RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Many newspaper press clubs, book clubs and literary organizations have come and gone in the City of Chicago, but the Society of Midland Authors has flourished for 100 years; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed by Alderman Edward M. Burke of the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the Society of Midland Authors on April, 24, 2015 with a day-long conference to be held on May 2, 2015; and
WHEREAS, Before 1915, there were no representative membership organizations bringing together Midwestern authors, poets and playwrights to share ideas, creative inspiration, bestow recognition in the form of literary awards upon deserving writers and unite as a community to promote the collective "voice" of the Heartland; and
WHEREAS, Hamlin Garland, a future Pulitzer Prize winner, took charge of the planning arrangements for the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters symposium held at Blackstone Hall in the Art Institute of Chicago, November 13-16, 1913; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Garland contacted seventeen local clubs and literary organizations urging their participation in the convention by forming a committee to elect a chairman; and
WHEREAS, The committee selected Chicago biographer and novelist Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor to chair the proceedings and deliver the address of welcome; and
WHEREAS, The American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters convention drew to Chicago the nation's foremost composers, painters, sculptors, and writers who held the sacred idea ofa unique American culture reflected in its artistic expression in the contemporary world; and
WHEREAS, Inspired by the good will, camaraderie, and sense of community achieved among so many nationally acclaimed artisans and authors that had gathered in Chicago, John M. Stahl, a farmer, an author and the founder of the Allied Artists Association conferred with Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor and invited a group of esteemed Illinois writers to a dinne...
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