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History Professor Sharon Neet is Keynote Speaker at 10th Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture
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Contact: Sharon Neet, professor, history, 218-281-8269 (sneet@umn.edu), Elizabeth Tollefson, assistant director of communications, 218-281-8432 (ltollefs@umn.edu)
CROOKSTON, Minn. (October 17, 2007) – Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library at Pittsburgh State University in Kansas hosted the tenth annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture in early October featuring keynote speaker University of Minnesota, Crookston Professor Sharon Neet.
Neet, a professor of history and a colleague and friend of the late Gene DeGruson, presented a lecture entitled, "E. Haldeman-Julius: The Paper Giant,” about the work of Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, a controversial editor and publisher who lived in Girard, Kansas, from 1915 to 1951.
Haldeman-Julius was invited to move to Girard to write for the Appeal to Reason, the largest socialist periodical in the country, in 1915. He and his wife, Marcet, eventually purchased the Appeal to Reason and its printing plant. It was there in 1919 that the couple began publishing what became known as the Little Blue Books: 3 ½ by 5-inch reprints of classical and educational works along with topics in a wide variety of other subjects. These five and ten cent booklets are some of the earliest paperbacks in history and the publishing of Haldeman-Julius served to educate the masses at a time when they had little access to such literature.
Of the 2300 titles published, Pittsburgh State has the largest known collection of the Little Blue Books in their Leonard H. Axe Library. Neet began her research of socialist publications when she was a graduate student at Pittsburgh State. She was invited to speak at the third of the Gene DeGruson Memorial Lectures in 1993. Her research has taken her to University of Illinois in Chicago as well as to the Lilly Library at the University of Indiana in Bloomington. Neet continues her study of the work of Haldeman-Julius and his publishing and marketing genius.
“Emmanuel and Marcet were the publishing giants of their time, and they were the largest employer in Girard,” says Neet. “Their work is unprecedented for the era and their legacy made the writings of the masters of literature available to everyone. Their work is a remarkable achievement.”
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