The Newberry Library and community organizations are holding a year of conversations to reckon with the deadly race riots of 1919.

To mark the 100th year anniversary of the riots, the Newberry Library, in partnership with the Chicago Urban League and several other local organizations, is hosting "Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots," a year of free public programs. Funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities Community Conversations grant, the citywide programs are designed to inspire diverse communities to think about the city's history and the "continued resonance" of that violent week in 1919, according to Liesl Olson, director of Chicago Studies of the Newberry Library, and a Reader contributor.