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Advocate Archives
This week’s trip back into the Advocate Archives takes us to 1939 whey John Dos Passos’ books were considered unfit to be on local library shelves; to 1957 when a 4th Pulitizer Prize is awarded to posthumously to Eugene O’Neill; and to 1975 when a late arrival of the Wellfleet herrings sparked concern.
May 11, 1939
Dos Passos Works Removed From Shelves Of Library
Placed on Reserve List Because Of Organized Objections — Books by Zola and Others Also Under Fire
The works of John Dos Passos, 1939 Guggenheim Fellowship winner, Provincetown resident of 15 years and a writer acclaimed by literary critics for his novels and essays on social conditions in America, were removed from the open shelves of the Public Library last week by the Trustees, and local civic organizations, including the Catholic Daughters of America and Walter Welsh Council, Knights of Columbus, are considering the investigation of Dos Passos’ books to determine whether they are radical or obscene.
Also under fire are the works of Emile Zola, 19th century French novelist and author of “Germinal,” “The Fat and the Thin” and other sociological works, as well as books by several other writers whose names were not disclosed.
Mrs. Catherine Cadose, president of the Catholic Daughters and operator of a local gift shop, told a representative of the Advocate that her organization and the Knights of Columbus had planned to demand the removal of Dos Passos’ “The Big Money” from the library, but that on investigation they found that the book had already been taken from its place on the shelf with other works of Dos Passos.
“I, personally, have not read ‘The Big Money’ or any other books by Mr. Dos Passos,” Mrs. Cadose said, “but a Provincetown man told me that the book is positively filthy, and if that is the case it should not be in the public library.
“If anyone is radical or filthy himself, let him buy radical and filthy books. Our library is a public institution, supported by taxes we must all pay, and we have a right to insist that none of its books shall be vile or radical.”
May 9, 1957
Fourth Pulitzer For Eugene O’Neill
Four years after his death and 40 years after his first plays were produced in Provincetown, where as a young man he found the first rung on the ladder to fame, the fourth Pulitzer Prize has been awarded Eugene O’Neill for his “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” a current Broadway hit. The award was among 14 Pulitzer Prizes in letters, journalism and music announced Monday by trustees of Columbia University.
The playwright’s widow, Carlotta Monterey O’Neill, said, “I am very happy to learn that the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night.’ Now I know I did the right thing in giving it to Jose Quintero to produce and direct.”
Producer Quintero staged the Broadway production. When the play, written in 1941, was published last year, it was explained that an earlier stipulation to delay publication until 25 years after O’Neill’s death had been rescinded. He died in 1953. He had previously won Pulitzer Prizes for “Beyond the Horizon” in 1920, “Anna Christie” in 1922 and “Strange Interlude” in 1928.
May 8, 1975
Herring Derring-Do?
As other herring runs on the Lower Cape reach their full strength this week, Wellfleet continues to wait for its herring to return.
Any questions about the effects of the new Herring River Dike on Wellfleet’s herring population remain unanswered. While some alewives have been sighted in Wellfleet Harbor none have been reported on the river side of the dike. At this time last year thousands of herring were passing through the deteriorated old dike to spawn upriver.
Several explanations have been offered for observers and scientists for the herring’s tardiness. Wellfleet’s run is usually two weeks later than those in Brewster and Eastham. In addition, this spring has been colder and drier than normal. The june-berry or shadbush, whose startling white blossoms are said to announce the herring’s arrival, has yet to flower in the meadows around the river.
There has also been some speculation that temporary repairs to the dike last year and the extensive displacement of the river bed caused by the subsequent rebuilding of the entire dike structure may have impaired the alewives’ olfactory recognition of their headwaters. Last year’s construction may also have prevented many fingerlings from dropping down through the dike and continuing out to sea for the winter, thereby reducing the number of herring who will return this spring.
While the herring biologists at the Massachusetts Department of Resources Division of Marine Fisheries maintain a wait-and-see attitude, and the bureaucratic haggling over the marsh above the dike continues, Wellfleet may lose a valuable resource. The alewives’ spring run through Wellfleet harbor and their subsequent return to the bay in the fall creates a major food source for the striped bass and bluefish who arrive late in the season.
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May 8th, 2008