Kefauver comic book hearings

Senator hendrickson was initially the chair of the committee but was later replaced as chair by senator kefauver. Frankly, i view that particular marketing event as being the greatest catastrophe to strike the world of comics since the kefauver senate hearings of 1955. Be that as it may, he and other proponents of eliminating comic books developed enough social momentum to set up the kefauver hearings where congress interviewed various comic book and comic strip makers to determine if there was a linkage between comic books and juvenile delinquency. Wnyc has released the first day of the hearings, april 21, 1954. For murphy, the final panel was too controversial for 1950s america, a time when segregation and systemic racism were still accepted parts of society. Full text of juvenile delinquency comic books hearings. However, my question concerns the most notorious soti book. A senate subcommittee, spearheaded by senator estes kefauver, was charged with the task of investigating the effects of comic books. As has already been pointed out by previous testimony, a little healthy, normal child has never been made worse for reading comic magazines.

These are the 1954 senate subcommittee hearings into juvenile delinquency, with the special focus on comic books. Comic books are successful almost from their inception in the early 1930s, but also subject to attack by critics for the low quality of the art and writing, and for the. Kefauver gained national prominence and popularity as a result of the hearings. The senator and the gangsters history smithsonian magazine. Estes kefauver 19031963 american experience official. July 26, 1903 august 10, 1963 was an american politician from tennessee. Css 22 is not a soti book which is interesting in and of itself. Sep 03, 2012 in response, the senate organized a subcommittee to look into the matter, focusing on comic books. Sep 29, 20 out of curiosity, did kefauver s committee have the actual comic books in its possession or were there slidesphotographs of the books used during the hearings.

It was during the course of the senate investigation of organized crime that kefauver first turned his attention to comic books, gathering information on the comic book industry from a survey sent to judges of juvenile and family courts, probation officers, court psychiatrists, public officials, social workers, comic book publishers. For murphy, the final panel was too controversial for 1950s america, a time when segregation and. Oct 25, 2016 with judgment day, the cca told gaines and al feldstein, the writer of the story, that they could not publish the comic book if the final panel had a black astronaut. Frankly, i view that particular marketing event as being the greatest catastrophe to strike the world of. While were unlikely to see two days of anti comics hearings take place on the senate floor today, comics are still targeted by wouldbe censors.

Studentcurated exhibit at sterling library explores the. The hearings made it clear to a lot of people that there was a national mob, and that it had a lot of power. He and his men swept in and then just as quickly swept out, leaving. Were they destroyed or placed on file in a senate depository somewhere. The kefauver hearings not only gave us a window into the evolution of money laundering but also a glimpse into how financial crime fighters hone their skills to match the sophistication of our nations criminal elite. On this day, in 1954, the senate judiciary committees subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency was closing out a second day of hearings. This study examines the authoritative voice of fredric wertham and the symbolic politics of the kefauver comic book hearings,with a particular emphasis on how the interests of the comic book publishers made a selfcensorship code an almost. The footage in this video constitutes an unedited historical document and has been uploaded for research purposes. Kefauver of tennessee was the first chairman of the senate committee to investigate crime and interstate commerce, as it was officially named, but it quickly became known as the kefauver hearings and eventually the kefauver report. Kefauver says child study groups experts also were in pay of publishers sees ills minimized but association points to its warnings in 40s senate hearings. The kefauver committee had looked into comic books, too, the mandate to. Those hendrickson hearings lasted three days, but the goal was. Decency, authority and the dominated expert the advent of comic books in the late 1930s.

Senator estes kefauver of tennessee, who succeeded hendrickson as chairman of the committee, oversaw a series of televised hearings in new york in the spring of 1954. May 11, 2016 the comic book industry began to selfregulate after kefauvers hearings, but as this 1972 edition of supergirl shows, publishers continued to release material that sexualized the female body. House of representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the senate from 1949 until his death in 1963. Mar, 2015 the insane history of how american paranoia ruined and censored comic books. Looking at the books that were specifically noted by wertham, which do you think is the most notorious. These were televised hearings, consisting of a number of us senators calling up and questioning various people in the comic book industry. My chice for the most notorious soti book is true crime comics 2. The kefauver hearings and the birth of the comic book code. Juvenile delinquency comic books hearings before the united states senate committee on the judiciary, subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency in the u. Listenersupported wnyc is the home for independent journalism and courageous conversation on air and online. Sep 03, 20 the kefauver hearings not only gave us a window into the evolution of money laundering but also a glimpse into how financial crime fighters hone their skills to match the sophistication of our nations criminal elite.

Kefauver sought an end to corruption and organized crime, but to do so, he knew he must first expose american organized crime in plain sight. Please sell me one of the comic books, let the man sell him one, but i dont think the boy. May 05, 2014 however, my question concerns the most notorious soti book. Wertham was not impressed with the 1950 hearings but was willing to testify when kefauver held another set of hearings in 1954. Code of the comics magazine association of america, inc. At the end of last weeks column, i promised you that i would discuss this week the impact that the 1992 death of superman promotion had on the world of comics. The insane history of how american paranoia ruined and.

Following the hearings, comic book publishers voluntarily developed new standards of content control. The basic personality of a child is established before he reaches the age of comicbook reading. In response, the senate organized a subcommittee to look into the matter, focusing on comic books. Senate committee in 1950 and 1951 changed that perception. Full text of juvenile delinquency comic books hearings before the subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency of the see other formats. Comic books are successful almost from their inception in the early 1930s, but also. But in fact, the kefauver hearings had little impact in the cities the committee visited. The committee did a amazingly great job investigating organized crime in different cities, the same as the author did putting it all together in one book it was really interesting to read this record.

Spearheaded by tennessee democrat and state senator, estes kefauver, the commission was commonly known as the kefauver committee or the kefauver hearings. May 03, 20 the kefauver hearings and the birth of the comic book code. Full text of juvenile delinquency comic books hearings before the. Solved c u lt u r a l s t u d i e s 1 6 2 2 0 0 2, 2 5. With the broadcast of the kefauver comic book hearings, television was a mass medium that played a role in the downfall of horror comics but later also provided another means by which the genre might be encountered. This account is based upon the testimony taken at the hearings and upon the reports of the special committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce popularly known as the kefauver committee to the senate, prior to may 1, 1951. Twomey no other medium of american popular culture has been subjected to such widespread, vehement, and continuing attack as the socalled comicbooks.

If the fbi had chosen to act upon this information in 1952, then history might have been forever altered in regards to the senate hearings into comic books in 1954, but, as noted, kefauver had protection at the highest level and the senate investigation into juvenile delinquency was one that hoover and the fbi gleefully leapt into with gusto. United states senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency. Tales from the database mile high comics, chuck rozanski. This subcommittees hearings were shaped profoundly by the interests of the comic book industry and the subcommittee itself. The insane history of how american paranoia ruined and censored comic books. A senate subcommittee, spearheaded by senator estes kefauver,was charged with the task of investigating the effects of comic books. The text of the committee hearings filled numerous volumes, and the committee published three interim reports august 1950, february 1951, may 1951 and a final report august 1951 before it dissolved. Out of curiosity, did kefauvers committee have the actual comic books in its possession or were there slidesphotographs of the books used during the hearings. Download citation the kefauver comic book hearings as show trial. Robert hendrickson was the chairman of the senate subcommittee during the period in which the committee held its comic book hearings. On page 41 of the comic book hearings before the subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency, the july 1953 list of the cincinnati committeees evaluation of comic books was accurately reprinted. It is about 20 million a month, senator kefauver sug.

Those hearings became known as the kefauver hearings after the committees chairman, senator c. Perhaps, if you have long been a fan of comics, youve already heard this tale, but if not then let me introduce you dr. On the other hand, this does constitute a not insubstantial segment of the comicbook industry. Senator estes kefauver of tennessee, who succeeded hendrickson as chairman of. Aug 14, 2017 the modern newsstand comic book, an inexpensive pulpwood entertainment in the tradition of the kit carson thrillers, nick carter astonishers and weird tales hairraisers that had electrified. I dont believe anything that has ever been written can make a child overaggressive or delinquent. United states senate special committee to investigate crime. The kefauver committee had looked into comic books, too, the mandate to investigate organized crime being a license to hunt anywhere in the lower cultural realms, but it could make nothing stick. The public hearings took place on april 21, 22, and june 4, 1954, in new york.

Many, many comic books have advertisements of all kinds of weapons, really dangerous ones, like. The exhibits last case explores the enduring influence of comic books on american culture. If the committee did have the comic books at some time or other, does anyone know whatever happened to them. The modern newsstand comic book, an inexpensive pulpwood entertainment in the tradition of the kit carson thrillers, nick carter astonishers and. With judgment day, the cca told gaines and al feldstein, the writer of the story, that they could not publish the comic book if the final panel had a black astronaut. He was on the cover of time magazine and cowrote a book, crime in america, about the investigation.

The senate investigation crime comic books of the 40s and 50s. Until recently, comics were generally considered a secondclass literature, a legacy of wertham and kefauver s 1954 crusade against them. The united states senate special committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce was a special committee of the united states senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the united states. The senate extended the committees life until sept. The committee did a amazingly great job investigating organized crime in different cities, the same as the author did putting it all together in one bookit was really interesting to read this record. Following the hearings, comic book publishers voluntarily developed new. Fredric werthams book, seduction of the innocent, had just been released, and wertham argued that comic books were a contributing factor to juvenile delinquency, particularly crime and horror comics. House of representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the senate from 1949 until his death in 1963 after leading a muchpublicized investigation into organized crime in the early 1950s, he twice sought. The history of the comics code, university press of mississippi, isbn 087805975x. These two days would prove a pivotal period in comics history, lead. The senate committeewas determined to indict the makers of comic books, and the hearing was designed as a spectacle. History of comics censorship, part 1 comic book legal.

A member of the democratic party, he served in the u. Decency, authority and the dominated expert the advent of comic books in the late 1930s almost immediately prompted an outcry. Oct 24, 20 wertham was not impressed with the 1950 hearings but was willing to testify when kefauver held another set of hearings in 1954. The insane history of how american paranoia ruined and censored comic. Before fredric wertham and the seduction of the innocent soti, before the kefauver hearings, and before the infamous comics code the comic book racks at local drug stores and newsstands boasted a plethora of delights highlighted by th. Jan, 2015 if the fbi had chosen to act upon this information in 1952, then history might have been forever altered in regards to the senate hearings into comic books in 1954, but, as noted, kefauver had protection at the highest level and the senate investigation into juvenile delinquency was one that hoover and the fbi gleefully leapt into with gusto. Frederic wertham and his mission to get comic books out of the hands of children. Full text of juvenile delinquency comic books hearings before the subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency of the. The comic book industry began to selfregulate after kefauvers hearings, but as this 1972 edition of supergirl shows, publishers continued to release material that sexualized the female body.