The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that have influenced the selection and the production of the literature textbooks for grades 10-12 in the public schools in Tennessee from 1951 to 1971: guidelines set up by the Tennessee State Textbook Commission and by the publishers; the adopted editions of literature textbooks listed in the Tennessee Official List of Textbooks; the attitudes of educators concerning appropriate language and content for secondary students; and the activities of individuals and groups to include or exclude materials in the textbooks. The study included content analysis of 22 basal literature textbooks, comparing the original versions of the literary selections with the textbook versions of the works. It was found that publishers had silently omitted or altered words and passages that they felt some person might object to. For instance, descriptions of body functions and uncomplimentary pictures of minority groups were omitted or altered, as were curse words and phrases naming God and Christ. (Author/TS)