Imagine losing almost everything in one night.
Today is October 8. On this date in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire began.
It burned for three days. About 300 people died. Roughly 90,000 people lost their homes. That was more than one in four people in the city. Thousands of buildings were gone.
You may have heard the story about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and a lantern. That is only a legend. No one knows for sure how the fire started.
The same night, far north in Wisconsin, another fire swept through the town of Peshtigo. It took even more lives and got far less attention. It deserves to be remembered, too.
It is a hard story. But what came next is the part I love.
On October 11, while the ashes were still warm, the Chicago Tribune printed an editorial called “Cheer Up.” It said the people of the city had decided that “CHICAGO SHALL RISE AGAIN.”
Brave words. But words don’t build a city.
Hammers did. Day after day, the hammers rang. And something else came, too.
Books.
Far away in England, a writer and member of Parliament named Thomas Hughes heard the news. He had an idea. What if England sent Chicago a library?
He and A. H. Burgess began to ask. They asked publishers. They asked authors. They asked schools and ordinary readers. They hoped to give Chicago a free library, as “a token of true brotherly kindness.”
People said yes. Can you imagine that? Sounds wonderful.
Thousands of books crossed the ocean. Queen Victoria sent one, signed in her own hand. Famous writers sent books, too. Benjamin Disraeli, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning and John Ruskin were among the givers.
Then came a funny problem. Chicago was not allowed, by law, to run a free public library. So the state of Illinois passed a new law in 1872.
The Chicago Public Library opened on January 1, 1873. That was less than a year and a half after the fire.
Where did it open? In an old iron water tank.
Not fancy. But open.
Some of those English books are still kept in Chicago today. Their thick leather covers have lasted a long time.
This is the novelty of it all. Nobody who mailed a book to Chicago could see the whole picture. They only knew one thing. Someone was hurting, and they had something small to give.
And Thomas Hughes did something simple. He asked.
In the Gospel at Mass we hear Jesus saying, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9) I won’t pretend it is about a library. But I think of it when I read this story. Asking can be brave. Giving can be small. Both can change a city.
Maybe there is something you could ask for today. Help. A little time. A listening ear.
Maybe there is something small you could give. A book. A note. A phone call.
You may never see where it goes.
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