8 Collectible Books That Shaped America in the 20th Century
Updated: Jun 19, 2020
The 20th century was an era of monumental change in the world's history and, by extension, America’s. From rampant racism and discrimination against non-whites and immigrants at the beginning of the century, to the all-inclusive homogenized nature of the populace at the end, Americans had accepted and adjusted to change. But this acceptance did not come easily or without first understanding the “them” and the “us”. Books helped to make that understanding and acceptance possible.
Before the curtain fell on the 20th century, America and the world would experience
wrenching social upheaval
an unprecedented worldwide economic collapse
two World Wars that would claim the lives of almost 100 million people
the quagmire of the Vietnam conflict and the resulting disillusionment with government
the continuing struggles of the oppressed and minorities—played out in the streets and courthouses—for fair treatment by society and the law.
All these troubles, disasters and unrest left Americans shaken and questioning their long-held views of America’s place in the world and their own individual place in society. As before, books born out of this era—some the work of great novelists, others, the work of great humanitarians and social reformers—helped us understand, accept and find the courage to demand change.
In this post, I’ll present 8 collectible books from the last century that influenced American’s view of the world and their place in it. These books are part of a fascinating exhibit from 2012 by the Library of Congress entitled: “Books That Shaped America”—a collection of 88 works published between 1750 and 2000 (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/books-that-shaped-america/overview.html). We’re looking at only a small sampling here of the collectible books of the last century that had a profound effect on American life. Let’s get started.
W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
Published just after the turn of the century, when discrimination against no
n-white people in America and elsewhere was virulent, The Souls of Black Folk touched a nerve. At the time of publication, the Nashville Banner warned: "This book is dangerous for the Negro to read, for it will only incite discontent and fill his imagination with things that do not exist, or things that should not bear upon his mind." [1] Du Bois proposed the idea that black people must have two fields of vision at all times: They must be conscious of how they view themselves, and how the world views them. His book is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a mainstay of African-American literature. Du Bois’s book was so influential that it is impossible to consider the civil rights movement’s roots without first looking to this groundbreaking work. [2]
[1] "Books Noted". Negro Digest: 52. June 1964.
[2] L.O.C.: //www. loc.gov/exhibits/books-that-shaped-america/1900-to-1950.html#obj3
Margaret Sanger, Family Limitation (1914)
Family Limitation is another work that attempted to address discrimination, in this case against
women, by serving as a guide for preventing pregnancy. Margaret Sanger—working as a nurse in the NewYork slums—saw firsthand the plight of poor women suffering from frequent
pregnancies and self-induced abortions. Contraception was illegal and after Sanger published the 16-page pamphlet, Family Limitation, she was prosecuted under the Comstock Act of 1914, which prohibited circulating information through the mails considered obscene.
However, several hundred thousand copies were distributed through the first family-planning and birth control clinic Sanger established in Brooklyn in 1916 and by networks of active women at rallies and political meetings. [1] In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, which later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. [2] [3]
[1] L.O.C.: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/books-that-shaped-america/1900-to-1950.html#obj10
[2] Freedman, Estelle B., The essential feminist reader, Random House Digital, Inc., 2007, p. 211.
[3] Ford, Lynne E., Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics, p. 406.
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
Aside from being one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, Steinbeck was a quasi-activist for improving the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. The Grapes of Wrath told the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma,
who made their way to California in search of work and a better life. Before fictionalizing their story, Steinbeck had researched and written about their plight in newspaper articles in 1936…[he] had traveled to the model migrant camps sponsored by the federal Farm Security Administration to assist a small portion of these needy families…and could contrast them with the terrible conditions on the large, industrial scale farms where the managers for absentee owners treated the workers harshly,… [1]
[The Grapes of Wrath] led to Congressional hearings in 1940 where Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins advocated extending wage regulation to the “factories in the fields” where the farm laborers “should be treated as virtual industrial workers.” [1] When Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962, the committee specifically cited this novel as one of the main reasons for the award.[2]
[1] Gardner, Deborah. “The Roosevelts and John Steinbeck: 75th Anniversary of The Grapes of Wrath”. Roosevelt House: Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. First published 25 April 2014 [http://www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/roosevelts-john-steinbeck-75th-anniversary-grapes-wrath/, accessed 14 June 2020].
Alcoholics Anonymous (1939)
Before the publication of Alcoholics Anonymous, or “The Big Book”, society viewed alcoholism primarily as a “personality disorder”—a result of toxic environmental influences or moral weakness—the prevailing opinion of the 19th century. [1] Not until the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W
. and Dr. Bob, published the book in 1939, did attitudes change. [1] Bill Wilson (Bill W.) and Bob Smith (Dr. Bob) were both alcoholics who had stopped drinking and stayed sober using a system based on the Oxford Group, a spiritual movement that grew into Alcoholics Anonymous. They worked together on a method of approaching other alcoholics to help them recover from alcoholism. The Big Book became the text of the Alcoholics Anonymous program.
The book has sold over 30 million copies. Millions of men and women worldwide have turned to the 12-step program…to recover from alcoholism. [2] The "Big Book," was the basis for similar programs addressing other forms of addiction, from heroin use to overeating.
[1] Karl Mann, Derik Hermann, and Andreas Heinz, "One Hundred Years of Alcoholism: The Twentieth Century," Alcohol and Alcoholism, (2000) 35 (1):10-15, published 1 January 2000, [https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article/35/1/10/142396, accessed 14 June 2020]
Benjamin Spock, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946)
As every new mother knows, babies aren’t born with instruction manuals. And that fact created an opportunity for well-meaning, but misguided pediatricians and psychologists to
write one. Before the publication of Dr. Spock’s guidebook, the prevailing wisdom among these experts was to “feed babies on strict schedules and start toilet training at an early, specific age” [1] [2]. To limit affection “so as to maintain sterility and to prevent children from becoming spoiled or fussy,…” [1]
As cold and unnatural as these recommendations seem today, they were the contemporary norm for child-rearing in Dr. Spock’s time. But Spock’s guidebook changed all that. He argued for flexibility in child-rearing and suggested parents treat each child as an individual. He stressed that the parent’s “natural loving care” for their child is most important, to have confidence in their abilities, and to trust their instincts in raising their children. Millions of parents worldwide have followed his advice. [3]
[1] John Watson, Psychological Care of Infant and Child, (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1928).
[2] Luther Emmett Holt, The Care and Feeding of Children, (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1894).
Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, inspired by his experiences as a bombardier pilot in World War II, is a darkly comic novel that takes a satirical view of the military bureaucracy and examines
the absurdity of war. Published in 1961, the book became very popular with teens, expressing the feelings many had toward the Vietnam War.
The title refers to a fictional rule in the military imposed on the principal character, Yossarian, who pleads insanity to avoid going into combat: “If one is crazy, one does not have to fly missions; and one must be crazy to fly. But one has to apply to be excused, and applying demonstrates that one is not crazy.” [1]
The title, Catch-22, has since become synonymous with a “no-win situation”. Although the novel won no awards upon its release, it soon became a cult classic, especially among the Vietnam War generation, for its biting indictment of war. [2]
[1] Heller, Joseph (June 1961) [1961]. Catch-22 (hardback). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 56. ISBN 0-684-83339-5. OCLC 35231812.
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
Rachel Carson was a pioneer in the environmental movement of the 1960s and her book, Silent Spring, became a focal point for the social movement of that era. As a marine biologist and writer, she sounded the alarm about the use of pesticides in agriculture, especially DDT,
pointing out that man-made chemicals designed to control agricultural pests not only harmed the natural world but also humans.
Her book met with significant success and because of heightened public awareness, DDT and other pesticides were banned. [1] According to Carson scholar H. Patricia Hynes: "Silent Spring altered the balance of power in the world. No one since would be able to sell pollution as the necessary underside of progress so easily or uncritically."[2]
[1] L.O.C.: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/books-that-shaped-america/1950-to-2000.html#obj12
[2] Hynes, H. Patricia (1989). The Recurring Silent Spring. Athene series. New York: Pergamon Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-08-037117-7.
Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On (1987)
Randy Shilts was a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1982 when he was assigned to cover the AIDS virus full time. His book, And the Band Played On, is a work of investigative journalism written in the form of a chronology that tells the story of how the AIDS virus was first discovered in 1977, how it spread and how the government was initially indifferent to it,
viewing it as a specifically “gay” disease. Not until 1987, when President Reagan was under increased public pressure, did he instruct Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to provide a full report to the public. The report was clear about the cause of AIDS and what the Government and people should do to stop it, including sex and AIDS education for all people. [1]
Writer Jon Katz explains, "No other mainstream journalist has sounded the alarm so frantically, caught the dimensions of the AIDS tragedy so poignantly or focused so much attention on government delay, the nitpickings of research funding and institutional intrigue". [2] Shilts’s investigation has been compared to other works that led to increased efforts toward public safety, such as Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. [3]
[1] Shilts, Randy. (1987). And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic. St. Martin’s Press. p. 587-598 ISBN 0-312-00994-1
[2] Katz, Jon (May 27, 1993). "AIDS and the Media: Shifting Out of Neutral", Rolling Stone, Issue 657, pp. 31–32.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these brief introductions to 8 of the “Books that Shaped America” in the 20th Century. The rationale for the books I featured from the Library of Congress’ exhibit is straightforward:
They were written to address a societal ill
OR
They were written to help the reader understand and empathize with the protagonists as victims of a societal ill or disastrous event.
These books are just a small sampling of the transformational works published in the 20th Century. I’m sure, apart from the 88 books included in the “Books That Shaped America” exhibit, there were many more left out solely because of space constraints. If you’d like to view the complete exhibit at the Library of Congress, please follow the link here.
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