![]() 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. 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 had advertised the book as “not appeal to the less liberal mind.” This “alarmed several people,” according to Steward. ![]() Gipson, understood the transformative power of books and sought to give a voice to deserving writers when other firms rejected them. After an editorial review, Caxton Printers agreed to publish Steward’s novel, “Angels on the Bough,” which told the story of a small group of characters and their intertwined lives in a college town.įounded in 1907, Caxton Printers has earned national attention for its fierce defense of freedom of expression and unique publishing philosophy. He worked to find a publisher and contacted a small firm in rural Idaho. The following year, Washington State College – now Washington State University – hired Steward to teach classes on a one-year contract.Īn aspiring writer, Steward drafted his first novel while still a graduate student. in English in 1934 from Ohio State University. As an archivist and scholar studying publishing in the American West, I’ve located published and unpublished archival sources detailing the controversy surrounding Steward after he published his first novel, which ultimately cost him his job.Ī native of the Midwest, Steward earned his Ph.D.
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