Peoria Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Friday, February 6th, 2026 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Peoria Women's Club, 301 NE Madison Ave., Peoria
In collaboration with Bradley University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), the PWC invites you to join the Peoria Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, recognized as the oldest continuous book club in the United States. Lynette Steger, a professional educator and Peoria Women's Club board member, is the moderator.
Registration will be available through the OLLI website under Winter Semester: https://www.bradley.edu/academic/continue/olli/. A small fee includes membership in the national Chautauqua Institution, contributions toward CLSC graduation, and access to discussions, snacks, and coffee.
What we are reading and discussing:
Harlem Rhapsody - By Victoria Christopher Murray
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C, arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she has a secret that jeopardizes it all.
W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, but he’s her lover. And neither his wife nor their fourteen-year age difference can keep the two apart. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor, finding sixteen-year-old Countee Cullen, seventeen-year-old Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen, who becomes one of her best friends. Under Jessie’s leadership, The Crisis thrives…every African American writer in the country wants their work published there.
When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater, and the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.
Questions?
Contact Peoria CLSC Instructor Lynette Steger at (309) 642-2688 or stegerlynette@gmail.com.
Location: Peoria Women’s Club, 301 NE Madison Ave., Peoria, IL 61603
