Book Burning

In celebration of Banned Books Week, I took a dive into the Seattle Times’ archives to see what I could come up with on the subject of banned books.

Intellectual freedom in America took a big hit in the 1950s. McCarthyist paranoia swept the nation and supposed dangerous communist infiltrators were perceived to be all around us. People were blacklisted, books were banned and burned, all because of a political philosophy they may or may not have supported. All of this, in spite of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which should guarantee Americans the right to say and print whatever we want, believe in any religion or none, and associate with whoever we please without government interference.

Often these suspected communists and subversive texts were anything but. A Seattle Times column from June 17, 1953, says the practice of banning books was tarnishing America’s reputation abroad.

The column’s writers decried the U.S. State Department, allegedly in fear of Senator McCarthy’s wrath, banning these books and many others from Information Service Libraries: “Washington Witchhunt” by anti-communist writer Bert Andrews, about alleged Soviet agent Algier Hiss; “Union Now” by Clarence Streit, which essentially espouses a democratic world government; and “Rising Wind” by Walter White, in which the anti-communist NAACP president exposed the discrimination against black soldiers during World War II. They also banned The New Republic and The Nation from shelves, two of America’s oldest political magazines.

It’s hard to see the communist subversion inherent in two books by anti-communists and one book about a possible way to strengthen democracies against autocracies, but these aren’t even the most absurd.

The most ridiculous, in my view, has to be the banning of the works of Thomas Paine, one of the intellectual founders of the United States. He donated his royalties for Common Sense to Washington’s army, and yet 177 years later, those ideas came under attack by the government of the nation his ideas helped create

I’ll end with this thought, from the American Library Association‘s statement on the freedom to read, first adopted the same year this column was printed:

“Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.”

-The “Freedom to Read” Statement, adopted by the American Library Association in 1953. 

Read Banned Books.

The Seattle Freeze

Ever since I moved to Seattle (which, admittedly, wasn’t that long ago), I’ve heard about the Seattle Freeze. 

For those who don’t know, or can’t be bothered to click a link, the Seattle Freeze is the idea that Seattleites, while generally being nice, friendly folk, have a tendency to be distant and unwelcoming to newcomers.

Some blame the recent influx of introverted tech geeks. Some blame the Norwegians.  Some deny it exists. Given the sheer number of people who’ve experienced it, those people are probably wrong.

The crazy thing is, this isn’t new. Nearly 100 years ago, Seattle newbs were complaining about the same problem.

The picture above comes from an article in the March 26, 1920, issue of the Seattle Times. Nestled into the front page, among articles about the Wobblies inciting miners to strike in Arizona and a Civil War vet being appointed Superintendent of the Seattle Department of Public Utilities, readers were treated to an article admonishing Seattleites for not opening themselves up to their new neighbors.

After a few paragraphs about some new holiday called “Neighbor’s Day,” the article reads:

 Seattle people have been accused of being too cold and distant. The conversation of today on board any street car, it is said, is similar to the following:

“This is what I call real weather, isn’t it?”

“Maybe.”

“My wife’s sister’s cousin got in from Peoria, Illinois, yesterday and she says that down there they’re paying twenty cents for a loaf of bread. Can you believe it?”

“Nope.”

“I’ve only been here six months myself and believe me, I am kicking myself that I didn’t come here six years ago. This is some city, believe me. Have you lived in Seattle very long?”

“Twenty years.”

By that time the six months’ old resident becomes discouraged. He tried out the weather, his wife’s relations and Seattle in general and didn’t get to first base. And, it is charged, such conversations are typical in in the street cars and jitneys.

“People act as if you’re going to steal their pocketbooks if you remark about the weather,” said one lonely soul from Croswell, Mich. “This wasn’t the friendly, hospitable West I was led to believe existed.”

Now, given the blogger-esque writing style employed by this early 20th century journalist, it’s hard to tell if he’s commenting on a trend or airing his own frustrations.

Who knows? Maybe he’s the poor, lonely unnamed soul from Croswell.

However, the news peg of the article is that the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce felt strongly enough about his city’s attitude toward newcomers that he created a dumb holiday to promote friendliness over frostiness. That’s evidence enough of the phenomena, wouldn’t you say?

The article states the point of the holiday was just to promote basic courtesy like making small-talk with new residents. He hoped they could avoid the exasperating experience of Joe Schmoe whose sister-in-law just arrived from Illinois.

The inaugural “Neighbor’s Day” of 1920 was set for June 24.

After nearly a century, the freeze is still on, if you believe the anecdotal evidence, news reports, and the fact that there’s a Meetup group called “Seattle Anti-Freeze.”

Introduction

Seattle is a fascinating place.

I only moved here a month ago, and I’ve already heard so much about its history. I’ve heard stories of “seamstress” hookers, a gold rush boom, a Roaring 20’s bootlegging operation where the gang couldn’t carry guns, and so much more.

Though I’m obviously a newcomer, Seattle is my new home. I’ve found the best way to understand a new place is to dive deep into its history. I intend to use this site to do that.

I hope born-and-raised Seattleites and newcomers like myself will be informed, surprised, and entertained by what I find.