Newberry Library - Koch, Ray and Charlotte (Chucky), [last to caretaker Carolee Hazlett], Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, 1967-1990

Koch, Ray and Charlotte (Chucky), [last to caretaker Carolee Hazlett], Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, 1967-1990

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Open book Koch, Ray and Charlotte (Chucky), [last to caretaker Carolee Hazlett], Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, 1967-1990

Title Koch, Ray and Charlotte (Chucky), [last to caretaker Carolee Hazlett], Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, 1967-1990

Creator Conroy, Jack, 1898-1990

Date 1967-1990

Language English

Subjects New Left

Format Correspondence

User-Contributed Transcription -2-
carpenters. I must be, for my boss voluntarily strengthened our tie by giving me a quarter an hour raise - above scale. I value my carpentry mainly because it keeps me in superb physical condition and in good appetite. On the other hand, I am saddened to be helping reproduce a lousy situation generally. Engels sure said it when he wrote his thesis on The Housing Question, way back in the 19th century.

I will end with a little story which illustrates how Chucky never lets illness dehumanize her. Recently I visisted [sic] her after work at St. Joseph Hospital. It was plain she had been crying. "You hurt that much?" I asked.
"Of course," she replied, "but that's not why I cried. It's something that happened down in therapy."
It seems she had been sitting in a wheel chair, between two other patients in wheel chairs, waiting for their treatments. On her left was a charming old Negro man who said he had spent his whole life being "boy" to the famous Jock Whitney in connection with his string of racing horses. He had thus traveled in high class circles and seen most of the world, picking up knowledge of the world and its peoples. He had occasion to whisper to Chucky, later, "You sure told it like it was . . . and is."
Turning from the old man, Chucky had attempted to initiate a conversation with the woman on her right. Somehow they got to discussing the problems of the inner cities, the slums and ghettos. The woman volunteered that if she could have her way the program of Aid to Dependent Children would be ended, thus stopping all those women from having so many illegitimate children so they could get the checks. Chucky countered with some history, going back to slavery to point out how we had enslaved the blacks, raped their women, separating families by selling husbands and wives to separate owners. She pointe out how we create the dependency which forces the present day breakup of the Negro family. By this time the woman had haughtily rolled her wheel-chair a few feet forward. Chucky pursued to apologize, "I'm sorry if I've been a bit sharp with you, personally."
"Don't you know it's all spelled out in detail in the bible?" the woman explained. "We are only doing the Lord's work when we make it hard on the black people." She went on to say something to the effect that when Cain slew Abel the Lord was so mad he punished Ham and his descendants by making them black. And they were to be punished the rest of their days. Chucky is no scholar of the bible so she couldn't discuss the fine points of that.
Chucky sat mute for a minute or two, then asked, "By the way, what do you do?" "I don't work," the woman replied, then added, "But I am a member of the School Board."
"I found myself crying," Chucky told me. "The tears just poured down my face. What more could I say? What more could I do? I don't suppose she is a member of the School Board of Chicago, but she is surely on the school board of a suburb. That was when the old man leaned toward me to say, 'You sure told it like it is.'"
Even though our greetings are belated, rest assured we value and cherish you all more than ever this year, and we rejoice that there are still human decency and strength and courage in the world to keep the fires burning.

As always our love,
Chucky and Ray
Koch
451 W. Aldine
Chicago, Illinois 60657
handwritten upside down in bottom margin It's nice to have you remember us down Missouri way. Do they still make fire bricks down there? Read all your reviews and enjoy their substance. Ray

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Jack Conroy papers

Link to Catalog View finding aid | View record

Call Number Midwest MS Conroy Box 16 Folder 819

BibID nan

Projects Tag IMLS Cares 2020

Rights Status Copyright Not Evaluated

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

Size 3243px × 5181px 96.17 MB

File Created 10/14/2021

Filename 992006198805867_midwest_ms_conroy_box_00016_fl_00819_000002.tif

Unique Identifier NL19WNB

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