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White House Hailed BANNED BOOK Authors! By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

In honor of #BannedBookWeek, we show how authors of some of the "most banned books" -- including Mark Twain, Harper Lee, Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck, Toni Morrison -- were celebrated, embraced and welcomed by the White House.

MARK TWAIN - endorsed by George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and FDR!

To honor much-banned author Mark Twain, FDR dedicated the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge (Hannibal, MO, 1936) and the Mark Twain National Forest (Rollo, MO, 1939).

FDR's Address at the dedication of The Mark Twain Memorial Bridge, 9/4/1936, Hannibal, MO, NARA ID 197594.

Mark Twain National Forest (Rolla, MO), est. 9/11/1939.

Sign for Mark Twain National Forest, 9/9/1965, NARA ID 2132546

President George W. Bush and First Lady (& librarian) Laura Bush held a White House Symposium on Mark Twain (11/29/2001).

Invitation to 2001 White House Symposium on Mark Twain. George W. Bush Library. NARA ID 148028517.

HARPER LEE, Presidential Medal of Freedom

Many praised author Harper Lee including Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

President Obama's Tribute to Harper Lee, 2/19/2016, Obama Library, NARA ID 236742454.

President George W. Bush with Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Harper Lee, 10/12/2007, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 7431358.

JOHN STEINBECK, pals with LBJ!

President Johnson awarded writer John Steinbeck the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. Steinbeck already had won a 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Grapes of Wrath and the 1962 Nobel Prize.

LBJ awards Steinbeck the Presidential Medal of Freedom while First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, looks on. Steinbeck Center Photo Archive.

Two years later, (5/16/1966) Steinbeck and his 19 year-old son visited President Johnson at the White House, just a few weeks after John, Jr. had completed Army basic training and shortly before his departure for Vietnam. More about this visit here.

John Steinbeck Jr. at 19 (L)) with father John and LBJ in the Oval Office, 5/16/1966. Online.

Thank you note from Steinbeck to LBJ:

Letter from John Steinbeck to President Johnson, 5/28/1966. Johnson Library, NARA ID 6207609.

Listen to LBJ's call with Steinback about Vietnam (12/4/1966) "Lady Bird sends her love and we look forward to seeing you..." NARA ID 205707398.

Ban COMICS, too? "Poisoning our Children’s Minds"

First Issue of “Mad Magazine”, 10/1952, Committee Papers, 1816 - 2011. Records of the U.S. Senate, NARA ID 595430.

The National Archives has a copy of issue #1 of MAD magazine, a permanent federal record that was submitted to a Senate subcommittee in 1953 on juvenile delinquency as evidence of comics’ corrupting influence on young people.

For three days, experts testified on whether or not comic books were “printed poison” for young people. The hearings created so much bad press for the comics industry that it created the Comics Code Authority to self-regulate the content of their comic books. MAD’s publisher reformatted the publication as a magazine in order to avoid the CCA restrictions. Learn more about these hearings here. The National Archives Museum's (DC) Records of Rights exhibit includes this letter from an outraged mother urging Congress to ban “these lurid, highly colored comics" that lead to increased crime. She urges PTAs and "mothers of our beloved country" to unite and fight comics for 3 reasons:

"Would be a great step forward in the control of the young, especially the young boys."

"All the awful crime stories and murder mysteries [are] sent out to pollute the air and corrupt the minds of our younger generation."

"Reading all these lurid, highly colored comics ruins a child's appetite for good books..."

Letter from Eugenia Y. Genovar Regarding Comic Book Censorship, NARA ID 6120051.

Other frequently-banned authors/Presidential Medals of Freedom winners include:

Toni Morrison (2012)

President Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Toni Morrison, 5/29/2012. Pete Souza, Obama Library. NARA ID 176548906.

Maya Angelou (2010)

President Obama awards the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Maya Angelou, 2/15/2011. By Lawrence Jackson, Obama Library, NARA ID 231832591.

More online re: #bannedbook authors:

Letter to President Theodore Roosevelt from Upton Sinclair, whose novel “The Jungle” has been banned in banned in Yugoslavia, East Germany, South Korea, and Boston.

Deposition of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

Facial Hair Friday: Mark Twain, Pieces of History

JFK & Hemingway: Beyond “Grace Under Pressure”

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