Collecting America: How a Friendship Enriched Our Understanding of American Culture

When Chicago steel magnate Everett D. Graff walked into Wright Howes’ bookshop on Michigan Avenue in the 1920s he sparked one of the most important friendships in the book world.  Their four-decade partnership, which included cross-country road trips in search of books, manuscripts, and maps, resulted in a world-class American history collection, which Graff donated to the Newberry in 1964. One of the most noteworthy features of the Graff Collection is its coherence, which conveys Graff and Howes’ vision as collectors. Through correspondence, photographs, and images this exhibit shows how their friendship helped make the Newberry’s Graff collection of American history possible.