Date: Sun, 12 Feb 1995 10:16:57 EST
Subject: APPLE'S BIG BYTE OUT OF HISTORY -- censorship or merely revisionism?
From: merholz@3sixty.voyagerco.com (Peter Merholz)
The following article appeared in the New York Daily News:
February 8, 1995. (pg. 10)
APPLE'S BIG BYTE OUT OF HISTORY
Apple, the company that revolutionized the personal computer industry,
apparently thinks Newt Gingrich's Third Wave Information Age means
censorship is back - especially when it comes to abortion and gays.
In a stunning move for a company long admired for its forward-looking
policies, Apple last week suddenly notified the producer of an acclaimed
American history CD-ROM that it was discontinuing shipments because of
complaints about mentions of turn-of-the-century abortion, birth control
and homosexuality.
After failing to get Voyager Co. - the producer of "Who Built America?" -
to delete the controversial sections, Apple informed the company on Jan. 31
that it was discontinuing shipments of the disc to public schools.
Apple's notice came only a few days after "Who Built America?" won the
American Historical Association's bienniel prize for "the most outstanding
contribution to the teaching and learning of history."
Since November, Apple has distributed more than 12,000 copies of the
Voyager disc, as part of its free software package bundled with new
computer shipments to public schools.
"Who Built America?" was a joint project between New York-based Voyager,
the leading U.S. publisher of CD-ROM discs, and the American Social History
Project at the City University of New York.
CD-ROM is the technology that combines text, photos, music and video into
one multi-media experience on a personal computer. Like cd music discs,
CD-ROM discs can store immense amounts of information compared with older
methods.
Only a few minutes of viewing this disc shows you why Apple was at first so
enthusiastic. With it, history comes alive. You get not only a standard
text but original source documents, such as the complete video of "The
Great Train Robbery," the actual voice of William Jennings Bryan giving his
"Cross of Gold" speech, and survivors of the 1906 Atlanta race riot and the
1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire giving you firsthand accounts of
those tragedies.
But in early January, Apple executives notified Bob Stein, chief executive
of Voyager, that they had recieved some complaints, the most troubling
dealing with citations of abortion, birth control, and homosexuality.
There was, for instance, the audio interview with Elizabeth Anderson, who
recounted how, beginning in 1910, she had had 12 abortions.
And the 1882 letter from a gay German immigrant explaining how he fled to
America from his native land after being arrested for a homosexual
relationship.
And the 1901 New York Times account of Murray Hall, a well-known Tammany
Hall leader who for 25 years masquereded as a man and was married twice,
though "he" was secretly a "she."
"Some people may not like the fact there was abortion in 1910, but you
can't deny it existed," said Steven Brier, the CUNY history professor who
authored the original two-volume "Who Built America" and then adapted it
for CD-ROM.
"It's unbelievable to have this project blown-off in this way," an angry
Brier said yesterday.
And for this to happen with Apple - long regarded by many as the most
creative and visionary of companies - is especially troubling.
I bought my first Apple 2E more than 10 years ago, and I came to believe
that Apple's healthy irreverence toward narrow-minded thought and arbitrary
[text missing for no apparent reason. - mech@eff.org]
w he fled to
America from his native land after being arrested for a homosexual
relationship.
And the 1901 New York Times account of Murray Hall, a well-known Tammany
Hall leader who for 25 years masquereded as a man and was married twice,
though "he" was secretly a "she."
"Some people may not like the fact there was abortion in 1910, but you
can't deny it existed," said Steven Brier, the CUNY history professor who
authored the original two-volume "Who Built America" and then adapted it
for CD-ROM.
"It's unbelievable to have this project blown-off in this way," an angry
Brier said yesterday.
And for this to happen with Apple - long regarded by many as the most
creative and visionary of companies - is especially troubling.
I bought my first Apple 2E more than 10 years ago, and I came to believe
that Apple's healthy irreverence toward narrow-minded thought and arbitrary
authority was just the spirit that produced its pioneering innovations,
things like the Macintosh and the powerbook laptops.
It was Apple, remember, that not too long ago refused to build a new plant
in Austin, Tex., after the local government tried to penalize it for
providing medical benefits to same-sex domestic partners. That time, Apple
stood on principal and won.
But now here was this public relations person, Carolyn Donohoe, giving me a
prepared statement late yesterday on the "Voyager issue."
Since the statement so clearly double-speaks for itself, I will quote it
extensively:
"It's not an issue of censorship. However, Apple has recieved some
customer complaints. As a matter of course, Apple continually reviews the
content of its bundles based on customer satisfaction and feedback.
"Currently, Apple is evaluating the bundle titled 'Apple Educational
Series: Elementary and Secondary Reference.' To date, Apple has neither
formally notified Voyager nor made any public announcements about future
versions of this bundle."
With the November elections behind us, and with our nation's future being
increasingly shaped by a rabid history professor named Newt Gingrich, Apple
appears ready to join the censorship posse, tossing its own once-proud
rebel legacy into the trash bin it helped make famous.
-30-
The reason I phrased the subject of this email as a question is because I
don't feel right calling Apple's action censorship, but I do think Apple's
action to be utterly reprehensible.
If you would like to respond in an official way, please email:
michaels@voyagerco.com
He's handling this in-house.
------------------------
Peter Merholz
Voyager
http://www.voyagerco.com
------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 1995 17:09:19 EST
Subject: Censorship of Who Built America (fwd)
From: Roy Rosenzweig
As the following explains, we are embroiled in censorship dispute with
Apple over our CD-ROM. If you have time, please send an email (address
below) to the head of Apple. Please also circulate to others, including
other email lists.
take care,
Roy
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 1995 13:10:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Eric Foner
IS THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ONLY OPEN TO "EDUCATIONALLY
APPROPRIATE" HISTORY?
As members of the board of directors of the American Social
History Project (ASHP) we want to bring to your attention the
recent attempt by Apple Computer to censor the Project's WHO
BUILT AMERICA? FROM THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF 1876 TO THE
GREAT WAR OF 1914 (WBA), a CD-ROM conceived and written by Roy
Rosenzweig, Steve Brier and Joshua Brown, and published by the
Voyager Company in 1993.
In January 1995, after distributing more than 12,000 copies
of WBA in the previous month as part of its "Apple Educational
Series: Elementary and Secondary Reference" bundle installed in
computers sold to schools, Apple informed the Voyager Company
about unspecified complaints regarding material in the disk
discussing homosexuality, birth control, and abortion between
1876 and 1914. Voyager refused Apple's request to make the CD-
ROM "educationally appropriate" by removing all references to
these subjects. The material that Apple wanted censored
represents a small number of historical documents and oral-
history interviews, the equivalent of 40 pages and 15 minutes of
sound out of more than 5,000 pages of text and four and a half
hours of sound. The inclusion of the history of gay Americans
and birth control is part of a comprehensive social history of
the period that covers a wide range of experiences and
perspectives. On January 31, 1995, Apple notified the Voyager
Company that it would no longer distribute WBA to schools.
Ironically, Apple's decision occurred only three weeks after
the American Historical Association awarded WBA the biennial
James Harvey Robinson Prize as "the most outstanding contribution
to the teaching and learning of history in any field for public
or educational purposes." In addition, since its publication in
1993, WBA has been praised in major newspapers and in computer
trade and scholarly publications for its innovative application
of multimedia to education and rigorous scholarship. For
example, Walter S. Mossberg wrote in the WALL STREET JOURNAL:
"Once in a while . . . a truly exciting, high-quality electronic
book turns up to reveal the real potential of electronic
learning. My latest nomination to this CD-ROM Hall of Fame
is . . . WHO BUILT AMERICA?"
Apple's new restrictions threaten the intellectual and
educational efficacy of electronic information, from interactive
programs to the Internet, an arena that has been heralded for
providing greater opportunities for accessibility, expression,
and diversity.
In response to publicity being given to this case in various
media, Apple has apparently backed away from its initial stance
and now maintains it is re-evaluating the status of WHO BUILT
AMERICA? In that light and in the light of the company's
previous reputation for respecting human and civil rights,
comments from scholars and educators might have an important
effect on Apple's decision. We urge you to write Apple CEO
Michael Spindler to resist pressure from those who want to censor
the past (e-mail: spindler@applelink.apple.com; address: Apple
Computer, Inc., 20525 Mariani Avenue, Cupertino, California
95014).
Please send a copy of your correspondence to any of the
three authors: Roy Rosenzweig (rrosenzw@gmu.edu), Steve Brier
(sbbhc@cunyvm.cuny.edu), or Josh Brown (jbrhc@cunyvm.cuny.edu).
The Voyager Company can be reached via Braden Michaels,
Voyager, 578 Broadway, Suite 406, New York, N.Y. 10012, tel: 212-
431-5199, fax: 212-431-5799, e-mail: michaels@voyagerco.com.
Signed
Ira Berlin, Department of History, University of Maryland
Loni Ding, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of
California, Berkeley
Eric Foner, Department of History, Columbia University
Carol Groneman, Department of History, John Jay College, CUNY
Leon F. Litwack, Department of History, University of California,
Berkeley
Patricia Oldham, Social Science Faculty, Hostos Community
College, CUNY
Silvio Torres-Saillant, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at the
City College of New York
----------
CHRONOLOGY AND INFORMATION ABOUT WHO BUILT AMERICA? PROVIDED BY
THE VOYAGER COMPANY:
* September-October 1994: Apple approaches Voyager about the
possibility of purchasing copies of WHO BUILT AMERICA? to give to
schools (K-12) buying certain Apple computers. Voyager and Apple
agree to terms.
* December 1994: Apple bundles more than 12,000 copies of WBA
with computers in the first month of a year-long program.
* January 1995: Apple calls Voyager to say that it has received
complaints about WBA because of the CD-ROM's discussion of
homosexuality, abortion, and birth control at the turn of the
century. Apple asks Voyager to make available a version with
these subjects edited out. Voyager refuses but offers to send
schools that don't like WBA any CD-ROM from the Voyager catalog
(school's choice). Voyager also proposes that WBA be bundled
only with computers for high-schools, colleges, and libraries.
Apple rejects both of these suggestions.
* January 31, 1995: Apple informs Voyager that it will no longer
include WBA in the K-12 bundle, and asks Voyager to name a
replacement title. Apple makes clear that any replacement must
not mention homosexuality, abortion, or birth control.
ABOUT WHO BUILT AMERICA?
WHO BUILT AMERICA? is a new "electronic book" on CD-ROM.
Conceived and written by Roy Rosenzweig, Steve Brier and Josh
Brown (visual editor) and published by the Voyager Company in
collaboration with the American Social History Project, it
includes more than four and a half hours of audio (oral history,
actuality sound, and music), 45 minutes of archival film, more
than 5,000 pages of historical documents, more than 700 pictures
as well as dozens of graphs, maps, and many other features.
Among the special features of the "book" are:
FILM: More than twenty film clips, including the early silent
film classic, "The Great Train Robbery," immigrants arriving at
Ellis Island, candidates campaigning for the presidency in 1912,
women suffragists marching down Fifth Avenue, and more.
ORAL HISTORY: More than thirty interviews with immigrants,
sharecroppers, Native Americans, coal miners, and others. Hear
survivors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and eyewitnesses to the
1906 Atlanta Race Riot.
MUSIC: More than two dozen songs from the period, including
protest and labor songs, black spirituals and work songs, hits
from Tin Pan Alley, country music, and brass band tunes.
ARCHIVAL AUDIO: Rare recordings of Booker T. Washington, Andrew
Carnegie, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft,
and others as well as humor from early vaudeville stars.
DOCUMENTS: Thousands of pages of primary documents, including
letters home from immigrants, congressional testimony, newspaper
accounts, court decisions, famous essays, fiction, poetry, and
sociological studies.
IMAGES: Hundreds of exquisitely reproduced pictures include
cartoons and advertisements from newspapers, magazine
illustrations, paintings, and rare documentary photographs,
including the work of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine.
WHO BUILT AMERICA? is available from the Voyager Company (1-800-
446-2001 or orders@voyagerco.com).
