Wynne Benti

The original publication year listed on this listing is incorrect. According to the Library of Congress CID information, the first edition publication year was 1990 for Art Across America: The Plains States and the West, Two Centuries of Regional Painting 1710-1920 (ISBN: ISBN 0-7892-0063-5). This was originally a three-volume set and this was volume three of that set. This is the typical European approach to the history of the West and does not include any indigenous history. Women were also excluded the 'commercial' art world of painting in the United States and though they comprised most of the fine art studio student body in university art programs then and even today, they are little represented in the art history of the United States. It is a nicely produced volume on coated stock.

The Wikipedia page on "Born Free and Equal" was published five years after Spotted Dog Press, located in Bishop, California, released its 2002 edition of the book. That edition was a reprint of the 1944 US Camera book written by Adams to accompany his photographic exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art about American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated at Manzanar War Relocation Center in Inyo County, California. In 1944, the original, red-covered US Camera book printed on war-rationed paper during WWII, vanished from shelves within a month of its publication and was then unavailable, leading some to speculate that the publisher withdrew it due to outside pressure, or it disappeared by nefarious means. Had it sailed off the shelves because people were buying it, US Camera would have re-released it, but they never re-published. In 2000, when Spotted Dog Press embarked on the project through its association with Friends of the Eastern California Museum in Independence, California, the 1944 US Camera edition was not available online and was found only in library collections. However, an original copy was in the Eastern California Museum's library collection and was brought to our attention by the museum director. After a circuitous two-year journey to press, Born Free and Equal was re-released to the public. 2002 also happened to be the year of Ansel Adams' Centennial Celebration. Accordingly, the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust exercised its California publicity rights and Spotted Dog Press could not use Adams' name singularly on the book, or in any promotion for the book, either in publication or presentation format, later citing its contractual relationship with another publisher. As publisher of the 2002 Spotted Dog Press edition, Born Free and Equal was one more voice for Manzanar, that of its author. It was circulated in schools, museums, and libraries, and made its way to the desks of legislators. As an educational tool, it was a reminder of what people do to each other, without empathy and beyond civility. Controversy is not without its obstacles and the project had many, but it also had the support of those whose voices were heard publicly and quietly behind the scenes and was embraced by its readers.