Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Recorded September 24, 2025
Who has the power to control what we read? The American Library Association reported that 2023 saw a historic number of attempts to ban books from public libraries, particularly those featuring LGBT or BIPOC characters. While the number of attacks may be unprecedented, censorship is rooted in a long, tumultuous history. Caitlin O’Keefe, co-curator of the Center’s new installation, Circulating Control: Women’s Book Battles, 1880-1930, will moderate a conversation with Jean Howard (Columbia University), Jennifer Morgan (New York University), and Marc Stein (San Francisco State University), participants of a new initiative, “Banned Books: Why Young People Need to Read Them.” Watch this discussion of the history of censoring books about gender, sexuality and race, and how this history has shaped our contemporary conversation about banned books.
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Recorded September 24, 2025
Who has the power to control what we read? The American Library Association reported that 2023 saw a historic number of attempts to ban books from public libraries, particularly those featuring LGBT or BIPOC characters. While the number of attacks may be unprecedented, censorship is rooted in a long, tumultuous history. Caitlin O’Keefe, co-curator of the Center’s new installation, Circulating Control: Women’s Book Battles, 1880-1930, will moderate a conversation with Jean Howard (Columbia University), Jennifer Morgan (New York University), and Marc Stein (San Francisco State University), participants of a new initiative, “Banned Books: Why Young People Need to Read Them.” Watch this discussion of the history of censoring books about gender, sexuality and race, and how this history has shaped our contemporary conversation about banned books.
***
For more about The New York Historical, visit our website: nyhistory.org
***
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1
Check out our full video catalog: youtube.com/c/nyhistory
Instagram: instagram.com/nyhistory
Facebook: facebook.com/nyhistory
TikTok: tiktok.com/@nyhistory
Twitter/X: https://x.com/NYHistory
![World War II // The Citizenship Project [E06]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Qj5dI8mx5g/mqdefault.jpg "World War II // The Citizenship Project [E06]
Those who take the U.S. Citizenship Test must understand the reasons behind the United States’ involvement in World War II, why the U.S. was initially neutral, and what happened as a result of Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The New-York Historical Society Citizenship Project offers free civics test preparation classes for green card holders. Learn more at https://www.nyhistory.org/citizenship-project
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For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/
***
Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1
Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory
#newyorkhistoricalsociety #history")
