LOUDONVILLE — The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum continues its Speaker Series on Monday,
Nov. 18 with Challenged, Banned or Burned: Reactions to Controversial Books.
Negative public reaction to controversial texts goes back centuries, even pre-dating the European printing press. Professor and Librarian John T. Rasel from Cuyahoga Community College will present an overview of censorship from antiquity to the present day.
Why were materials censored, how objectionable texts and authors were dealt with throughout history, and how our reaction to controversial material has evolved over time.
While book banning is often associated with authoritarian regimes such as the Nazi book burnings, they are common even throughout U.S. history — though often through local bans rather than nation-wide.
Famous books once banned include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Ulysses (1922), George Orwell’s 1984 (1949), To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and even the Harry Potter series (1997-2007).
Rasel has served as an Assistant Professor and Librarian since 2013. Prior to that he served as an adjunct history instructor and librarian at Strayer University. He has an MLIS from Kent State University, an MA in History from Eastern Illinois, and a BA in History from West Virginia Wesleyan.
All events are conducted in the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum (203 E. Main Street in Loudonville) and are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30, with the event beginning at 7 p.m.
For more information on the museum, or the series, interested persons can visit the museum online at www.crfmuseum.com or call the office at 419 994-4050.