Hello, LIWLRA members and friends,
For decades, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a part of the American Library Association (ALA), has granted the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award to authors who have contributed, as she did, a lifelong legacy and contribution to children’s literature. As many of you are aware, the ALSC board recently voted to rename the award, erasing Laura Ingalls Wilder from the legacy her works created.
When the LIWLRA board became aware of the pending vote, we drafted a response that we mailed to the chairwoman of the board. Though we did not yet receive a response or reply, we did feel it was important to convey that the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder is valuable. You can read our letter in the attached file, and it also was included in the April newsletter to our members.
We stand by our board’s consensus position that the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder, though encumbered with the perspectives of racism that were representative of her time and place, also includes overwhelmingly positive contributions to children’s literature that have touched generations past and will reach into the future. We believe it is not beneficial to the body of literature to sweep away her name as though the perspectives in her books never existed. Those perspectives are teaching moments to show generations to come how the past was and how we, as a society, must move forward with a more inclusive and diverse perspective.
The LIWLRA continues its mission of preserving and promoting the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder through research, events, awareness, and unwavering support for the museums and sites that honor her across the country. We hope to see you at our next “LauraPalooza” conference in 2019, where we can continue dialog on this and the many other cultural, scientific, literary, and scholarly topics threaded into the study of Laura Ingalls Wilder, her family, and their words and works.
We ask that all discussion of this topic remain respectful of the many diverse perspectives across the country, from the descendants of white settlers to those of the Native Americans displaced by them and the African-Americans enslaved by Americans. We will moderate this discussion heavily and will delete posts that we deem to be inappropriate.
Respectfully,
The LIWLRA Board
Comments26
Great response! You kept it civil, acknowledged the ALA concerns, but stood up for her legacy. I wish all the Facebook posts understood how civil discourse works.
LIWLRA Board,
I am very sorry you did not receive my response, dated April 8 2018, to your letter. I would like to assure you your input was received, considered, and valued.
Respectfully,
Nina Lindsay
2017-2018 President of the Association for Library Service Service to Children
Hi Nina,
Thank you for your note. We only are able check our mail periodically, and we haven’t checked it recently. I hope it made its way to our inbox, and we will look forward to reading it.
Thank you,
Barb Mayes Boustead
President, Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association
Good for you standing up for her legacy!!! I read her books starting at about age 10 and am now 30. Ironically I learned about the american literacy doing this awful discourse 2 days after deciding to read the series again. (Yes I have kept every single book in the series for 20 years). I am so glad you guys took a stand and did so with such grace. Thank you. These books were, and will forever be, very important to me and to my children to come. Keep doing great things!!!
In all do respect, Ms.Lindsay, the board you sit on should not have the power to erase LIW’s name from this award. Frankly, it’s offensive to think you were not capable to discern for yourselves the value of preserving her name on the award. It leads many to think that perhaps your names should be removed from the board, so that Laura’s name may be restored on the award. I’d appreciate any info you might send me on any available process to appeal this most egregious board decision. Thank you, Maureen Myrphy-Malo, RN
I agree! We have also started a petition. We will not let this go.
As much as I may understand the Association for Library Service to Children’s reasons for deciding to change the name of this award, I agree with others who have posted that the erasure is an unnecessary maligning of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name, most likely brought about by bullying tactics on the part of those who objected to its presence.
I believe I speak for a large and silent majority that expected the ALSC to uphold the tradition by which this award was named in the first place, and not to be rattled by a fringe of highly vocal naysayers. With the fervor to show alliance to these naysayers, a much wider group has been alienated, and I would urge that group to respond with similar tactics. Boycott any book that receives the award under its new name, demonstrate objection to this name change wherever possible, and make your voice heard by the ALSC, so that it’s very relevance will suffer from the poor decision it has made in this matter.
I just learned of your association while watching CBS this morning. I grew up in Kansas in the 1970s and the Little House series shaped my life as a young reader. I have been an elementary teacher for 20 years and recently shared these books with my students. Our school’s student population is less than half white. I support your belief to use these books as teachable moments! We had many great class discussions based on the way Laura’s family felt about Native Americans. The lessons are valuable, and in no way should these books be stripped of the respect they deserve! Please keep fighting the good fight to keep these books available to all. They are a national treasure.
Thank you for your gracious response to ALSC/ALA re: their LIW award name change. I applaud you for supplying teaching materials to accompany LIW’s historical fiction. Such items were not available to me as a pre-teen reader, but I had parents and teachers who answered my questions and expanded my understanding of the times and hardships each of the characters faced. I hope that learning experience will be possible for today’s readers of all of LIW’s writings.
Great response. I am a bleeding heart liberal, and grew up loving the stories of LIW. Even as a child, I was able to perceive some of the out-dated, hurtful attitudes depicted in her writing; however, the enormous historical value of her writing still remains. Such outdated perspectives serve as lessons for children reading her works today. Kids learn that people are complex creatures, neither all good nor all bad. I remember feeling torn that my beloved Ma didn’t like Indians……I remember wishing I could explain things to her. As a teacher, I had one class who had read several of Laura’s books, write a letter to Ma, trying to enlighten her as to what the Indians were going through.
Is there a way to start a separate award keeping LIW’s name?
Karen,
I too am a teacher and am the immediate past president of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. Our association has an award called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy Award which is presented every two years to someone who has been influential in preserving the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Members of our Association are able to nominate possible recipients. There is more information about membership and the Legacy Award on this website by clicking buttons at the top of this page.
Laura
Thank you for drafting such a prompt and respectful response. As a Laura Fan and someone deeply involved in Walnut Grove, it is nice to have an advocate willingly to dialogue about the change and desire to continue Wilder’s legacy.
Even though racism was alive and well back in Laura’s day as it is today, I respectfully disagree with anyone claiming she was racist. She was actually very much ahead of her time, even trying to put teachers in their places for unfairness towards students. She portrayed and depicted perseverance, courage and faith that everyone can relate to. If one cannot find this in her literature and biographies, then I challenge you to reread her series and biographies.
You cannot erase history. Times have changed because of our history, we have learned and continue to learn from it. If we continue to remove all history that offends someone, all books, newspapers, media outlets, and libraries will be discontinued as well. Laura Ingalls Wilder deserves to keep her name on the award for informing people if a different time in an honest way.
What a wonderful and respectful response . I am grateful to you for standing up for these wonderful books that have been a big part of many generations of readers . Sincerely Colleen Martin
While I agree that it is understandable that the award’s name has been changed, there is a subtle implication that the board and its members are taking an ethical high road that makes it look as though Mrs. Wilder took an ethical low road. If that is the case, I don’t think the board is giving Mrs. Wilder credit for being willing to change. Virtually, every objection to her treatment of Indians and blacks was taken seriously by Mrs. Wilder, and her letters collected by William Anderson would suggest that she was indeed willing to change things that were objectionable. Thus, I don’t think she did too badly considering her background. Who hasn’t been a racist at some time or other?
Thank you for advocating the inclusion of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name to the award. I have always been well aware of that award and am disturbed that this great author has been removed from it. I grew up reading Laura’s books. Any book associated with the name LIW as an award is considered prestigious to me.
I, too, grew up reading and loving Wilder’s books, and enjoyed revisiting them again with my daughter. But I disagree with the Society’s reasons for protesting against the change in the naming of the ALA’s award. Renaming an award is not the same as “sweeping away her name.” Her books are still in print, and are still available for young people to read. They still may be used for “teaching moments” about racism in the past with children in classrooms, and are still available for scholars who wish to write and analyze them.
Changing the name of the award does take the burden off of recipients, to grapple with, or protest against, the racist aspects of her books. A result which I applaud.
Well stated, Jackie. Her name and her works have not been “swept away” and, if anyone tried to censor or ban her work, the ALA/ALSC would be the first to fight for our rights to read them.
I so appreciate seeing this perspective, which I share. I disagree that the ALSC’s renaming of the award is akin to censorship. I believe that the ALA will continue to support the inclusion of Wilders’ works and recognize their value. To champion them or use them as a benchmark of children’s literature today, however, is to ignore the changing times.
I loved the LH books as a child. As I grew that love led to an interest in research and helped contribute to my academic and career paths.
I was eager to learn the true history of the places and times in which Laura lived. I searched for factual information about her life and family. Tracing how Laura, Rose, and the books’ editors constructed a narrative that reflected their current beliefs and values, appealed to public sentiment, and created an endearing cast of characters, gave me a greater appreciation of the books. These women were intelligent and clever. Part of that included actively perpetuating myths about the books, frontier life, and LIW’s own past.
I still love Little House and I continue to be fascinated by the complexity and popularity of all things LIW. My appreciation, however, is tempered by the knowledge that the books weren’t written in a vacuum. Hopefully they continue to inspire readers to delve deeper into the scholarship as well as engage in informed, spirited, and respectful debate.
If my perception of LIW were based solely on the books, the TV shows, and the mythology surrounding her, I’d probably be upset by the ALSC’s decision as well. I do understand the LIWLRA’s perspective and am grateful for their continued stewardship and advocacy.
Thank you for your well written letter, Dr Boustead. I am a teacher and ironically, my nine year old daughter and I have been reading the Little House books for two years now. We are halfway through On the Banks of Silver Lake. These books are historical and give us a picture of America in the late 1880s.
We just read about how Pa stuck up for Big Jim (who was Native American) in the railroad shanty town. I also remember the part about the Native Americans coming into the first house that the Ingalls Family built. It wouldn’t have mattered if those men were white, brown or purple with polka dots, they scared Ma and the girls because they didn’t know them and they just walked in. The men weren’t wearing much in terms of clothing and had skunk skins tied to their loins (skunks smell..it’s a fact). It would be frightening to have strangers enter your home in these times as well as back then.
I feel that members of the ALA are just trying to make names for themselves by “reinventing the wheel.” I’m sure they will try to rebrand and rename other awards. Thank you for keeping history alive and we will continue to do our part. For all of us that are book savvy, 1984 seems to be more of a real life script than a novel!
Correction: My daughter and I are now reading By the Shores of Silver Lake and recently finished On the Banks of Plum Creek. I morphed the titles together in my above response by accident.
Thank you for a thoughtful and thorough response. One of the things I love most about the Laurapalooza conferences is how we learn about and discuss these difficult topics. I remember one conference addressing how the Osage Indians were interviewed about the book series, and those particular members were quite comfortable with how Laura wrote about Native Americans. The award name change is a disappointment, but Laura’s books will continue to live on and on because they are authentic, thought provoking and still very relevant today.
For another thoughtful response.The Little House series which I have read three times has never appeared on the ALA’s list of challenged or banned books, in spite of the contention they have caused a lot our people pain. By changing the name of the award, the ALA has essentially challenged the books.
https://thebookhound.com/2018/06/29/laura-ingalls-wilder-award-the-american-library-association/#more-113
PLEASE do NOT rename the award. Doing so does NOT demonstrate sensitivity or inclusion or ANY positive qualities. Instead, it shows some attitudes towards literature which are the REAL problem. Changing the name of the award is NOT the moral high road. It IS however a GREAT disappointment. I would refuse ANY award that would be given by an organization that did something like this.
Louisa M. Mendels
As a genealogist, I know history can be ugly. Mrs. Wilder gave a first hand account of the trials and tribulations of pioneer life. She was a strong woman who survived the harsh Midwest enviroment. The removal of her name on this award is symbolic. Shall we remove the names of the Framers of our Constitution? Where does it end? The Ingalls did not take up arms against our Country, they did not partake in fights with Native Americans and they did not own slaves. They were, however, part of the migration west. An important aspect to a growing Nation. In another hundred years, these accounts will help our future generations understand frontier life while embracing the strong women who helped build our Country. Thank you for your time.
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