The letter written to the borough council removed much of the aggressive language but still accused ALA of being a communist organization and of the library holding communist materials. \u201cWe are not in accord with their policy of permitting Communist slanted literature on their shelves nor are we in accord with their adoption of the Library Bill of Rights \u2026 We have reason to believe that the ALA is not in accord with what we judge to be the best interests of our American way of life.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n Mildred Harlan, librarian at the Punxsutawney Free Library, wrote to the Intellectual Freedom Committee to bring the issue to ALA\u2019s attention. She forwarded the letter to be read to the borough council and asked for an official statement from ALA against the charges of communism, as she said the Legion was not inclined to believe her. She noted that, \u201cIt seems that the situation is going to become more serious that (sic) we had expected.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n Paul Bixler, secretary of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, was rather incredulous in his response to Harlan over the accusation, noting “the gross misrepresentation” of ALA by the American Legion Post. Bixler brought up the appointment of L. Quincy Mumford as the Librarian of Congress less than two years before. Mumford was a former ALA President and then member of the ALA\u2019s Executive Board, and Senator Joseph McCarthy had served on the committee that considered Mumford\u2019s nomination. In his response to Harlan, Bixler posed the question, \u201cDo the Legionnaires of Punxsutawney believe that Senator McCarthy \u2026 would have allowed a librarian who was President of the American Library Association to become Librarian of Congress if there was any suspicion that the American Library Association was a Communist front?\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n The Legion later walked back the editorial after the library board protested the \u201cscurrilous attacks\u201d on its members and being exposed to a legal liability. The Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom,<\/em> a publication of the Intellectual Freedom Committee, announced the apology, writing that \u201cThe legal dangers of Editor Wehrle\u2019s attack having been pointed out to the Post\u2019s members, they not only issued a letter of apology to the Board for the editor\u2019s remarks, but recalled a letter sent to the Borough Council asking changes in the Board\u2019s membership.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blog post adapted from:<\/em> Cara Bertram, <\/em>\u201cThe Freedom to Read: Stories of the Fight Against Library Censorship in the 1950s.\u201d Caxtonian 33, no. 5 (September\/October 2025): 6-9.<\/em><\/p>\n [1]<\/a> \u201cLegionnaire \u2018Assults\u2019 Public Library,\u201d Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom<\/em> 4, no. 2, January 1956, p. 4.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Donald White to Punxsutawney City Council, January 3, 1956. Correspondence File, Record Series 69\/1\/5, Box 2, Folder: HA-HZ Correspondence, 1952-1956, American Library Association Archives.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Mildred Harlan to Paul Bixler, January 7, 1956. Correspondence File, Record Series 69\/1\/5, Box 2, Folder: HA-HZ Correspondence, 1952-1956, American Library Association Archives.<\/p>\n![\"Letter](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2025\/12\/6901005a_002_HarlanLetter-300x258.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Portrait](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2025\/11\/ALA0006529-210x300.jpg\")