Synopses & Reviews
The use of print to challenge prevailing ideas and conventions has a long history in American public life. As dissenters in America sought social change, they used print to document, articulate, and disseminate their ideas to others. Protest always begins on the margins, but print is the medium that allows it to reach a larger audience. In Protest on the Page, scholars in multiple disciplines offer ten original essays that examine protest print culture in America since 1865. They explore the surprising range of dissidents who enlisted print in their causesandmdash;from vegetarians and anarchists at the advent of the twentieth century, to midcentury evangelicals and tween comic book readers, to GIs and feminists in the 1970sandndash;80s. Together they demonstrate that print has never been a neutral medium, but rather has been instrumental in shaping the substance of protest and its audiences.
Review
andquot;The focus on libraries not as cold, impersonal institutions engaged in promulgating top-down policies but rather as spaces populated by people with diverse backgrounds, needs, and values is what makes this volume valuable.andquot;andmdash;Joan Shelley Rubin, University of Rochester
Review
and#147;These are fresh, fascinating inquiries into the unknown byways of American journalistic history.
Protest on the Page amounts to an alternative history of the press, far different from the familiar triumphant and establishment-celebrating narrative.and#8221;and#151;Nicholas Lemann, the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism, Columbia University
Review
and#147;Historians of social change have always drawn upon ephemeral publications from the fringes of politics and culture. But the essays in this splendid collection show that the printed word has actually been a central player in the politics of social movements, from anarchism to vegetarianism. This sharp focus on media provides valuable new insight into how movement politics has worked in American history.and#8221;and#151;David Paul Nord, author of
Faith in Reading: Religious Publishing and the Birth of Mass Media in America, 1790and#150;1860Review
and#147;How great it is to have a book about the history of the press thatand#8217;s not about the
New York Times or
Washington Post, and not about the glories of a free press in a democracy. The journalism of visionary movementsand#151;anarchism, feminism, dissent in the militaryand#151;is part of our heritage too, and itand#8217;s great to see it get some of the attention it deserves.and#8221;and#151;Adam Hochschild, cofounder of
Mother Jones magazine and the author of
To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914and#150;1918Review
and#147;A substantial contribution to the histories of print culture, media, journalism, and non-mainstream movements, groups, and ideas.and#8221;and#151;John Nerone, author of
Violence Against the Press: Policing the Public Sphere in U.S. HistoryReview
andldquo;Recommended for librarians and print culture enthusiasts; the content ranges widely enough to pique varied interests.andrdquo;andmdash;
Library JournalReview
andldquo;This reader is especially gratified to see so many of the essays in this valuable collection infused with the insights of contemporary critical social theory.andrdquo;andmdash;
Library and Information HistorySynopsis
For well over one hundred years, libraries open to the public have played a crucial part in fostering in Americans the skills and habits of reading and writing, by routinely providing access to standard forms of print: informational genres such as newspapers, pamphlets, textbooks, and other reference books, and literary genres including poetry, plays, and novels. Public libraries continue to have an extraordinary impact; in the early twenty-first century, the American Library Association reports that there are more public library branches than McDonald's restaurants in the United States. Much has been written about libraries from professional and managerial points of view, but less so from the perspectives of those most intimately involvedandmdash;patrons and librarians.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Drawing on circulation records, patron reviews, and other archived materials, Libraries and the Reading Public in Twentieth-Century America underscores the evolving roles that libraries have played in the lives of American readers. Each essay in this collection examines a historical circumstance related to reading in libraries. The essays are organized in sections on methods of researching the history of reading in libraries; immigrants and localities; censorship issues; and the role of libraries in providing access to alternative, nonmainstream publications. The volume shows public libraries as living spaces where individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds, needs, and desires encountered and used a great variety of texts, images, and other media throughout the twentieth century.
Synopsis
Explores the intertwined histories of print and protest in the United States from Reconstruction to the 2000s. Ten essays look at how protestors of all political and religious persuasions, as well as aesthetic and ethical temperaments, have used the printed page to wage battles over free speech; test racial, class, sexual, and even culinary boundaries; and to alter the moral landscape in American life.
Synopsis
Understanding print as a tool for dissent is essential to understanding how Americans have negotiated difference in a pluralist society.
Protest on the Page explores the intertwined histories of print and protest in the United States from Reconstruction to the present. As these ten essays demonstrate, protestors of all political and religious persuasions, as well as aesthetic and ethical temperaments, have used the printed page to wage battles over free speech; to test racial, class, sexual, and even culinary boundaries; and to alter the moral landscape in American life. These included vegetarians and anarchists at the advent of the twentieth century, midcentury evangelicals and tween comic book readers, and GIs and feminists in the 1970sand#150;80s.
About the Author
James L. Baughman is the Fetzer Bascom Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsinand#150;Madison. His many publications include
Republic of Mass Culture: Journalism, Filmmaking and Broadcasting in America since 1941 (3rd edition). Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen is the Merle Curti Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsinand#150;Madison and the author of
American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Ideas. James P. Danky is the cofounder of the Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture at the University of Wisconsinand#150;Madison and retired librarian for periodicals and newspapers at the Wisconsin Historical Society. His many books include
Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix.
Table of Contents
Prefaceand#160;IntroductionChristine Pawleyand#160;Part 1: Methods and EvidenceMain Street Public Library: Community Spaces and Reading Places in the Rural HeartlandWayne A. WiegandReading Library Records: Constructing and Using the andquot;What Middletown Read Databaseandquot;Frank Felsenstein, John Straw, Katharine Leigh, and James J. Connollyandquot;Story Develops Badly Could Not Finishandquot;: Member Book Reviews at the Boston Athenaeum in the 1920sRoss Harveyandquot;A Search for Better Ways into the Futureandquot;: The Library of Congress and Its Users in the Interwar PeriodJane Aikinand#160;Part 2: Public Libraries, Readers, and LocalitiesGoing to andquot;Americaandquot;: Italian Neighborhoods and the Newark Free Public Library, 1900andndash;1920Ellen M. Pozziandquot;A Liberal and Dignified Approachandquot;: The John Toman Branch of the Chicago Public Library and the Making of Americans, 1927andndash;1940Joyce M. LathamCounter Culture: The World as Viewed from Inside the Indianapolis Public Library, 1944andndash;1956Jean Preerand#160;Part 3: Intellectual FreedomCensorship in the Heartland: Eastern Iowa Libraries during World War IJulia SkinnerObscenity in Iowa: Locating the Library in the Non-Library Censorship of the 1950sJoan Bessman Taylorandquot;Is Your Library Family Friendly?andquot; Family Friendly Libraries and the Pro-Family MovementLoretta M. GaffneyThe Challengers of West Bend: An Institutional ApproachEmily Knoxand#160;Part 4: Librarians and the Alternative PressMeta-Radicalism: The Alternative Press by and for Activist LibrariansAlycia SellieFrom the Underground to the Stacks and Beyond: Girl Zines, Zine Librarians, and the Importance of Social and Textual CirculationJanice A. Radwayand#160;Contributors