Books Behind Bars

1
Books Behind Bars

• The Rhode Island Commission to Encourage Morality
  in Youth, 1956-1964

2
Nice Happy Family

• Working women in WWII and Baby Boom during and
  after war created an increasingly family and
  child centered culture.
• Well-known stereotypical image of perfect
  family created by movies and new media,
  television.
• Emphasis on morality (usually cerntered around
  religion) and community.

3
Add some Bad Influences

• Fears arose over seemingly new teenage culture,
  especially as it was depicted in movies and on
  television.
• Seduction of the Innocent and other publications
  hypothesized that children were learning immoral
  behavior from the media, especially comic books,
  magazines, and film.
• National and local government action, usually in
  the form of special commissions, investigated
  these claims.

4
Players

• Commission created by R.I. General Assembly in
  April of 1956
• Five (later nine) member panel appointed by
  Governor Roberts
• Charged to educate, () to investigate, and
  recommend the prosecution of all violations of
  sections of R.I.s obscenity law.
• Members would examine materials and vote on their
  objectionable nature, sending out notices to
  local police and book sellers.

5
Problems

• Local newspaper, Providence Journal-Bulletin,
  attacked Commission extra-legal tactics
• Civil libertarians and even a member of the
  Commission began to disagree with the guide
  list method
• Book distributors in RI NY began a five year
  legal campaign that ended in 1963, with the U.S.
  Supreme Court ruling that the Commissions
  activities and tactics were unconstitutional in
  the case Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan.

6
The Little Death

• External Factors
• Opposition from local newspaper and individuals
  concerned with free speech
• Lack of cooperation from subsequent government
  administrations
• Changes in obscenity laws and legal decisions
  nationwide

• Internal Factors
• Disagreements over tactics within Commission
• Problems/weakness in implementation of positive
  programs to encourage youth
• Personnel problems
• Lack of focus and refusal to curb blacklisting
  program

7
Peep Show

• Commission not well-known aspect of R.I. History
• No substantial work has been done on the history
  of the Commission
• Secondary work consisted of background on
  censorship and Cold War culture

• Employed the use of available Commission records
  from R.I. state archives
• Relevant local newspaper articles spanning nine
  years of Commissions existence.