Robert E. Butler to Charles Waddell Chesnutt, 28 July 1921
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Circulation over 200,000 weekly with a Million Readers
THE ROBERT S. ABBOTT PUBLISHING COMPANY (INC.)
PUBLISHERS
THE CHICAGO DEFENDER1
WORLD'S GREATEST WEEKLY
3435 INDIANA AVENUE CHICAGO
"Accurate For 14 Years"
July 28, 1921.
Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt,
1106 Williamson Bldg.,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
Thanx—kindly for your letter.2
I assure you that this office is yet interested in what I wrote to you, sometime ago, and that I shall be glad to discuss the matter upon your arrival, here.3
Yours very truly, THE ROBERT S. ABBOTT PUB. CO. Robert E. Butler Circulation Manager. REB.cCorrespondent: Robert E. Butler (1899–1971) was a Black man from Chicago who joined the Chicago Defender staff as a student, before graduating from Wendell Phillips High School in 1918. He worked first as a reporter and then as a circulation manager.
1. While possibly prompted by discussions about a combined serialization and movie-rights contract involving Micheaux Film Corporation and the Chicago Defender in the summer of 1921, Chesnutt ultimately decided on a separate contract with the Defender for the serialization rights of The House Behind the Cedars for $125.00, of which $31.25 (25%) went to Houghton Mifflin. The novel was serialized in 19 weekly parts from October 29, 1921, to March 4, 1922 (part 1 on pages 1 and 8; parts 2–11 on page 8 only; and parts 12–19 on page 2 of the weekly paper's new "Feature Section"). [back]
2. Chesnutt's letter has not been located, but it is clear from his letter to Swan Micheaux from July 27, 1921, that the Chicago Defender contacted him in June of 1921 about serializing The House Behind the Cedars. He seemingly replied, informing Butler that he was going to visit Chicago. [back]
3. In August 1921, Chesnutt and his daughter Helen used Chicago as their starting and end point for a road trip, making a large loop through Yellowstone to the West coast, going north and back east through Canada via Victoria, British Columbia, Lake Louise and Banff, Alberta, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, while Chesnutt's wife Susan and their son Edwin were vacationing in Idlewild, Michigan. [back]
