Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

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frogman042
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Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#1 Post by frogman042 » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:06 pm

Since I've already stepped into the off-topic political side of the bored today, I might as well put my whole self in.

This past weekend we were in Houston because my son had a soccer tournament there. Sunday afternoon was free so we went to a few of the museum's - the Children's Museum and the Health Museum - both are a lot of fun with kids but we closed the day with a visit to the Holocaust Museum - which had a special exhibit on Dr. Seuss and WWII.

I had seen a few of his WWII cartoons, but there were a number that I found really interesting. Several took on Charles Lindbergh very early on (prior to the US entering WWII) basically calling him a Nazi - really he didn't hold back as well in attacking anti-Semitism.

I also found interesting his take on chastising the US war suppliers for their racist and segregationists policies. Pretty heavy stuff and a strong stance at a time when such a stance was far from common. One was a cartoon of a piano saying that to fight the war we have to play all the keys together, black and white.

Way to go Mr. Geisel!

---Jay

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lilyvonschtupp26
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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#2 Post by lilyvonschtupp26 » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:58 pm

It's a shame, isn't it that Seuss' original works aren't more publicized? There's a great book about his political origins. Dr. Seuss Goes to War by historian Richard H. Minear. It's really great stuff.
It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many lives as we wish. -S.I. Hayakawa

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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#3 Post by franktangredi » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:14 pm

frogman042 wrote:Since I've already stepped into the off-topic political side of the bored today, I might as well put my whole self in.

This past weekend we were in Houston because my son had a soccer tournament there. Sunday afternoon was free so we went to a few of the museum's - the Children's Museum and the Health Museum - both are a lot of fun with kids but we closed the day with a visit to the Holocaust Museum - which had a special exhibit on Dr. Seuss and WWII.

I had seen a few of his WWII cartoons, but there were a number that I found really interesting. Several took on Charles Lindbergh very early on (prior to the US entering WWII) basically calling him a Nazi - really he didn't hold back as well in attacking anti-Semitism.

I also found interesting his take on chastising the US war suppliers for their racist and segregationists policies. Pretty heavy stuff and a strong stance at a time when such a stance was far from common. One was a cartoon of a piano saying that to fight the war we have to play all the keys together, black and white.

Way to go Mr. Geisel!

---Jay
I discovered Dr. Suess's war cartoons a few years back, and put one of them in our middle school American history book. Very good stuff.

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andrewjackson
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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#4 Post by andrewjackson » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:06 am

There are some pretty racist anti-Japanese ones in that WWII collection.

Those would be my only problem with Dr. Suess's work.

Example:

Image


This poster came out in February, 1942, just a week before FDR signed Executive Order 9066 which started the internment of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast.
No matter where you go, there you are.

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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#5 Post by earendel » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:26 am

Speaking of the good doctor, check out Google's main page.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."

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minimetoo26
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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#6 Post by minimetoo26 » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:28 am

It's Dr. Seuss Day, and Australian Labor Day.
Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used.

-Carl Sagan

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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#7 Post by littlebeast13 » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:30 am

minimetoo26 wrote:It's Dr. Seuss Day, and Australian Labor Day.
It is also Casimir Pulaski Day!!!!!!

lb13

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Re: Dr. Seuss has gone up in my book many notches

#8 Post by andrewjackson » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:53 am

It's Texas Independence Day!

The Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted on March 2, 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas.
No matter where you go, there you are.

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