Adlai Stevenson to Discuss His Latest Book Oct. 7 at Milner Library

The black book, as in "The Black Book: American Politics as We Knew It for 5 Generations, Lessons from the American Past," by Adlai Stevenson III, began about 150 years ago as a brown, loose-leaf binder.

Stevenson will discuss the book's origin and evolution in his family at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Milner Library.  Admission is free and open to the public.   There will be a book signing following the presentation.

Great-grandfather Adlai Stevenson I (1836-1914), who began as a county prosecutor and eventually served as Vice President of the United States, created the folder to collect stories, sayings and anecdotes.  The binder moved on to his grandson, Adlai II 1900-1965), who expanded the collection in a black binder during his careers in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, as governor of Illinois, as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956 and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The binder, now filling with notes written on menus, napkins, whatever was nearby, underwent editing and organizing by Adlai II's staff and later, Adlai III and his staff.  Adlai III added more from his life as a Marine, Illinois Supreme Court law clerk, State Representative, State Treasurer, U.S. Senator, gubernatorial candidate, farmer, international investment banker and public policy activist.

According to author Stevenson, "The Black Book" spans more than a century and a half of American history, contrasting a rich American past with the present, describing cultural and political change from on the ground and in the world we knew.  The lessons are incorporated in comments on economics, diplomacy, the press, education, religion, war (it's easy) and peace (it's hard) and the future.

Stevenson said that in experiencing the past, much of the present was foreseen in the Black Book, including terrorism, the consequences of unsustainable levels of debt and a "financialized" economy, and the rise of China in the life cycle of nations and empires. The Black Book became a metaphor for American politics idealized and realized, he said, beckoning others to carry on by recovering American values it records. It is rich in the humor which enlivened American politics and often reflecteda healthy skepticism toward politics - but never cynicism.

The Stevenson Collection, a permanent collection on the fourth floor of Milner Library, includes approximately 300 artifacts, including political memorabilia such as campaign buttons, handwritten drafts of Adlai E. Stevenson II's famed acceptance speech for the 1952 Democratic presidential nomination, and a hat that belonged to the first Adlai E. Stevenson, who served as Vice President of the United States under Grover Cleveland from 1893 to 1897.