University Cinema Historian Publishes Second Book

AURORA, Ill, July 5, 2007- Gerald R. Butters, Jr. of Oak Park, Dean of General Education and Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Aurora University, has published Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship, 1915-1966.

The 352-page book was published by the University of Kansas Press. Butters’ initial book, Black Manhood on the Silent Screen, was published by the University of Kansas Press in 2002.

In Banned in Kansas, cinema historian Butters chronicles how Kansas, in 1915, became one of a few states to establish its own film censorship board. The board controlled screen content in the state for more than 50 years.

The volume is the first book-length study of state film censorship. It examines the unique political, social, and economic factors that led to censorship implementation in Kansas. Butters examines why censorship legislation was enacted, what the attitudes of Kansans were toward censorship, and why it lasted for half a century.

Butters joined AU in 1999. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Washburn (Mass.) University, a master’s at the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.

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