Novelist, academic and tattoo artist Samuel Steward's plight shows that 'cancel culture' was alive and well in the 1930s

Outside of teaching and writing, Samuel Steward took up tattooing. The Estate of Samuel M. Steward

In January 2023, Hamline University opted not to renew the contract of an art professor who showed a 14th-century depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in class. Hamline labeled the incident “Islamophobic” and released a statement, co-signed by the university’s president, saying that respect for “Muslim students … should have superseded academic freedom.”

After widespread backlash, the university walked back that statement. However, the lecturer was still not rehired.