{"id":7574,"date":"2022-07-29T16:11:36","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T16:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/?p=7574"},"modified":"2022-07-29T16:12:02","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T16:12:02","slug":"publicity-of-the-best-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/2022\/07\/29\/publicity-of-the-best-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Years of the Newbery: “Publicity of the Best Kind”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clara W. Hunt, chair of the Children\u2019s Librarians Section, had noted that the Newbery Medal provided children\u2019s literature with \u201cpublicity of the best kind.\u201d But ALA did not always rely on the Newbery\u2019s popularity to capture the public\u2019s attention. Publicity around the Newbery Medal has drummed up excitement amongst librarians, readers, and the public for the past century. Often this has meant events, press releases, newsletters, radio programming, television broadcasts, and newspaper and magazine articles. Even the medal\u2019s donor, Fredric Melcher, was part of the pageantry by holding press conferences at his New York office to announce the awardee of the Newbery Medal. However, some publicity ideas were more daring than press conferences and radio programs. The two stories of Rachel Field and Misty the Horse highlight a couple out of the box stunts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rachel Field and Milton J. Ferguson. Ferguson announced to Field that “Hitty” have been chosen to receive the Newbery Medal. Los Angeles Conference, 1930.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In celebration of Rachel Field, the first female author to win the Newbery, for her book Hitty, Her First Hundred Years<\/em>, she was flown into the ALA Conference in Los Angeles. Not a common feat in 1930. Field\u2019s publisher, the Macmillan Company, chartered the flight.<\/p>\n

While Field was in the air, she had esteemed librarian visitors. The Bulletin of the American Library Association<\/em> describes the event: \u201cA bit of air history was made in connection with the ALA conference this year when an airplane carrying Rachel Field, winner of the Newbery medal, was met 10,000 feet in the air \u2026 by two other planes carrying Milton J. Ferguson, California state librarian and representatives of the Section for Library Work with Children of the ALA, the Los Angeles Public Library, the Los Angeles County Library and the press\u2026\u201d (1)<\/p>\n

Over headsets, Ferguson spoke to Field about her Newbery award as the other occupants listened in, though the planes drowned out parts of their conversation. Field was then greeted by the chair of the Section for Library Work with Children, Effie Power, once she arrived at Los Angeles\u2019 Grand Central Air Terminal. Coming in by airplane, Field had made a grand entrance into the ALA Conference, however she would have to wait until the end of the conference for her medal. (2)<\/p>\n

The medal presentation was made during the last general session of the conference, instead of during the Section for Library Work with Children\u2019s session. This spoke of the popularity of Field\u2019s book and the occasion of her award. Power acknowledged the need for the change in venue, \u201cThe popularity of this feature of our program was our undoing. It appears that we enticed catalogers from subject headings and small town librarians from publicity, to rooms crowded to overflowing. Something had to be done about it.\u201d (3)<\/p>\n

Field got to bookend the conference with a dramatic entrance and her Newbery medal. And while flying in loud airplanes was probably not the most practical way to speak to an award-winning author, it did make for a great stunt and truly marked the occasion of the first female awardee.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Effie Power with Newbery medal, Los Angeles, 1930.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not all publicity efforts were universally well received, as was the case of the appearance of Misty the Horse at the 1949 Midwest Regional ALA Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1949, Marguerite Henry received the Newbery for her book, King of the Wind: the Story of the Godolphin Arabian<\/em>, but it was the subject of her Newbery runner-up book, Misty of Chincoteague<\/em>, that ended up on display. Misty the Horse made a visit to the conference\u2019s exhibit, arranged by Henry\u2019s publishers, the Rand McNally Company.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Misty” – Story Book Heroine – Librarian for a Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The announcement of Misty\u2019s visit was made in the October 1949 ALA Bulletin<\/em>, a month before the regional conference, by ALA\u2019s Executive Secretary, John Mackenzie Cory. Cory wrote that Misty would make a personal appearance in observance of Henry\u2019s Newbery Medal. The following month, Henry and Misty graced the cover of the November ALA Bulletin <\/em>with the caption \u201c\u2018Misty\u2019\u2014Story Book Heroine\u2014Librarian for a Day.\u201d Further information in the ALA Bulletin<\/em> noted that Misty was attending the Midwest Regional ALA Conference and present at the Rand McNally booth on November 11.<\/p>\n

It would stand to reason that Misty\u2019s invitation and appearance at the conference was cleared by the Children\u2019s Librarians Association (CLA), the ALA unit that awarded the Newbery Medal. However, this was apparently not the case, according to Virginia Chase, a previous chair of the Newbery-Caldecott Awards Committee and member of CLA.<\/p>\n

Incensed by Misty\u2019s debut at the conference, Chase wrote to Helen Kinsey, of ALA\u2019s Booklist publication, to express her shock and to reassert CLA\u2019s position on the horse: \u201cIn case you wondered if CLA has lost its wits by having Misty there, you will be interested to know that the CLA Board to the last man decidedly voted against the horse and was assured by Headquarters that she would not appear. This first I knew she was coming was when I read in Mr. Cory\u2019s memo in the October Bulletin \u2026 I hope no one else at Headquarters thinks we wanted the horse or even lifted a finger to get her there.\u201d (4)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Letter from Virginia Chase to Helen Kinsey, November 21, 1949.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kinsey wrote back with both reassurance for Chase and gentle praise for Misty: \u201cThe matter of Misty\u2019s being there will not, I\u2019m sure, be held against CLA. It seemed well understood how CLA stood on the matter. In any event, I would say that Misty was a huge success, enjoyed by everyone, apparently, except the Macmillan crowd (who had a perfect right to be annoyed). Even Mr. Cory remarked on Misty\u2019s attendance meant in the way of publicity for both ALA and Grand Rapids [Public Library].\u201d (5)<\/p>\n

Even though Chase and the Macmillan crowd were irked by Misty\u2019s appearance, Kinsey was able to put a positive spin on the attention the horse brought to ALA and the Grand Rapids Public Library.<\/p>\n

While today ALA still celebrates and publicizes the Newbery award, unfortunately ALA has fewer ponies in attendance at conferences and no longer flies planes side by side to tell authors about their Newbery award.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blog post adapted from \u201cThe Newbery in the Archives: 100 Years of Letters, Photographs, and Stories,\u201d presented at The Newbery Medal at 100, November 5, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cCulled from a Conference Note-Book,\u201d Bulletin of the American Library Association 24, no. 7 (July 1930): 275-279.<\/li>\n
  2. Ibid.<\/li>\n
  3. Papers and Proceedings of the Fifty-Second Annual Meeting of the American Library Association,<\/em> (Chicago: American Library Association, 1930), 487.<\/li>\n
  4. Virginia Chase to Helen Kinsey, November 21, 1949, Awards File, 1934-2009, Record Series 24\/2\/8, Box 4, Folder: Newbery Medal, 1948-49.<\/li>\n
  5. Helen Kinsey to Virginia Chase, December 1, 1949, Awards File, 1934-2009, Record Series 24\/2\/8, Box 4, Folder: Newbery Medal, 1948-49.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Clara W. Hunt, chair of the Children\u2019s Librarians Section, had noted that the Newbery Medal provided children\u2019s literature with \u201cpublicity of the best kind.\u201d But ALA did not always rely on the Newbery\u2019s popularity to capture the public\u2019s attention. Publicity around the Newbery Medal has drummed up excitement amongst librarians, readers, and the public for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":706,"featured_media":7576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,222],"class_list":["post-7574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ala-history","tag-awards","tag-newbery-medal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7574"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7583,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions\/7583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}