[Letterhead]

Eighteen East Elm Street
A Furnished Apartment Hotel
Chicago

to “Emperor Jones” given by
an all-negro cast; to see
some real negro ceremonial
dance — songs (we would call
them dances accompanied by
chanting, but the negroes
simply call them songs for,
to them, dancing is a part
of singing.) They were Ushanti
negroes from Africa by a
wealthy negro at the University
of Chicago & couldn’t speak
a word of English. They
showed us their drums &
tom-toms but wouldn’t let
anyone touch them (least of all
a woman)

6 [written in upper left corner]

because that was a strict
taboo. Their danced were
marvelous & we are going
to see them again soon.);
to a lecture, with movies
of the crafts of the Gold
Coast showing the wood-
carvers, brass-casters &
pottery makers at work;
and to a swell negro cabaret
where the entertainers were
the peppiest & wildest I have
seen. Cristina likes the
negroes here & is on a
committee which is trying
to arrange an exhibition
of American & African Negro
art, to be put on during
the Fair (though not at the Fair)

7 [written in upper left corner]

In a gallery the other day
I saw some swell primitive
paintings in a corner. Three of
them. They were brought from
Africa by a Chicago negress
& were painted by a young
negro over there. One showed
a negro sport (similar to
hockey), another, agriculture
scenes, & the third, negro
mythology, with King Solomon.
They were priced $30, $200, & $350
respectively. I told the woman
the prices were all out of
reason & she said she would
talk to the negress about it.
I asked if she had any
photos of them, for I thought
you & Diego would like to

8 [written in upper left corner]

see them. She said “No I haven’t
— but my brother is one of
the best photographers of the
country — Edward Weston —
possibly you have heard of
him?” Our car is a peach
& we get lots of pleasure
from it — but it’s not much
fun driving down-town —
almost impossible to park &
parking-stations charge 35¢
first hour, 50¢ two hours &
75¢ over two hours! You
ought to drive ^to Chicago^ here — though
I know you wont. It is
so interesting approaching
Chicago from the east. We
left Detroit late & so we stayed
at Michigan City for the night

9 [written in upper left corner]

[Letterhead]

& drove in the early-morning
sunshine along the lakeshore
& past the fields of hundreds
of gasoline tanks & past
the steel-foundries & factories
of Gary & then along the
Lakeshore Drive past
the Exposition Grounds &
the centre of the City to
where we live. Jean just
wanted to know what I am
saying & she says I told you
all about the negro shows
in a previous letter. I don’t
remember it, but if I did —
my god, don’t read this
letter! We have been to the

10 [written in upper left corner]

Museums, Aquarium, Shows
& yesterday to the Stockyards.
Talk about the conveyor
system! imagine a man
standing eight hours a day,
with living pigs hanging
by one leg from a conveyor,
& killing them as they pass
at the rate of 750 an hour
all day long & every day!
We saw a Rabbi killing
calves for the Jews. He did it
just the same as the others
the only difference being
that he was a filthy-looking
long-whiskered individual,
a mass of blood from head
to foot, who seemed to enjoy
wallowing in gore.

11 [written in upper left corner]

But the whole system was
extremely interesting to me.
There is a fine zoo up the
beach from here. We walked
up the last Sunday morning
& saw, for the first time,
“love among the mountain
lions.” It had started before
I arrived & continued, before
a large & appreciative mixed
audience, for a half an
hour longer. I was very
interesting & sculptural
& beautiful, but I’m
afraid dear Father Paulus
wouldn’t approve. The
female was “mowrowling”
all the time in a deep voice
as much as to say “Ouch! but I
like it!”

But my real ambition is
to witness “love among the
camels.” We have visited
Ken slaughter (the man I
traveled in Mexico with) &
his wife. They have a t 2 year-
old son. He is working in the
same art gallery & the day we
called on him, he had sold a
painting for $5.000. There are still
wealthy people here who buy
“conservative” paintings, but most
of their business during the last
year or two has been with the
museums. I am sure you will
like Chicago. It will be easy for you to get an
apartment on the lake front & you will be able
to walk across the street to the beach & lie
down in the sun & lake breeze & it should
be very healthy for you. And the Exposition
will be interesting but I have discovered that
if one saw everything & did everything, it would
cost about $70! Did you receive the catalogues.
Did Dr. Eloesser come east? ^au revoir, ^ Your friend, Clifford.