Literary Landmarks: Home of William Allen White

Literary Landmarks: Red Rocks, the home of William Allen White

Honoring the Namesake of the William Allen White Children's Book Award - Kansas

By Beverley Olson Buller
Photographed by Beverley Buller

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Scott O’Dell, Beverly Cleary, E.B. White, Gary Paulsen, Jerry Spinelli, Lois Lowry, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Ann M. Martin, Andrew Clements and Mary Downing Hahn are all familiar names to children’s book lovers—and Kansas children have chosen their books to win at least one William Allen White Children’s Book Award.  Red Rocks is a literary landmark in Emporia, Kansas—the home of the namesake of the William Allen White Children's Book Award.

During his lifetime, 1868-1944, William Allen White was known around the world as the editor/owner of the Emporia (KS) Gazette and the author of nearly 20 books, two of which were made into early-day motion pictures.  The William Allen White Children's book award, named in his honor, has kept his name alive.  The award celebrated its 60^th birthday in 2012 and continues to bring authors from around North America to Kansas, each year, to accept the award.  The award winner is chosen by Kansas children.   

White’s home, Red Rocks, in Emporia, Kansas, continues to honor the award’s namesake and, as a state historic site, is open for visits from readers of all ages. Red Rocks received its name from the Colorado red sandstone used in its 1885 construction.  It became the home of Will and Sallie White in 1899 and remained in the family until their granddaughter donated it to the state of Kansas in 2001.  The house saw much activity during the White years due to Will’s involvement in literature and politics.  Theodore Roosevelt, a personal friend of Will, enjoyed the guest room more than once, and a dinner party was held for Herbert Hoover in the backyard garden.  Presidents Taft, Harding, and Coolidge also visited.  Author Edna Ferber took advantage of the guest room often and summed up the appeal of Red Rocks in her autobiography:  “When your world is awry and hope dead and vitality low and the appetite gone, there is not ocean trip, no month in the country, no known drug equal to the reviving quality of twenty-four hours spent on the front porch or in the sitting room of the White’s house in Emporia.  Practically everyone of any importance in America has at one time or another stopped at the White house on their way East or West.  There are hundreds of stories about the White’s hospitality, and they’re all true.” (Ferber, p. 227)

For the first 20 years of the White’s time there, Red Rocks was a Queen Anne Victorian featuring what Will called “…towers, turrets, tumors and all.” (White, pg. 324) By 1915, with several books under his belt and the newspaper doing well, Will was able to secure the services of Frank Lloyd Wright for a drastic remodel of the house to better meet the needs of all those guests.  “The house might pass away under the aesthetics (sic, meaning “anesthetics”) of the necessary surgical operation, but if you can face that possibility calmly, I can and will do my best.” (Wright. 1915 letter)  Before the plans were complete, however, White and Wright, agreed to part ways and employ a Midwestern architect recommended by Wright to finish the work.  Wright’s touch is evident in the remodeled home, which the family began to inhabit in 1921.  Will died in the home in 1944 and lay in state in his second floor study.

White’s death spurred one of his Gazette employees to begin thinking of a suitable way to honor her old boss who, by 1946 had won two Pulitzer Prizes.  Joining William Allen White and children’s books came naturally for Ruth Garver Gagliardo.  With her employer’s encouragement, she wrote reviews of children’s books for the Gazette two years before any other newspaper in the nation did. (Gagliardo, p. 5)  Gagliardo conceived the idea of an award chosen by children from a master list of books selected by a committee of children’s literature experts.  She first ran the idea past Dorothy Canfield Fisher, herself a children’s book author.  Fisher knew White well, having served 18 years with him on the Book-of-the Month Club jury.  Not only did she heartily approve of the idea, she let it be known in her home state of Vermont, and the year before her death in 1958 had such an award named after her.  Following the approval of White’s surviving wife and son, the William Allen White Children’s Book Award program was born.  The first award, a handsome bronze medal designed by Kansas sculptor Eldon Tefft,  was presented in 1952 to Elizabeth Yates  for the book Amos Fortune, Free Man.  

2010 Winners and their award winning books.   Barbara O'Connor
  (How to Steal a Dog) and Cynthia Kadohata (Cracker! The Best Dog

in Vietnam) -- at Red Rock House

 The award program has changed very little in its over 60 years. The biggest change occurred as the award neared its 50^th anniversary, when it was updated to reflect changes in children’s literature and school structure.  Rather than one master list for readers in grades 4 through 9, a selection committee made up of over 20 librarians, teachers, parents, and children’s literature now selects books for two master lists (grades 3 to 5 and grades 6 to 8).  Children choose one winner from each list.  Since its 50^th anniversary, the awards program has been driven by the motto “Bringing Authors, Books, and Children Together.”  The awards ceremony, which used to take place during a formal luncheon, is now the culminating event in a morning of autographing and children’s activities, including a parade with the authors, on the campus of the sponsoring institution, Emporia State University. During the ceremony, lucky representative students from the state of Kansas still present the awards to the winning authors who then share with the audience the “story behind the book” which won them the award.

In 2012, the home of its namesake joined the awards festivities when the Red Rocks community partnership sponsored a book signing and reception for the two award winners on its porch the evening before the awards ceremony.  Winning authors Wendy Mass and Diana Lopez managed a quick tour of the home before the evening was over and were in full agreement that Red Rocks still maintains the hospitality of its former owner William Allen White.  In 2013, Red Rocks will host Patrick Jennings, the winner for the grades 3 to 5 award on its porch so he can soak up a bit of White’s hospitality and meet with some of the children from across Kansas who are responsible for him being there.

The author of this article, Beverley Olson Buller is a retired—but still certified—school librarian and author who heads the William Allen White Children’s Book Awards selection committee and serves as board president for William Allen White Community Partnership which oversees Red Rocks with the Kansas State Historical Society.  Her website is:  www.beverleybooks.com

Cynthia Kadohata (2010 winner)
with a life sized cutout of
William Allen White.

Additional resources:

Red Rocks Historic Site:  http://www.kshs.org/red_rocks

The William Allen White Children’s Book Awards:  http://waw.emporia.edu

References:

American Association of School Librarians. “Past AASL Statements of Commendation”.  Retrieve 27 July 2013 from:  http://www.ala.org/aasl/aboutaasl/affils/pastcommend

Buller, Beverley Olson.  From Emporia:  The Story of William Allen White.  Kansas City, MO:  Kansas City STAR Books, 2007.

Ferber, Edna.  A Peculiar Treasure.  New York:  Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc., 1939.

Gagliardo, Ruth Garver.  “I Knew William Allen White”. Address delivered at the 1967 meeting of the William Allen White Foundation, Emporia, KS.  Housed at Emporia State University Archives.

White, William Allen.  The Autobiography of William Allen White.  New York:  MacMillan, 1946.

Wright, Frank Lloyd.  Letter to William Allen White, February 25, 1915.  Library of Congress.

International Dot Day - September 15

In 2009, a teacher — Terry Shay, in small town Iowa (Traer) was searching for a book to inspire a life lesson.  He found such a book in Peter H. Reynolds's The Dot  (Candlewick, 2003).

The story is that of Vashti a child who just "can't draw."  A teacher suggestion that she just begin by "making her mark."  The creativity evolves as she takes a stab at creating art.  Her first efforts begin with a blast of red and orange.  The mantra presented in the book is that of "Just make a mark."  Spurred by Shay (and with encouragement but with very little direct involvement, by Reynolds) International Dot Day has grown to circle the earth and involve thousands of children making their mark — their dot.
Families, classrooms, individuals can sign up to participate in the current celebration of Dot Day -- occurs around September 15ish
Parents and teachers, and children themselves can take this opportunity to promote their own creativity and to find out where their personal dot might take them.  Join the dot club at http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/

A YouTube video will introduce readers to the book and begin some thinking about how a dot can be the beginning of "Making a Mark" -- At first one can make their mark literally.  Soon that might extend into figuratively making a mark in the world.  What will the student do?  Raise funds to send books to Ethiopia or to build a school there?

Join by making YOUR mark!  Join in the International Dot Day - September 15th.

Irena's Jars of Secrets: Marcia Vaughan

Occasionally, I do clean my office and rearrange book shelves -- and recently I was doing just that when I happened across a book (2011) that I recall loving and thinking I would blog about it.  I don't think I ever did.  But it touched my heart again and IMHO  it should be in every library in America.  We must always know of our past - in order that we don't repeat the mistakes of history.  The book is featured on the publishers website at http://www.leeandlow.com/books/430/hc/irena_s_jars_of_secrets

Irena's Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Ron Mazellan (Lee and Low Books, 2011) is an account of a young Catholic girl, born in Warsaw, Poland in 1910, Irena Sendler.  She was raised by her parents to respect all people regardless of race or religion.  Her own father died when Irena was just 7 -- he had caught typhus treating patient.  He was the only doctor in the area who would treat poor Jewish people.  Irena was just 29 years of age when the Nazis invaded Polad.  More than 4000 Warsaw Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto.  Their movement strictly restricted.  Irena was a social worker and saw much of the struggle to survive.  Because she was an nurse (with papers to investigate illnesses inside the ghetto) she was allowed to come and go into and out of the ghetto.  She knew she had to help -- and she decided one way she could help was to save the children.  Parents learned to trust Irena and soon she had convinced some parents to let her take their children to safety -- Irena and fellow workers hid babies under the floorboard of ambulances; others were hid under stretchers.  Babies were carried "out in baskets, boxes, tool chests, sacks, and suitcases."  Sometimes the children were hidden among garbage.  Many foster families were found.  Irena kept a record of each child she rescued and placed in safer places.  The record was put in a jar, buried under an apple tree in her neighbor's yard. Eventually she was betrayed.  She was arrested, questioned, tortured - but she never gave up the secrets in her jar.  She was scheduled to be executed by firing squad.  The day after her scheduled execution, lists all over Warsaw listed Irena among those executed the day before.  Unbeknown to the Gestapo, members of the Zegota had paid a bribe and she has been set free, secretly.  Eventually the Gestapo found out but by then Irena was in hiding where she continued to work for the Zegota.  At the end of World War II (1945) Irena returned to the apple tree, recovered her lists and gave the names of 2500 children rescued to the Jewish National Committee.  Most of the children survived the war, most of the parents did not.  Some of the children were reunited with other relatives, some stayed with their non-Jewish families, and others went to live in other countries.  Irena was given many awards, near the end of her life, in honor of her heroic work.  Her very last years were spent in a nursing home in Warsaw where one of her caregivers was a child she had smuggled out of the ghetto years earlier, in a carpenter's box hidden under a load of bricks.  Irena Sendler died May 12, 2008 at the age of ninety-eight.
Ron Mazellan's art for this book beautifully depict the despair of the ghetto and the steadfast earnestness of the members of the Zegota who were determined to save children.  Mazellan represents Irena as the courageous woman she was, from her first years working to save children to her final days as a hero.  But the author tells us that Irena did not see herself as a hero.  Vaughan ends her story of Irena Sendler with a quote by Irena Sendler, from a letter sent to the Polish Senate in 2007 - the same year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Those words are the same words I will conclude this narrative:

"Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory." ~ Irena Sendler

Many resources are included at the end of the picture book text, along with a glossary and pronunciation guide,  following an afterword.

Jack Mayer - author of the book: Life in a Jar:
the Irena Sendler Project.

Very few people had heard of Irena Sendlerowa, until four high school students engaged on a year-long history project.  Their story and the story of their project (and website) Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project is told in many articles and on many sites on the Internet -- but the one definitive site seems to be Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project at http://www.irenasendler.org
Jack Mayer wrote a book titled Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project (Long Trail Press, 2011).  The book tells of Sendler's life as well as the life of the project began by the four high school history researchers.   












The picture book  Irena's Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Ron Mazellan (Lee and Low Books, 2011) will provide a great springboard for a discussion of:

• Holocaust
• Survivors
• Heroic Deeds
• Nobel Peace Prize
• International History Project
• The Power of One
• Untold Stories in History

UPDATE:  On May 12, 2008 Irene Sendler died and at the time of her death she was being cared for by one of the children (a baby) Sendler had saved during the war.   

Born: February 15, 1910, Otwock, Poland

Died: May 12, 2008, Warsaw, Poland

Awards: Order of the Smile, More

Parents: Stanisław Krzyżanowski, Janina Krzyżanowska

Spouse: Stefan Zgrzembski (m. 1947–1959; b. 1905-d. 1961), Mieczysław Sendler (m. 1931–1947; b. 1910-d. 2005).  Some sources record that Irena remarried Sendler after her divorce in 1959 from Zgrzembski, but was divorced a second time from Sendler.

Children: Janina Zgrzembska, Adam Zgrzembski (d. 1999), Andrzej Zgrzembski (died in infancy)


There are other books about Irena Sendler.  Susan Goldman Rubin's, with illustrations by Bill Farnsworth is one of the best.

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Cite this blog post:
McElmeel, Sharron. (2021, August 13).  Irena's Jars of Secrets: Marcia Vaughan. McBookwords (Blog). http://bit.ly/sendler

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Bookstore Tour -- Hicklebees - San Jose, California

Hicklebee's Bookstore

Hicklebee's Bookstore is legendary.  Well-known for its commitment to children's books, the store has thrived in San Jose, California since April of 1979.  The origins of the store involved four friends: Jan Gottlieb, Georgia Osborne, Vicki Villarreal, and Valerie Lewis.  While the books stayed some of the friends have moved on and only Valerie Lewis remains.  She now owns the store with her sister Monica Holmes.  The 3,400 square foot store is still home to thousands of books, and a wall of memorabilia from children's books -- the Hicklebee's Hall of Fame.  Authors and illustrators who visit the store often leave behind mementos from their books/characters.  Check out the contribution from Steven Kellogg -- the bag with Pinkerton, was created (with an illustration from Kellogg) by the Iowa Reading Association more than 20 years ago.  Finding that tote bag on the wall at Hicklebee's is a "it's a small world" moment. 

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A Photowalk Through Hicklebee's

State: California
Written and photographed by Jenn Buliszak

My family and I recently visited California as part of our summer vacation. It’s always fun to plan a stop to local independent children’s bookstores when traveling. It was exciting to discover that we would drive past San Jose as we headed south toward Los Angeles; Hicklebee’s children’s bookshop is a landmark that I have long wanted to visit.

Hicklebee’s is located at 1378 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose, California. This nationally-known, award-winning independent children’s bookstore has been selling fantastic children’s, middle grade and young adult books for well over 30 years.

While perusing their books, the viewer notes the large volume of books stocked on their shelves. Hicklebee’s had a plethora of popular newly published titles as well as extensive backlist titles available.  They also had a large section devoted to popular books in Spanish and other world languages.

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Hicklebee’s has a Wall ofFame on the left side of the store. Author and Illustrators have donated fun book memorabilia to the famous bookstore. Articles included a Hunger Games Mockingjay Pin from Susan Collins, Patricia Reilly Giff’s manuscript for Happy Birthday, Ronald Morgan and Rosemary Wells’ book mockup for Noisy Nora. 

A visit to the wonderful Hicklebee’s is a must if you find yourself in the San Jose area!

Resources:

      Hicklebee’s online at http://www.hicklebees.com/ 
Hicklebee’s Book of the Month Club http://www.hicklebees.com/programs-services/book-month

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If you have a favorite bookstore you would like to highlight please e-mail us with your idea (and the name and a few words about the bookstore that you would be interested in highlighting).  Our goal is  to highlight at least one great bookstore in every state.