Banned Books Week: Stories of Censorship
Students in the bridge experience course LI 202, Free to All: Public Libraries in U.S. Society, researched cases of censorships in public libraries over the last two centuries. Using primary sources they wrote short reports about these cases and designed corresponding posters for Banned Books Week. Browse this guide to learn about the variety of cases in libraries.
Course Instructor: Johanna MacKay
Poster and Report by Mae DeDominicas '26
If you want to take a deep dive into Anthony Comstock and the Comstock laws, enjoy this podcast episode from the American Bar Association Journal.
Written by D. H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is an example of a book that felt the wrath of the Comstock Law, a federal statute passed in the United States on March 3, 1873. The law was named after Anthony Comstock, a postal inspector and founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, who was a major advocate for its passage. The Comstock Law aimed to suppress the distribution of “obscene, immoral, and lewd” materials through the library and postal systems and through private sellers. Lawrence’s novel was banned under the Comstock Law because of its explicit content, including descriptions of sexual acts and the use of vulgar language. The novel's explicit content was seen as violating the law, and as a result, it faced legal challenges and was censored and banned in many places. This led to multiple cases of people getting arrested for attempting to sell copies of this book. An example of this would be when, in 1929, a Boston resident was put on trial for selling copies of Lawrence’s novel. This book remained banned until the 1950s, when finally, the book was allowed back into circulation. Banning books for violating the Comstock Law was a common occurrence at this time, with many books being attacked for the aforementioned “vulgarity.” This was often done in an attempt to “better” both the literature of the time and the community at large, which many believed could only be done by removing any book deemed “undesirable” from circulation. This also tended to affect fiction more than nonfiction, as fiction as a genre was seen as “bad literature” for quite some time. Even though Lawrence’s novel was unbanned eventually, the fact that it was challenged and banned for so long, to the point that it was illegal to sell copies, show the true impact of the Comstock Law.
Sources:
"Censorship Approved: Curb Restored on Literature." Los Angeles Times, 1930 Mar. 19, pp. 1. ProQuest.
Lucius Besbe, A. S. C. "Boston Dealer Tried in Sale of Lawrence Book: Furnished Watch and Ward Agents With Copy of 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' Harvard Men Fill Court Volume Much Worn While in Censors' Possession." New York Herald Tribune, Dec 20, 1929, pp. 4. ProQuest.