Lecture on Book Censorship

THE NEW YORK COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES AND THE PURCHASE COLLEGE LIBRARY

 

 

Lecture by

JOHN R. HOWARD, Ph.D., J.D.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE PROFESSOR EMERITUS

SIN AND SUBVERSION:

THE RISE AND FALL OF BOOK CENSORSHIP IN AMERICA

 

 

 

 

What do Alice Walker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence and J .K. Rowling have in common? Their books have been censored. From the 1870’s through the 1960’s literary censorship was a legal fact of life in the United States, publishers and booksellers were prosecuted and books were seized pursuant to court order. Today community concerns rather than legal sanction drive discussions of what titles should or should not be available in local public libraries, leading to the removal of works deemed ‘inappropriate’. During the course of the lecture Carrie Martin and Leah Massar, Purchase College Librarians, will read excerpts from banned books. They will also join Dr. Howard in the panel discussion following the lecture.  Audience members will also be invited to read excerpts from censored books. This program is supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2014, 6:00 p.m.

The Red Room 0129—The Student Services Building

Purchase College-The State University of New York