Continuing our research into the 1960’s Tulsa banning of the Catcher in the Rye. We did learn from the American Library Association website, that this case was the first known case of banning of the Catcher in the Rye. Oddly enough, there were not many local articles covering this historical event. However, we have located several articles throughout Oklahoma, specifically the towns of Miami and Lawton. This has been a decent leap in progress as all articles I and Max have found prior is did not give a name of the teacher or the high school. Fortunately, when we peered into the newspaper articles from the 1960’s, we uncovered the names of both the school and teacher in question.

Beatrice Levin was the teacher, who assigned the Catcher in the Rye to her eleventh-grade class, due to her love of the book. However, there was an outcry and one parent when as far as to call the piece smut. The high school principal Dr. Hiram Alexander of Edison preparatory school did leave Mrs. Levin on the faculty, however, there were persistent parents who wanted to oust Mrs. Levin. The superintedent and Tulsa board of education, did not take action against the challenge, instead they put Mrs. Levin’s career and the book in the hands of the local magistrate to decide, i she was to continue teaching, and if the book was to be banned. Mrs. Levin did make a comment, that found it’s way to the Lawon times asking the reporter if the students could not read the Catcher in the Rye, what would they read?

I also found a two-hundred thirteen-page paper from Harvard, covering censorship and one of the cases in the paper covers the Catcher in the Rye, at time of writing, I am still reading through the paper, and I am hoping to uncover more information in the later sections of the piece.

After reading through several of these articles, Max and I have begun to reach out to the Beatrice Levin, the principal Dr. Hriam Alexander, and Dr. Charles C. Manson, or any next of kin to the individuals for the hopes of an interview. In addition, we also have contacted Edison high school as well as the Tulsa board of education to begin the dialouge of recieveing records of from the 1960s, in the hopes of recieveing any kind of information regarding the case.

With the information we uncover, I plan to make a story map of  the events of what happened in the case and the surrounding area, but also we could also potentially make an story map of the events that happen as Max and I make the head way in the defense of our case, and lead to the eventual outcome.