Ruth Brown Blog

Ruth Brown: Why was her story so important?

The reason why Ruth Browns story is so special, as Louise Robbins states in the beginning of her book, is because even though the story seems to be about communist ideas, it centers around the breaking down of racist policies in libraries in American life. Ruth Brown was not targeted and fired because the library board in Bartlesville thought that she was a communist. The communist approach to her attack was a convenient excuse in a time when America was experiencing mass hysteria of sorts in the name of the "red scare." The battle against communism was convenient to use as an excuse because it was a battle being fought even at the highest levels of government. No, the library board and citizens who fought against Ruth Brown were fighting to keep their own ideas of a segregated society in place. These officials and citizens alike, thought that Ruth Brown represented a new and scary "other" and this is why she was targeted.

Ruth Brown was a threat to citizens because she wasn't shy and timid, like most librarians were seen to be (the stereotypical librarians that we have talked about in class since the first week of readings). She felt that she had little or nothing to lose, she was near retirement, had no children except for the two girls that she raised to maturity after their parents died and adopted as her own. These two girls were now raised and grown and had moved on. She saw herself as having no dependents. To the citizens of Bartlesville who wanted her removed, Ruth Brown was a very big threat.

In a way, the fight against censorship, communism, and equal rights for African-American citizens in the South, go hand-in-hand. They coincide at this time and Ruth Brown is a prime example of things that were most likely happening all over the country to peole in different ways.

People like Ruth Brown presented a threat to others comfortable and secure ways of life and thinking and to the values that they were comfortable with. People are reluctant to change their morals and THIS is the real fight presented in these pages. Seeing how far this fear can go to ruin lives and careers, when our local State and federal govt's do not take a stand against them, this causes real fear.

The communist rhetoric of yesterday is continued in the socialist rhetoric of today. This is the true reason why I found this book so interesting and powerful. Louise Robbins did a fantastic job researching these topics. Being from the area, I think she had a much better understanding than most of the underlying and unspoken fears of the public and how they must have played into the controversy in Bartlesville. Robbins did a beautiful job presenting this story in a bigger context than what may have been in the memories of those involved.