The Banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County: Gretchen Knief, Censorship, and
the American Library Association
A Research Proposal
Andrea Anderson
Libr 285
Professor Timothy Dickey
November 3rd, 2014
2
Abstract
John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath has been written about in multiple disciplines and
to varying degrees. Its contributions to the history of The Great Depression and the Dust
Bowl era are widely discussed, while the novel also lends itself to scholars studying
censorship, as it is one of the most widely banned books in the United States. Current and
past scholarship regarding the novel’s banning in Kern County, California is identified
and reveals a gap in the literature concerning the actions of the 1939 Kern County
librarian, Gretchen Knief. Her professional role as a librarian dedicated to the intellectual
freedom of her patrons conflicted with her employment to the very people who set in
place the ban. Primary sources convey that though she may have felt legally bound to
abide by the ban, her moral and professional obligations to the intellectual freedom of her
patrons were stronger. A thorough look into Knief’s personal papers, as well as
regulations set in place by the American Library Association, will shed light on Knief’s
historical importance during the banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County,
California, while also revealing how the ALA has historically dealt with censorship.
3
Table of Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………….
4
Problem Statement……………………………………………………………..
5
Literature Review………………………………………………………………
6
Research Plan…………………………………………………………………..
Objectives/Hypothesis…………………………………………………………...
Method/Analysis…………………………………..…....………………………..
Timeline..………………………………………………………………………...
12
12
12
15
Budget…………………………………………………………………………..
16
Anticipated Results…………………………………………………………….
16
Limitations……………………………………………………………………..
17
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………….
17
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………
18
4
Introduction:
Published in 1939, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was met with mixed
emotions across the country and even internationally. Some viewed the novel as a
commentary on social justice, while others angrily wrote it off as vulgar lies. In August
of 1939, controversy erupted in Kern County, California when the Board of Supervisors
abruptly voted to ban the book from the Kern County Free Library.1 Unbeknownst to
even the board members who voted, no book had ever previously been banned in Kern
County. The Board’s legal right to do so was soon called into question, and it became
apparent that although the Board was citing obscenity, the actual reason for the ban was
much more complicated.2
The United States, in 1939, was in a tumultuous state. The Great Depression, the
Dust Bowl, and the impending war in Europe were at the forefront of the nation’s mind.3
In the Midwest, many farmers and farm laborers were deeply affected by the Dust Bowl.
In some areas, such as Oklahoma, entire families were forced to relocate in order to
maintain their livelihood.4 With deep roots in agriculture, Kern County appeared to be an
ideal location for these laborers to restart their lives. Kern County has a long history of
employing foreign laborers in the fields, but the difference was that while previous
immigrant workers would move about and follow the harvests, the Midwestern migrants
stayed put.5 For Kern County, the Dust Bowl created a very real influx of not only
Bakersfield Californian, “Board Holds Hearings on Grapes of Wrath Ban,” August 28, 1939, p. 1.
Marci Lingo,"Forbidden Fruit: The Banning of the Grapes of Wrath in the Kern County Free Library,"
Libraries & Culture 38, no. 4 (2003).
3
Rick Wartzman, Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes
of Wrath,’ (New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 2008).
4
James N. Gregory, American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1989).
5
Ibid.
1
2
5
laborers, but their families as well. This exodus out of the Midwest and into California
occurred in a relatively short amount of time, and placed a burden on the community both
socially and economically. As for the setting of John Steinbeck’s novel, the residents of
Kern County were neither prepared for nor pleased with the grim portrayal of the living
and working conditions of these new Dust Bowl migrants. The extremely callous view of
the migrants’ employers enraged many of the agriculture elite in Kern County, and the
banning of Steinbeck’s novel was soon found to be an effort to put down the possible
threat of agricultural reform. Politically, economically, and even socially, The Grapes of
Wrath was seen in Kern County as an attack on big farms, low migrant labor wages, and
class division.6
Amidst the chaos that quickly followed the ban, librarian Gretchen Knief
attempted to quietly protest this censorship even while she abided by it. With limited
options granted to her by both the Kern County Board and by the ALA, it was necessary
for Knief to carefully navigate her way through this controversy while ensuring her
patrons were still receiving the services to which they were entitled.
Problem Statement
Knief’s role during the ban in Kern County has largely been overshadowed by the
political and economic factors that enveloped the community. While most historians
include her within their discussion of the ban, questions remain as to what Knief’s
responsibilities were both legally and professionally at this time, and whether or not the
American Library Association had clear instructions regarding censorship for
6
Tim Kappel, "Trampling Out the Vineyards: Kern County's Ban on the Grapes of Wrath," California
History 61, no. 3 (1982).
6
professional librarians through their Code of Ethics and Bill of Rights or any other
regulation. A deeper look into this information may show that the actions Knief took
during the ban contributed to the greater context of libraries and censorship, and give
insight into the ways that librarians and the ALA have historically dealt with the problem
of censorship and banned books.
Literature Review:
The literature on this topic is varied because there is not a wealth of material
dealing directly with the ban in Kern County itself. Most scholars who deal directly with
the book’s censorship in Kern County seem to agree that rather than the obscenity
charges that Board members outwardly claimed, it was actually economic and political
factors that prompted Board members to vote in favor of the ban. The following literature
includes, chronologically, both the history of the dust bowl migrants in California and the
conditions that prompted John Steinbeck to write his novel, as well as the scholarship that
has dealt directly with the banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County.
Early scholarship on this controversial book sought to differentiate between the
story and the actual reality of the migrants living in Kern County. Writing in 1944, just
five years after the novel’s publication, Martin Staples Shockley argues, “Much of what
has passed in Oklahoma for criticism of The Grapes of Wrath has been little or nothing
more than efforts to prove or to disprove the factual accuracy of Steinbeck’s fiction.”7
He presents newspaper articles that angrily protest that the book is filled with “factual
inaccuracies…communist propaganda,” and lists several county libraries that either
Martin Staples Shockley, “The Reception of The Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma,” American Literature
15, no. 4 (1944): 352.
7
7
banned the book or made restrictions to who was allowed to borrow it.8 Shockley’s
conclusion, though he mentions it is in no way inclusive, is “There are…two main bodies
of opinion, one that this is an honest sympathetic, and artistically powerful presentation
of economic, social, and human problems; the other, the great majority, that this is a vile,
filthy book, an outsider’s malicious attempt to smear the state of Oklahoma with
outrageous lies.”9 While the authenticity and vulgarity of the novel was initially how The
Grapes of Wrath was discussed, later historians used the controversial book to show how
it became part of the nation’s collective memory of the Dust Bowl era.
Historian Charles Shindo argues, “Of all the grim spectacles created by the Great
Depression, none has won a stronger hold on the American imagination than the travails
of the Dust Bowl migrants.”10 Steinbeck’s novel was greeted with enormous curiosity
and popularity at the time of its publication because of the controversy it stirred, and the
strong reactions, both positive and negative, that it evoked in people. Shindo argues that
its widespread reading throughout the years has influenced how people view the Dust
Bowl migrants, and not in a positive way. According to Shindo, “In the images
Steinbeck gave us, the migrants are oppressed and more-or-less helpless victims of
economic, political, and natural forces beyond their control and even their
comprehension.”11 Historian James Gregory notes that Steinbeck’s characters were not
typical, and Shindo confirms, “the so-called Dust Bowl migrants were only about a third
of the more than one million migrants from around the nation who journeyed to
Shockley, “Reception of the Grapes,” 352.
Ibid., 360.
10
Charles Shindo, "The Dust Bowl Myth," The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 24, no. 4 (2000): 25
11
Ibid., 26.
8
9
8
California during the 1930s.”12 Gregory further argues that these migrants were not the
helpless victims as portrayed by Steinbeck, but instead were people who impacted
California with aspects of their culture. Their influence can still be seen today in the
religion, music, and political make up of the San Joaquin Valley.13 As historical and
literary writing on Steinbeck moved forward, there were more attempts to place the book
into the social and economic context of the time, and to use this context to discover
reasons why the book was banned in Kern County, but nowhere else in California.
Within his novel, Steinbeck gives a grim portrayal of both the Kern County
migrants and the landowners. The initial resolution banning the book cited vulgarity,
lies, and obscenity as reasons to take the book off the library shelves.14 But, Tim Kappel,
a social historian experienced in agricultural policy, argues that obscenity had less to do
with the book’s banning and more to do with big farming agendas. Large agricultural
groups, especially the Associated Farmers, were “fearful of the effect of Steinbeck’s
stirring portrayal of the treatment of migrants and [were] concerned that the novel’s
undeniable message would lead to investigations into migrant living and working
conditions.”15 Kappel offers evidence that “this seemingly local battle was influenced by
larger corporate agricultural interests who were determined to stave off any challenge to
their control of agricultural working conditions.”16 He discusses the strike-breaking
tactics employed by the Associated Farmer’s during the early 1930s, and states they were
“highly organized, well-funded, and capable of mobilizing massive resources in their
12
Ibid., 26.
Gregory, American Exodus.
14
Kern County Board of Supervisors, Resolution, August 21, 1939 (Archives of The Grapes of Wrath in
Kern County, Local History Room, Beale Memorial Library, Bakersfield, California.)
15
Kappel, "Trampling Out the Vineyards,” 211.
16
Ibid., 212.
13
9
campaign to halt the unionizing of agricultural workers…[they] had considerable
experience by 1939 in initiating the passage of local ordinances.”17 Similarly, historian
Walter J. Stein agrees that Kern County’s economy was so dependent upon agriculture
that they were among several other valley counties that were and even continue to be
staunchly antiunion.18 Stein reveals that the San Joaquin Valley’s newspaper was a great
supporter of big farming companies whose biased articles “poured a torrent of antimigrant, anti-relief, anti-FSA invective into the Southern half of the state.”19 With these
strong ties to the community in Kern County, the Associated Farmers held great influence
with the board members who were ultimately convinced to create the resolution banning
The Grapes of Wrath from the Kern County Library.
Furthering both Kappel and Stein’s research, Marci Lingo argues, “The board’s
action was influenced by powerful economic, social, and political factors…[the ban]
reflects the ambivalent attitudes about the Okies, illustrates the power of governing
boards to censor public libraries, and underscores the precarious nature of intellectual
freedom in libraries.”20 Lingo argues that the influx of workers into Kern County during
the 1930s was far different from previous foreign workers who came for work. Unlike the
Chinese, Filipino, and Mexican workers, the Dust Bowl migrants moved their entire
families and permanently relocated within the community.21 Their long-term presence in
the community laid a burden on much of Kern County’s services. Lingo states, “There is
little doubt that Okies did not receive adequate health care and were turned away from
17
18
Kappel, “Trampling Out the Vineyards,” 214.
Walter J. Stein, California and the Dust Bowl Migration, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1973),
269.
19
Ibid., 102.
Lingo,"Forbidden Fruit,” 351.
21
Ibid., 353.
20
10
Kern General Hospital…however, there is also ample evidence that Kern County
attempted to meet the health needs of these migrants.”22 Health department and
government records to show that Kern County did indeed bear the cost of many medical
visits by those who could not pay; however, the sheer influx of people made their
attempts look paltry. When Steinbeck appeared to attack their attempts at migrant relief
and “did not congratulate those efforts…perhaps justifiably, the board of supervisors felt
its efforts to provide services to the newcomers were ignored.”23 Lingo also discusses the
response from the ACLU and union organizations who felt that the ban was an attack on
intellectual freedom and compared the actions of the Board to the fascist dictatorships
present in Europe at this time.24 Lingo’s work goes the furthest in discussing the
opposing view of the Board and introduces primary source material from radio
broadcasts, newspapers, and personal correspondence from the Kern County librarian,
Gretchen Knief. Lingo briefly mentions the ALA’s Code of Ethics and Bill of Rights that
may have provided a framework for how a librarian should respond to attempts at
censorship.
The most recent work to emerge concerning the censorship of Steinbeck’s novel
is journalist Rick Wartzman’s Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Wartzman provides a well-researched, narrative
account of the activities occurring in Bakersfield during the first seven days of the book’s
banning. Stepping away from other scholar’s interpretations, Wartzman instead places
Kern County into the national and international concerns of the 1930s. This time period is
a tumultuous one in American history not only because the nation was struggling
22
Ibid., 354.
Ibid., 354.
24
Ibid., 362.
23
11
economically, but also because of the threat of war in Europe. It is through this lens that
Wartzman approaches the banning and censorship of Steinbeck’s novel within Kern
County.25 Understanding what was happening in the nation politically and economically
gives evidence as to why Kern County board members reacted with a ban on the novel.
Wartzman, Kappel, and Lingo all incorporate some information about the 1939
Kern County librarian, Gretchen Knief. Though Wartzman attempts to create a brief
heroic view of Knief, she is mostly absent from the main points of his work. Kappel and
Lingo both discuss the role she played as the librarian charged with assuring that the
Board’s decision was carried out. Lingo delves the furthest into Knief’s activities during
this period, but she raises questions that remain unanswered about the legal and
professional responsibilities of librarians dealing with censorship in their libraries.
Historians of the Dust Bowl and Depression eras have long written about the
migrant experiences in California and the truthfulness of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of
Wrath. Its banning in Kern County drew out significant evidence from different
historians of the deep political, economic, and social factors that affected the Kern
County Board’s decision. Despite playing a seemingly critical role in this controversy,
librarian Gretchen Knief and her reaction to the ban are largely overshadowed and no real
investigation into her actions has been conducted. A deeper exploration of Knief’s role
during the ban will create a better understanding of how she was able to maintain her
status as an employee of the board, while also staying true to the ethics of her profession.
This research will fill an important gap within the literature, while also giving evidence to
the type of rules and regulations (or lack thereof) that the ALA put forth for librarians
who have dealt with censorship within their libraries.
25
Wartzman, Obscene in the Extreme.
12
Research Plan:
Objectives and Hypothesis
A full examination will be conducted into the actions taken by librarian, Gretchen
Knief during the banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County. As a part of this, the
regulations of the American Library Association will need to be examined in order to
understand from a professional level how Knief was expected to behave and react when
the censorship of a book threatened the intellectual freedom of her patrons. Further
research would also examine whether or not the banning of The Grapes of Wrath had any
effect on the ALA and their future dealings with censorship. The steps Knief took in
protest of the ban, while simultaneously abiding by it, will give insight into how the ALA
and librarians have historically dealt with censorship in libraries.
Method and Analysis
Initial research will begin with an extensive and thorough search of Gretchen
Knief’s personal papers stored in the local history room of the Beale Memorial Library in
Bakersfield, California.26 The local history room houses several different collections that
deal with the Dust Bowl migrants, The Grapes of Wrath, and the Kern County Board of
Supervisors records. Knief’s correspondence with other librarians, especially those in
California, will give evidence to her ideas and mindset during the banning in Kern
County. Knief also wrote letters that were never publically published to each of the Kern
26
Gretchen Knief, Personal Correspondence, Archives of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County, Local
History Room, Beale Memorial Library, Bakersfield, California.
13
County Board members strongly advising they reconsider their vote to ban.27
Considering her words, actions, and responses to any of the letters sent will further
develop our understanding of Knief’s role during this time. The next step will be
accessing the special collections archives at California State University, Bakersfield. Cal
State Bakersfield currently holds the California Odyssey: Dust Bowl Migration Archives,
which includes interviews and oral histories of men, women, and children of the Dust
Bowl.28 Their collection also holds research sources, articles, photographs, and
contemporary and current articles dealing with The Grapes of Wrath, the ban, and its
consequences in Kern County. Primary source research will include an investigation into
the ALA Archives stored at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.29 Within the
archives are issues of the Bulletin of the American Library Association from the time
period under investigation. Issues of the Bulletin will be researched from the years 1935
through 1945 to see if and when censorship was addressed, and how its presentation may
have changed in the aftermath of the banning of The Grapes of Wrath. Determining in
what light ALA publications presented censorship will further develop any ideas about
how librarians were to react when it did occur in their libraries. Records relating to the
Intellectual Freedom Committee may also be examined, although it was not in existence
during Knief’s time as a librarian in Kern County. It is likely that the process will
diverge in different directions and areas once access to the ALA archives has been
achieved, which will allow for research to develop as information is gained.
Gretchen Knief, Personal Correspondence, Archives of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County, Local
History Room, Beale Memorial Library, Bakersfield, California.
28
California Odyssey: Dust Bowl Migration Archives.
http://www.csub.edu/library/SpecialCollection/Dustbowl/School%20Activities.html
29
American Library Association Archives.
http://archives.library.illinois.edu/alaarchon/?p=collections/classifications
29
ALA website, Library Bill of Rights Intellectual Freedom Manual.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/iftoolkits/ifmanual/intellectual
27
14
The ALA website also gives online access to its Library Bill of Rights, Code of
Ethics, and Intellectual Freedom Manual.30 The ALA’s Library Bill of Rights (LBR)
“serves as the library profession’s interpretation of how the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution applies to libraries.”31 Adopted on June 19th, 1939, the LBR was said to
have taken its position against censorship in response to Steinbeck’s novel becoming a
target of censorship.32 According to a secondary source article by Douglas Campbell,
there is some debate to the previous statement, but he suggests that there is a great deal of
discussion about censorship, intellectual freedom, and the establishment of the
Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Office for Intellectual Freedom within the ALA
bulletins.33 All versions of both the Library Bill of Rights, Code of Ethics, and
Intellectual Freedom Manual will be taken into consideration to view any changes over
the years that may be in relation to specific incidents in history. Secondary sources will
include journal articles, books, and websites that deal with the both the dust bowl and the
ban in Kern County.
Office of Intellectual Freedom, 2010, p. xix as quoted in Douglas Campbell’s “Reexamining the
Origins of the Adoption of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights.” Library Trends 63, no. 1 (2014): 42-56.
32
Campbell, “Origins of ALA.”
33
Ibid.
31
15
Timeline
The timeline for proposal, research, writing, presenting, and publishing is
anticipated to be twelve to fifteen months from start to finish. The time will be broken up
into four phases with the majority of the time devoted to research and writing.
Phase 1: Locate grant resources, determine application due dates for funding, determine
location and vicinity of sources that are not available locally and look into transportation
that will be needed for sources not available locally or online, begin looking at possible
publishers and maintain an understanding for different submission guidelines, begin light
research while completing Phase 1.
Phase 2: Begin exhaustive research into the local archives and collections held within
Kern County. Continue research into the ALA at its archival headquarters in Illinois
(dependent upon funding.) Place primary sources within the context of secondary sources
to begin the initial writing process.
Phase 3: Phase 3 will be devoted to analyzing the information found, writing drafts,
editing, and will ultimately culminate in the creation of a full and complete historical
article, ready to be published.
Phase 4: Submission for publication while paying close attention to the specific
requirements of the publisher, and the presentation of research to relevant groups or
organizations.
16
Budget:
A limited budget will be needed for the first part of Phase 1 and Phase 2 because
of the vicinity of the majority of the records and the researcher herself. The primary
records being consulted within Bakersfield will require an estimated $100 for supplies,
copies, photographs, and archival fees. The second part of Phase 2 requires travel to
Illinois to access the ALA archival records. Airfare, housing for one week, transportation
while traveling, food stipends, and miscellaneous items will require an estimated $1,500,
with total costs coming to around $1,600.
Anticipated Results:
Through early research already completed, it is apparent that results will show
that Knief made several attempts to sway the minds of the board members who enacted
the ban, made contact with the California State Librarian, Mabel Gillis, to receive advice,
and even thwarted the ban by sending copies away to other libraries who were not
censoring The Grapes of Wrath.34 A detailed look into her personal correspondence will
reveal her personal beliefs about the ban, and whether or not she felt she held any
authority to promote her patrons interests over the political interests of the board
members. It is anticipated that findings will show that Knief felt a legal, not moral,
obligation to adhere to the ban, but her professional obligation to her patrons was
stronger. The ALA’s standards for librarians in 1939 will likely fit Knief’s actions
during the ban. Research may also reveal whether or not the ALA’s response to
34
Knief, Personal Correspondence, Archives of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County.
17
censorship changed over the years, and in particular, whether it may have been in
response to the banning of The Grapes of Wrath.
Limitations:
The proposed research will be limited to the Kern County Library’s ban, and will
not cover other libraries or librarians who may also have had the book banned in their
towns, counties, or cities. While it would be interesting to make comparisons between
Gretchen Knief and other librarians whose local government banned the novel, it is
beyond the scope of this researcher’s abilities at this point.
Conclusions:
The banning of The Grapes of Wrath in Kern County, California was an important
event in 1939 that set off a series of reactions politically, socially, and economically. As
literature developed it took into account the many different views of board members, big
farming leaders, and outspoken advocates against censorship. However, Kern County
librarian Gretchen Knief was often overlooked as a key component to the ban. Placing
Knief and her actions at the forefront of the controversy will fill an important gap in the
history of the ban. Her actions show a very real attempt to uphold the intellectual
freedom of her patrons and likely paved the way for the creation of ALA committees
with the sole purpose of preventing censorship. It is the hope of the researcher that the
final article will be a launching point for future scholars to push forward the scholarship
on the censorship of The Grapes of Wrath and its effect on the broader library world.
18
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19
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20
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