Guide to the Records of the Citizens for Decent Literature, 1927 - 1963
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of the Citizens for Decent Literature
- Creator
- Citizens for Decent Literature (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#156
- Extent
- 0.50 cubic feet (1 Box)
- Date
- 1927 - 1963
- Abstract
- The Pittsburgh branch of the Better Magazines Council was founded in 1927 and took active measures to curtail the circulation and sale of what they considered obscene magazines. The group was particularly active and successful in the 1950s, when they were supported by local elected officials. Records include scrapbooks, newsclippings, press releases, attendance records and other miscellaneous items documenting the organization's work to eliminate obscene literature from the Pittsburgh area.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
Organizational History of Citizens for Decent Literature
Citizens for Decent Literature was originally founded as the Better Magazines Council in June of 1927. Later incorporated into the National Better Magazines Council (NBMC), the Pittsburgh branch of the group was composed of women from various civic, social, religious, and educational organizations who gathered under the motto "Clean Reading, Clean Thinking." Members were concerned about the newsstand selling of controversial magazines, and worked to preserve the morals of the youth by halting the circulation of what they saw as lewd, obscene, and filthy magazines. The organization took active measures to eliminate unfit materials. A twelve member Reading Committee reported unfit magazines at each meeting. The NBMC then approached stores and newsstands and asked owners to remove obscene magazines. Once establishments were completely clean of controversial material, the NBMC awarded the establishment a placard declaring the newsstand's clean status. Within the first eight months of the organization's efforts, sixteen unfit magazines were remove from Pittsburgh newsstands.
The Pittsburgh-based NBMC also had the support of the Pittsburgh District Attorney and both local and state police. During the 1950s the organization received public support from such influential city figures as Mayor David R. Lawrence, Judge Henry X. O'Brien, and District Attorney James F. Malone. Illegally obscene materials and distributors that came under question by the NBMC were often prosecuted or removed by the authorities. The organization received extensive local and some national publicity for its campaign against unfit literature. In 1950 the publicity for the Pittsburgh NBMC became so extensive that Mrs. W.H. Lees was appointed to the newly created position of Publicity Chair by President Mrs. Joseph Bittner. Based on the organization's records and papers, the NBMC experienced a significant amount of success in their efforts to rid Pittsburgh of unfit literature through the 1960s.
Scope and Content Notes
The Citizens for Decent Literature Records are composed of newspaper clippings, press releases, attendance records, and other miscellaneous papers, document the organization's work to eliminate unfit literature from the city of Pittsburgh. The by-laws and history of the NBMC outline the purpose and motivation for the organization's founding and its articles for meeting and membership procedures during the late 1920s. The publicity releases and other general papers document various anti-obscenity activities, meetings, and both nationally and locally prominent guest speakers, but only for the first half of the 1950s. A bound ledger includes the sign-in attendance records for monthly meetings between September of 1951 and May of 1961. The NBMC scrapbooks, consisting of four books in their original binding and several photocopied loose pages, span a period of 1928 to 1963. These scrapbooks consist of newspaper and magazine clippings about obscenity controversies from both local and national periodicals, anti-obscenity pamphlets, lists of questionably obscene magazines, and magazine articles about communism written by J. Edgar Hoover. Most of the scrapbooks' contents address the activities of the NBMC during the 1950s and 1960s, with the contents of several books overlapping by one or more years. The collection also includes Commentaries on the Law of Obscenity, a 1965 collection of articles that critiques the lack of committed effort against questionably obscene materials.
Arrangement
The Citizens for Decent Literature Records are housed in one archival box and are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These Materials came in one accession.
Acc# 1979.56 Gift of Mrs. Lester K. Wolf, (Records), March 1979.
Preferred Citation
Records of the Citizens for Decent Literature, 1927 - 1963, MSS# 156, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Melanie Steven Marinkovic in January 25, 1995.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Kate Colligan in May 1999.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Citizens for Decent Literature (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Lawrence, David Leo, -- 1889-1966.
- Malone, James F., -- 1904-1976.
- O'Brien, Henry V., -- 1904-1990.
- Censorship -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Literature and morals
- Newspaper vendors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Obscenity (Law) -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Pornography -- Social aspects -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.