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☆ PEN America Cancels World Voices Festival Amid Israel-Gaza Criticism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The free expression organization PEN America has canceled its annual World Voices Festival after a wave of participants withdrew, spurred by a boycott campaign led by writers who say the group’s response to the war in Gaza has been insufficiently critical of Israel. The festival, which was supposed to begin on May 8, was canceled on Friday, days after PEN America canceled the prize ceremony for its literary awards after nearly half of the nominees withdrew in protest. The festival, held in New York and Los Angeles, was to have included writers from around the world and dozens of panels, readings and events. In a news release, PEN America said it made the decision because a growing number of writers had pulled out of the festival, some because of differences with the group as well as some who said they had felt pressured to do so and felt “genuine fear.”“As an organization that cares deeply about the freedom of writers to speak their conscience, we are concerned about any circumstance in which writers tell us they feel shut down, or that speaking their minds bears too much risk,” the statement said. “Amid this climate, it became impossible to mount the festival in keeping with the principles upon which it was founded 20 years ago.”

Persons: PEN America, “, ” Organizations: PEN America, PEN Locations: Gaza, Israel, New York, Los Angeles

☆ Books Bound in Human Skin: An Ethical Quandary at the Library
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is the place to inspect some of the most exquisite rare books on the market. But at this year’s event in early April, some browsers may have been unprepared for a small, grayish item on view: a book bound in human skin. The book, which measures about 3 by 5 inches, came with a price tag of $45,000 — and a colorful back story. According to a statement by its owner, the binding was commissioned in 1682 by an Italian doctor and anatomist identified as Jacopo X, and has been kept by his descendants ever since. So he removed a piece of skin, and used it to bind a copy of the play.

Persons: Jacopo X, Jacopo, “ Le Baron d’Albikrac, ”, ” Ian Kahn Organizations: New York Locations: Italian

☆ Harvard Removes Binding of Human Skin From Book in Its Library
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Of the roughly 20 million books in Harvard University’s libraries, one has long exerted a unique dark fascination, not for its contents, but for the material it was reputedly bound in: human skin. For years, the volume — a 19th-century French treatise on the human soul — was brought out for show and tell, and sometimes, according to library lore, used to haze new employees. In 2014, the university drew jokey news coverage around the world with the announcement that it had used new technology to confirm that the binding was in fact human skin. But on Wednesday, after years of criticism and debate, the university announced that it had removed the binding and would be exploring options for “a final respectful disposition of these human remains.”“After careful study, stakeholder engagement, and consideration, Harvard Library and the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee concluded that the human remains used in the book’s binding no longer belong in the Harvard Library collections, due to the ethically fraught nature of the book’s origins and subsequent history,” the university said in a statement.

Persons: —, ” “ Organizations: “, Harvard Library, Harvard Museum Locations: Harvard

☆ The Woman Who Tried to Make Porn Safe for Feminism
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Harvard’s Schlesinger Library is the nation’s leading repository for women’s history, home to the papers of suffragists and social reformers, poets and politicians, the collective behind “Our Bodies, Ourselves” and iconic figures like Amelia Earhart, Angela Davis and Julia Child. But in its basement vaults, carefully preserved in a box, you can also find a rather different artifact: a costume from the 1978 pornographic comedy “Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls.”The movie, starring John C. Holmes as a pimp who oversees a prostitution ring masquerading as a pizza delivery service, was history-making in its own way, as one of the earliest examples of what became a classic trope — porn with pepperoni. But the costume is at the Schlesinger because of another name on the bill: Candida Royalle. Royalle, who died in 2015, was a minor celebrity in her day. She was a porn star from the 1970s golden age who moved to the other side of the camera, producing feminist erotica that focused on female fantasies, and female audiences.

Persons: Harvard’s, Amelia Earhart, Angela Davis, Julia Child, John C, Holmes, Schlesinger, Candida Royalle, Royalle Organizations: Harvard’s Schlesinger

☆ Opinion | Defending Academic Freedom on Campus
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Academic Freedom Under Fire,” by Jennifer Schuessler (The Arts, Feb. 17):Reading this article one might think that the only people concerned about academic freedom are newly formed faculty groups that have “sprung up” at Harvard, Yale and Columbia. In fact, the American Association of University Professors, with about 43,000 members, has defined and defended academic freedom since 1915. The vast majority of higher education faculty members today are in contingent appointments. They are not eligible for tenure, and so most have no protection when they are disciplined as a result of violations of academic freedom. has advocated a robust concept of academic freedom.

Persons: Jennifer Schuessler Organizations: Harvard, Yale, American Association of University, Penn, Columbia, Rutgers Locations: Columbia, A.A.U.P, N.Y.U, Cornell

☆ The Fight Over Academic Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Academic freedom is a bedrock of the modern American university. For many scholars, the biggest danger is at public universities in Republican-controlled states like Florida, where Gov. But at some elite private campuses, faculty have increasingly begun organizing against a very different threat. Over the past year, faculty groups dedicated to academic freedom have sprung up at Harvard, Yale and Columbia, where even some liberal scholars argue that a prevailing progressive orthodoxy has created a climate of self-censorship and fear that stifles open inquiry. And it has also scrambled the politics of academic freedom itself.

Persons: Ron DeSantis Organizations: American, Republican, Harvard, Yale, Columbia Locations: Florida, Israel

☆ A Lincoln Trove Lands at the Library (Pie Safe Included)
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The New York Public Library’s grand research library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street is home to Virginia Woolf’s walking stick, Charles Dickens’s desk chair and the original Winnie-the-Pooh. But one evening last week, a crowd in one of the library’s elegant public rooms was milling around a goofier treasure: an Abraham Lincoln-themed pie safe. The safe — a large cabinet made to store pies, inlaid with decorative punched-tin panels celebrating the president — was probably created for one of his campaigns. It was on view at a memorial for Jonathan Mann, a collector whose trove of rare letters, photographs, banners, ballots, ribbons, campaign songbooks and other sundry bits of Lincolniana is being acquired by the library.

Persons: Charles Dickens’s, Abraham Lincoln, —, Jonathan Mann Organizations: New York Public, Fifth Locations: Virginia

☆ What Is ‘Settler Colonialism’?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the intense war of words over the Israel-Gaza war, a particular phrase has popped up repeatedly. At protests, on fliers and in some mainstream publications, it is common to see Israel described — or more likely, assailed — as a “settler-colonial” state. The concept of settler colonialism originates in academia, where its use has surged over the past two decades, whether in case studies of particular places or sweeping master narratives that purport to explain everything since Columbus. The term “settler colonialism” may combine two words that are very familiar. But in combination, the term can land as a moral slander — or worse.

Persons: —, Israel Locations: Israel, Gaza, academia, Columbus

☆ Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year Is … ‘Rizz’
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oxford University Press, the world’s second-oldest academic press and the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has rizz. “Rizz” — Gen Z (or is it Gen Alpha?) slang for “style, charm or attractiveness,” or “the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner” — has been named as Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year, beating out contenders like situationship, prompt, de-influencing and (yes) Swiftie. It went viral in June, after the actor Tom Holland, in an interview with Buzzfeed, said: “I have no rizz whatsoever. Plus, he said, the word simply has … rizz.

Persons: Alpha, ” —, “, ”, Kai Cenat, Tom Holland, Buzzfeed, Casper Grathwohl Organizations: Oxford University Press, Oxford English, YouTube, Oxford Locations: Oxford

☆ Hunter College Pulls Screening of Film Critical of Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The screening of “Israelism” at Hunter had been planned since June, according to Tami Gold, a professor in the film and media department who organized the screening. “Otherwise, there was no safety or security issue prior to Oct. 7,” he said. Since then, some venues have asked to postpone, and a screening at Grinnell College in Iowa was canceled. There is never a time to air this film, but especially not at a time when the A.D.L. On Friday, Anderson and Gold said, they were approached by the dean, Andrew Polsky, about security issues.

Persons: ”, Hunter, Tami Gold, Simone Zimmerman, Eitan, Cornel West, Jeremy Ben, Ami, Abraham H, Foxman, Daniel J, Chalfen, ” Kelly Anderson, It’s, “ It’s, Anderson, Gold, Andrew Polsky, Polsky, “, Kirschner, DiMiceli, ” Anderson, ” Marc Tracy Organizations: West Bank, Jewish, Defamation League, University of California, Grinnell College, Facebook Locations: Israel, Los Angeles, Iowa

☆ What Is a Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library Doing in North Dakota?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Here in Medora, a tiny town in the badlands of western North Dakota, Teddy Roosevelt is everywhere. The cabin from his Maltese Cross Ranch sits at the gateway of the 70,447-acre Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, set to open on July 4, 2026, will pay tribute to the 26th president’s “relentless, resilient spirit” and environmental vision. Mention it, and you tend to get a puzzled look and two questions: Doesn’t Roosevelt, who served from 1901 to 1909, already have a presidential library? And why the heck is this one being built in North Dakota?

Persons: Teddy Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, you’ll, Roosevelt, Doesn’t Roosevelt Organizations: Maltese, Park ., Riders, Old, Hall, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Locations: Medora, North Dakota, Park, Park . Downtown, pince

☆ 92NY Halts Literary Series After Pulling Author Critical of Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The reading, organized by 92NY’s Unterberg Poetry Center, instead moved to a bookstore in downtown Manhattan, without any sponsorship from the Y. 92NY confirmed afterward that the decision not to go ahead with the event stemmed from Nguyen’s public statements about Israel. On Saturday, as news of the cancellation of Nguyen’s event spread, writers began announcing they would withdraw from upcoming appearances. The poet Paisley Rekdal and the critic Andrea Long Chu also wrote on X that they were pulling out of their events. The turmoil at the Y is part of continuing cultural repercussions over the war between Israel and Hamas.

Persons: Viet Thanh Nguyen, 92NY’s, 92NY, ”, Israel, “, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Richard Ford, John Edgar Wideman, Roxane Gay, Christina Sharpe, Saidiya Hartman, Dionne Brand, Paisley Rekdal, Andrea Long Chu, ” Rekdal, ” Chu, Chu, Sarah Chihaya, Sophie Herron, Nguyen, Min Jin Lee, Bernard Schwartz, Schwartz Organizations: Young, Hebrew, Jewish, Yorkers, Academy of American, London, divesting, McNally Jackson Locations: Israel, Manhattan, States, Gaza, Lower Manhattan

☆ Searching for America’s First Black Woman Novelist
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The papers of Wheeler, who served as ambassador to Nicaragua, are held at the Library of Congress. But no one seemed to have looked at his almanacs, where he had the habit of making marginal notes. In one, Wheeler had jotted a list of enslaved people in his household, which helped Hecimovich build his list of possible authors. Her novel also includes a scene set in a portrait gallery, which similarly mocks the aristocratic pretensions of enslavers. Many of Hecimovich’s findings will also be used in a new edition of “The Bondwoman’s Narrative” that he’s working on with Gates.

Persons: Wheeler, Hecimovich, …, Thomas Pugh, Crafts’s, David Cecelski Organizations: Library of Congress Locations: Nicaragua, Louisiana, Jamaica, North Carolina, Gates

☆ Smithsonian Acquires Major Collection About Enslaved Poet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In September 1773, Phillis Wheatley, a young enslaved woman from Boston, boarded a ship home from London, where she had gone to promote her forthcoming book of poems — the first ever published by an American of African descent. It was not the first time Wheatley had sailed to Boston. But on this second voyage, Phillis — now a literary celebrity — picked up a pen and wrote “Ocean,” a 70-line ode full of dreaming, wonder and longing for freedom. “Ocean” went unpublished and was seemingly lost until 1998, when the manuscript surfaced at an auction. Now it has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, as part of what the museum says will be the largest collection of Wheatley material in public hands.

Persons: Phillis Wheatley, Wheatley, Phillis —, —, ” Organizations: Smithsonian’s National Museum of Locations: Boston, London, Africa

☆ A Harvard President’s Reflections on a Southern Girlhood
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Faust found the letter in the archives of the Eisenhower library, while researching her new memoir, “Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury.” In the book, which will be published on Aug. 22 by Farrar Straus and Giroux, Faust turns the tools of the historian’s trade on herself, and the privileged, conservative Southern world she grew up in — and moved away from. “It could be described as an escape from Virginia, both literally and metaphorically, and an escape from a past and a set of circumstances that were stifling,” she said last month in her office at Harvard. But it’s also an argument for the possibility of social and political change, against what she sees as the fatalism — and forgetting — of today. “The times I grew up in were in many ways unimaginable to younger people today, especially in the face of proclamations that nothing has changed, everything is terrible, everything’s always going to be terrible,” Faust said. “If a younger person was parachuted into the 1950s, they would be horrified beyond belief.”

Persons: Faust, Eisenhower, Farrar Straus, Giroux, ”, it’s, everything’s, ” Faust Organizations: Harvard Locations: Midcentury, ”, Southern, —, Virginia

☆ At the Roosevelt Library, an Unflinching Look at Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In October 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had his administration send letters to thousands of clergy across the country, asking if the New Deal was helping their communities. Ellis, a Black pastor in Hot Springs, Ark., wrote, “especially as it relates to the Negro group.” J.W. The New Deal, more than one newspaper proclaimed, was also a “Raw Deal.”Eight decades later, that charge still hangs in the air. Conservatives have long assailed the New Deal, which radically expanded the government’s involvement in the economy, as the epitome of big-government overreach. But in recent years, progressives have increasingly argued that this pillar of 20th-century liberalism rested on a Jim Crow foundation, and laid the groundwork for the yawning Black wealth gap that persists today.

Persons: Franklin D, Roosevelt, J.H, Ellis, J.W, Hairston, Jim Crow Organizations: Conservatives Locations: Hot Springs, Asheville, N.C

☆ At 20, an Upstate Arts Haven Keeps Breaking New Ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Given the personnel involved, “Illinois,” which will move to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in January, would seem to have the makings of a popular hit. But for Gideon Lester, the Fisher Center’s artistic director and chief executive, it furthers the same exploratory mission as everything else the center does. “All of these projects are research, which is why they belong in a college,” he said. But the Fisher Center, nestled in a college long known as a bastion of the humanities, is making big plans. In October, it will break ground on a $42 million studio building designed by Maya Lin.

Persons: Gideon Lester, Fisher, ”, Maya Lin, Tania El Khoury Organizations: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Fisher, Mellon Foundation, for Human Rights, Arts Locations: Illinois, Hudson

☆ Will America Be Ready for Its 250th Birthday?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For those planning the United States’ Semiquincentennial in 2026, the past few years have sometimes felt like one long winter at Valley Forge. They’ve had to battle public apathy toward the impending 250th anniversary of American independence, which has hardly been helped by the false starts, recriminations and lawsuits plaguing the federal commission charged with coordinating the celebration. Still, as July 4 approaches, the effort is stepping into overdrive, as planners hit what some wryly call the annual panic button. On Tuesday, the rebooted United States Semiquincentennial Commission, also known as America250, will roll out a public engagement campaign at American Family Field in Milwaukee, where the Chicago Cubs will face the hometown Brewers. And so far, at least 33 states have created commissions, while institutions across the country are steaming ahead with plans for exhibitions and events of their own.

Persons: States ’, They’ve Organizations: States Semiquincentennial Commission, Chicago Cubs, hometown Brewers Locations: States, Valley Forge, recriminations, Milwaukee

☆ An Infamous Hijacking, Revisited Through a Child’s Eyes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It was redirected to an airstrip in the Jordanian desert, and joined by two others. Passengers were held hostage for six days before the hijackers released them unharmed, and blew up the planes. It was a shocking event that drew headlines around the world. “I love school!” she wrote in her diary the first week back. “Everything’s great!”Even decades later, Hodes, now a historian at New York University, brought it up only with close friends, and then only offhandedly.

Persons: Martha Hodes, Hodes, “, ” Organizations: Popular Front, Liberation, Palestine, New York University Locations: New York, Israel, Jordanian

☆ Salman Rushdie Makes Surprise Appearance at PEN America Gala
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“We see free speech threatened on all sides, from the left and the right,” Suzanne Nossel, who has been PEN America’s chief executive since 2013, said in an interview before the gala. But this is a really important time to shore it up as a cultural and constitutional value. That’s part of what the gala does.”The gala itself has been affected by the complexities of the current moment. “As a free speech organization, we must go to the utmost lengths to avoid sidelining speech or being seen to do so,” she said. “Nothing puts you at ease at an event like seeing Salman Rushdie,” he said to titters.

☆ Oldest Nearly Complete Hebrew Bible Sells for $38.1 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sold at Sotheby’s for $38.1 million on Wednesday, one of the highest prices for a book or historical document ever sold at auction. The volume, known as the Codex Sassoon, includes all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, minus about eight leaves, including the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Researchers have dated it to the late ninth or early 10th century, making it the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible known to exist. Speculation had percolated for months over who might have the desire — and deep pockets — to acquire the Bible, which carried an estimate of $30 million to $50 million. The Codex Sassoon will be donated to the museum (previously known as the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora) and be part of the core exhibition.

☆ Journalist Resigns From Board After PEN America Cancels Russian Writers Panel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Boycotts of Russian artists and culture have been a topic of debate across the cultural world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. But Nossel, who has spoken out against such boycotts, said the question had yet to fully reach PEN until now. But there were no Russian writers in the festival, which was smaller than usual due to Covid concerns. Ukrainian writers’ concerns about appearing with Russians had been raised earlier this year, Nossel said, when discussions about the festival began. Reached by email, Chapeye said he believed that “a Ukrainian soldier cannot be seen under the same ‘umbrella’ with Russian participants for political / public image reasons.”

☆ Building a Better Colonial Williamsburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2021, the foundation raised a record-breaking $102 million, up 42 percent from the previous high in 2019. Those projects have won support across the political spectrum, including from Gov. “The scholarship of decades has shown us this fuller, richer picture of Early America,” Wulf said. But it’s the real thing.”A Patriotic ShrineColonial Williamsburg has its own complicated founding story. In the 1920s, a local minister persuaded John D. Rockefeller Jr. to quietly buy most of the historic area, with the goal of recreating Virginia’s 18th-century colonial capital, down to each historically correct brick and nail.

☆ An Avett Brother Meets a Founding Son: John Quincy Adams
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“He knows democracy is on the line, he knows slavery is a moral evil,” Crawford said of Adams, who became a leading antislavery voice in the House of Representatives, where he served after leaving the White House. He deserves to be in the pantheon.”“Founding Son,” available through iHeartRadio starting April 13, is the latest entry in the crowded field of history podcasts. But it’s one where Crawford (who composed and played the show’s old-timey mandolin theme) hopes to use his musical celebrity and serious historical chops to illuminate a complex, formative period in the evolution of American democracy. The Early Republic, as scholars call it, may be a rich field of study. But it’s largely a blank for most Americans, who are a bit foggy on what exactly happened between the American Revolution and the Civil War.

☆ Six Decades After the Banana Boat, Harry Belafonte’s Archive Sails Home
▼ + stars: | 2020-03-13 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Harry Belafonte turned 93 on March 1, he celebrated with a tribute at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, which ended with a thunderous audience singalong to a riff on his star-making 1956 hit, “The Banana Boat Song,” complete with the rapper Doug E. Fresh beatboxing over its famous “Day-O!” refrain. It was a fitting salute at a building which Mr. Belafonte, in his 2011 memoir, called a “cathedral of spirituality.” But, just a few blocks uptown, he is receiving a quieter but no less momentous celebration. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library, has acquired Mr. Belafonte’s personal archive — a vast maze of photographs, recordings, films, letters, artwork, clipping albums and other materials. It illuminates not just his career as an musician and actor, but as an activist and connector who seemed to know everyone, from Paul Robeson and Marlon Brando to Martin Luther King Jr., the Kennedys and Nelson Mandela.

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