![]() ![]() Before hiring him, Loyola’s dean read Steward’s book and apparently had no objections. It determined that Steward had been unjustly let go and concluded that “President Holland’s handling of the Steward case has been most ill-judged, and indicates … improper restriction of literary freedom.” From teaching to tattooingĪfter leaving Washington State, Steward promptly found a position at Loyola, a Catholic university in Chicago. Founded in 1915, the association’s primary purpose is “to advance academic freedom.” The organization still regularly investigates violations of academic freedom, including what happened at Hamline University.Īfter months of investigation, the AAUP published its report. Steward appealed to the Association of American University Professors for assistance. Steward and Gipson both set to work to widely publicize Steward’s dismissal. ![]() He accused Steward of writing a “racy” novel and of being sympathetic with a student strike a month earlier.Īngered, Steward immediately dashed off a telegram to Gipson: “Discharged by God Holland for writing a racy novel … I have no regrets whatsoever despite the fact his methods were those of Hitler but think I will take up stenography.” ![]() Holland informed Steward his contract would not be renewed. Three weeks later, however – and just hours before he left campus for the summer – Washington State’s president, Ernest O. Earlier that spring, he had been verbally assured that he would receive another one-year contract. The head of the English department told Steward his book contained “unsavory material” and that Steward’s position “would undoubtedly prove very embarrassing” to the college.ĭespite this, Steward still planned to return to teach classes the following autumn. Steward sent an urgent telegram to Gipson asking him to stop selling the book on campus: “A young poor man with only one job asks that you withdraw his novel … because his departmental head and dean hint at his discharge.”Ĭaxton had advertised the book as “not appeal to the less liberal mind.” This “alarmed several people,” according to Steward. Yet, as Steward noted in an interview during the 1970s, the book was “very tame – reading like ‘Little Women’ by today’s standards.” The publication of ‘Angels on the Bough’ prompted Washington State College to not renew Steward’s contract. ![]() Steward soon began hearing rumors that college administrators found his book distasteful for its sympathetic portrayal of a prostitute, one of the main characters. Review copies reached campus in early May 1936. “It quite definitely did something to me.” Steward loses his jobĭespite the favorable reception, the book started causing trouble for Steward before it was even published. “I like it I like it a lot, you have really created a piece of something,” Stein wrote. The New York Times wrote favorably about the novel, describing Steward as possessing “a very distinct gift above the usual.”Īnd Gertrude Stein, the American writer and expatriate who lived most of her life in France, lauded “Angels on the Bough” in a letter she penned to Steward. The book immediately received reviews, almost entirely positive, in dozens of newspapers across the country. As Gipson explained to Steward, “We are interested not in making money out of any author for whom we may publish, but in helping him.”Ĭaxton published “Angels on the Bough” in May 1936. Gipson, understood the transformative power of books and sought to give a voice to deserving writers when other firms rejected them. Lehigh University Special Collectionsįounded in 1907, Caxton Printers has earned national attention for its fierce defense of freedom of expression and unique publishing philosophy. ![]()
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