SOURCE: Bone, Robert. “Richard Wright and the Chicago Renaissance.” Callaloo 9, no. 3 (summer 1986): 446-68.

In the following essay, Bone provides an introduction to the Chicago School of writers, focusing on the connections between the literary doctrines followed by authors such as Richard Wright and Arna Bontemps on the one hand, and the theories developed by the University of Chicago School of Sociology on the other.

One of the last visits I had with [Robert] Park was a few years ago when he had dinner in my apartment in Chicago. After dinner Richard Wright was to come by, as Park had expressed an interest in meeting him. … [Park] was old by that time, way up in the 70's, and it was difficult for him to get around. When Wright walked into the room Park began a painful struggle to get out of his chair. Wright impulsively asked him not to...