Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) grew Cleveland, lived and worked in the South, and later returned to Cleveland where his writing career bloomed. He wrote many novels and essays that explored complex issues of racial and social identity in the United States. Cleveland Public Library's John G. White Collection holds significant and unique collections of his works and papers of the Cleveland writer Charles Chesnutt. In a remarkable collaboration, two of Chenutt's books were made into films, The House Behind the Cedars (1927) and The Conjure Woman (1926).  These films are now lost. The filmmaker who adapted Chesnutt  was Oscar Deveraux Micheaux, (January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951), a leading African American film producer and director of the times, and a fellow traveller of Chesnutts in representing and thinking about issues of racial and social identity. Come help us celebrate Chesnutt's birthday (the day after) and get a flavor of the 1920's viewing Body and Soul (1925) a contemporaneous seen through a silent race film starring Paul Robeson. There will be a brief introduction to the film and a discussion after.