Fern Schumer Chapman

Fern Schumer Chapman is a journalist and author best known for her autobiographical book "".

"Motherland" is a story that opens a window to view the legacy of war, genocide, and trauma. This memoir follows a young mother’s pilgrimage into her family’s history. Fern accompanies her mother, Edith, a Holocaust escapee, in a baffling visit to the German village that was her mother’s homeland. When her mother was twelve years old, her parents sent her by herself to America to escape the Nazis. Edith’s return trip 65 years later brought her face-to-face with her former classmates who had not escaped the shame, guilt, and lingering scars of the war either. The book is used in middle school, high school and college classrooms, offering young people an opportuunity to explore issues of fairness, identity and social justice.

The Illinois Association of Teachers of English named Chapman the Illinois Author of the Year in 2004 for “Motherland.” The book, featured on The Oprah Show, has been a selection for one book/one community programs in the Quad Cities and Racine, Wisconsin. It was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in 2000. The book is available in other languages including German.

Chapman is the advisor of the award winning Lake Forest College newspaper, The Stentor.