Research Guides: Books: challenged, banned, and burned: History

As the great philosopher once said

“And yet on the other hand unless warinesse be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, Gods Image, but hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye.”

~ Milton, John (1644). Areopagitica, A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing to the Parliament of England

Readings for context and history

History articles about book banning / censorship / burning

Bannings and Burnings in History Some of the most controversial books in history are now regarded as classics. The Bible and works by Shakespeare are among those that have been banned over the past two thousand years. Here is a selective timeline of book bannings, burnings, and other censorship activities. From Freedom to Read (Canada)
Books Behind Bars From Public Broadcasting. Since 1982, Robert P. Doyle has edited the American Library Association's Banned Books, a collection of thousands of titles that have been subject to censorship challenges. American Experience spoke to him about censorship, intellectual freedom, and the books that test us.
Debate over teaching books by Black authors has roots in violent 1974 clash in West Virginia Posner, S. (2021, October 29). Debate over teaching books by Black authors has roots in violent 1974 clash in West Virginia. The Washington Post.
The History (and Present) of Banning Books in America: On the Ongoing Fight Against the Censorship of Ideas In 2016, that list includes Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and Emily M. Danworth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Most of the titles are by LGBTQ authors and authors of color who write about life beyond white, straight, middle-class America.
The History of Book Banning "In late 2021, ... first, the call to ban books in innumerable circumstances; second, the banning of written literature without reading it; and, third, calls for burning books. This constitutes a movement for illiteracy, not a campaign for approved or selective uses of reading and writing." By Professor Harvey J. Graff, Social historian. Publisher's Weekly. Dec 31, 2021
The little-known history of banned books in the United States 2020 article from Reading Partners. Vandalized pages. Restricted topics. Burned books. These aren’t images from a dystopian novel like Fahrenheit 451 (which is actually an often banned or challenged book). These are ways that people tried to censor literature just last year.
The Power of Books- A History of Censorship, Banning and Burning Written by Sophie Whitehead. Book censorship is a well-known practice often associated with overbearing political regimes. But the history of book censorship is extensive, and the politics behind censorship have remained the same for hundreds of years. Retrospect Journal April 4, 2021

1497

Bonfire of the vanities

A burning of objects condemned by religious authorities as occasions of sin. Supporters of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola collected and burned thousands of objects such as cosmetics, art, and books in the public square of Florence, Italy, on the occasion of Shrove Tuesday.
For details and context see: Zealot (2008). In M. Wilson, If the paintings could talk. The National Gallery. Credo Reference.

1933

Book Burnings
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A member of the SA throws confiscated books into the bonfire during the public burning of "un-German" books on the Opernplatz in Berlin. —United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

1974

Kanawha County Textbook Controversy
This violent 1974 clash over textbooks in West Virginia prepped the nation for a New Right movement: Shooting at buses, striking miners, and the KKK Timeline

Two women in Ku Klux Klan robes and a cross which was burned at a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1975. The Klan had pledged to unite anti-textbook forces in Kanawha County. (AP Photo)

Learn more about the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy at West Virginia Books Challenges