect between the culture and people who visited the Worlds Fair and those who literally built it from the ground up. I am grateful to hear the words and to welcome the championing of the story of greats like Douglas, Wells, and the histories not celebrated like of Dahomey.