This program will be held in-person at the Newberry.
Confined to a tuberculosis sanitarium, Rhoda corresponds with Jerry, a left-wing Jewish bookseller. Their letters reveal that the challenges and hatred they face are countered by their mutual love for each other, their passion for literature, poetry, and music, and the left-wing political causes they fight for.
Their struggles come to life in the counterculture of Chicago’s Dil Pickle Club, frequented by friends like poet Carl Sandburg, lawyer Clarence Darrow, labor leader Jack Jones, hobo and left-wing debater Lizzee Davis, and feminist “red,” Martha Biegler.
The discovery of the letters more than a century later in an abandoned trunk offers a message of hope by linking Rhoda and Jerry’s past to the present.
The Jerry Nedwick papers, including the correspondence with Rhoda, are held in the Newberry’s Modern Manuscripts and Archives Collection.
Performed by actors from the Shakespeare Project of Chicago and directed by Peter Garino.
This program is generously supported by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.
Cosponsored by the Chicago Collections Consortium.
Cost and Registration
This program is free and open to all. Advance registration required.
Registration opens September 1.
Register HereSupport the Newberry
Your generosity is vital in keeping the library’s programs, exhibitions, and reading rooms free and accessible to everyone.
Past Public Programs
Check out video recordings of past Newberry public programs on our YouTube channel.