Henry "Harry" Falkenau (January 14, 1864 – January 1, 1907) of Chicago, Illinois was a musician, music critic and bibliophile who operated an antique book shop at 167 Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois specializing in Americana, first editions, as well as metaphysics. He was also an early defender of Walt Whitman's poetry, taking a First Amendment stand against censorship soon after Leaves of Grass was declared obscene in 1882. Defense of Leaves of Grass As a junior at Cornell University, Falkenau joined the national debate against censorship of Walter Whitman's poem, Leaves of Grass. Falkenau protested the text's banning from the Chicago Public Library. Harry Falkenau's argument for Leaves of Grass inclusion was that the allegedly "unclean" in Whitman's work was an interpretation in the mind of the reader and not a characteristic intrinsic to the text. Notably, that the "salacious dithyrambics" were obscene only when read by an unclean mind, which was not a reason to deny access to the text by clean minds. Falkenau's defense occurred after United States Postmaster Anthony Comstock declared Whitman's work obscene under federal law. The editors of Chicago's The Current responded to Falkenau's free speech protest, focusing on his "species of false logic ... that is, if certain indecencies have crept into the libraries of all scholars and maintained an obscure footing there, then the doors of every man's bookcase should open for whatever mistake or eccentric author may see fit to publish. It is not the business of a public institution to teach Mr. Whitman's ideas of art." Cornell studies Falkenau took his Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1885 and remained at the university in as a Fellow in Literature for an additional year, 1886. At the beginning of AY1885-1886, Falkenau became Chimesmaster of Cornell University, responsible for the operation of the University's chimes then housed in the cupola atop McGraw Hall. He substituted on the chimes as early as 1881, and held the position of Chimesmaster until 1888. Falkenau was also an Assistant Librarian during his last year at Cornell. During the winter of his senior year (1885), he competed for the university's Woodford Oration prize, giving his oration on "The Growth of Religious Toleration in the United States." One of the judges for that year's Woodford Oration was William Gardner Hale. Falkenau was also among selected speakers at the Cornell University commencement on May 22, 1885. Addressing the Faculty