A trio of book events scheduled to be held on the Jimmy Carter presidential campus in Atlanta were scrapped and moved to other venues in the past week, raising concerns that budget cuts and other changes by President Donald Trump’s administration led to the cancellations.
The three events to be at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum were moved to other venues after publishers were notified last week of the abrupt cancellations. The authors had written books about civil rights, climate change and homelessness — all topics that have triggered questions about whether the decision to cancel their events at the federally-managed library was rooted in politics.
“I can’t say I’m being targeted because of the contents of my book,” said Elaine Weiss, who was set to speak next month about the book, “Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil Rights Movement.”
But, she added in an interview Friday, “I suspect it has something to do with that. It’s not far-fetched.”
The events were all removed from the Carter Library’s website this week, but others are still on the schedule, including one featuring CNN commentator Jeffrey Toobin on presidential pardons.
The Carter Library and the National Archives and Records Administration, which manages the federal presidential library system, did not return requests for comment on Friday. But the federal agency told The New York Times in a statement that it “entrusts” each presidential library’s leaders to make programming decisions.
“Programs and events must always advance and uphold NARA’s core mission: to preserve the records of the United States and make them available to the public,” the statement said. “On this issue, leadership at the Carter Presidential Library is empowered to make their own decisions about scheduling events and programs.”
The library is separate from Carter Center, the nonprofit founded by the late President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, after his 1980 reelection defeat, though they sit on the same intown Atlanta campus. A spokesman for the center had no immediate comment on Friday.
The other authors whose events at the Atlanta library were canceled are Mike Tidwell, the author of “The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street,” and Brian Goldstone, who wrote “There Is No Place for Us,” about five “working homeless” families in Atlanta.
Tidwell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he regrets that his April 7 event was canceled and that he was only told “possible budget cuts” prompted the change. His event was rescheduled to another venue on the same day.
“At its core, my book simply describes the deaths of many native trees in my DC-area neighborhood that are linked to extreme weather,” he said. “I look forward to having this climate change discussion at other book events across the country.”
Crown, the publisher of Goldstone’s book, said in a statement to the AJC it was contacted by local bookseller A Cappella Books this week “to let us know that the Carter Library would now need to seek approval from the National Archives for all programs, even those already scheduled.” The publisher said it was soon told the March 26 event would need to be “relocated.“ It was moved to the Decatur Library.
The cancellations come as Trump’s administration launches a range of cost-cutting initiatives that have slashed budgets across the federal government and triggered firings and buyouts of tens of thousands of federal employees.
Frank Reiss, the owner of A Capella Books, has partnered with the Carter Library for dozens of events.
“On one hand it’s a very practical move because they are so short staffed,” he said of the cancellations. “But the selection of those events that were moved raise questions.”
Weiss, whose March 12 event was moved to the Decatur Library, worries the cancellations are part of a shift under Trump’s second administration.
“I really think this is happening everywhere. Why the publishers aren’t screaming it yet, I don’t know,” she said. “But I am worried this is a far broader problem. And I’m not going to be quiet about this.”
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
