Imperiled Innocents: Anthony Comstock and Family Reproduction in Victorian America

288 Pages·1996·1.27 MB·English

by  Nicola Beisel

IMPERILED INNOCENTS
PRINCETON STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICS:
HISTORICAL, INTERNATIONAL, AND
COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES
SERIES EDITORS
IRA KATZNELSON, MARTIN SHEFTER, THEDA SKOCPOL
Alistoftitles
inthisseriesappears
atthebackof
thebook
IMPERILED INNOCENTS
ANTHONY COMSTOCK
AND FAMILY REPRODUCTION
IN VICTORIAN AMERICA
Nicola Beisel
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
COPYRIGHT1997BYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS
PUBLISHEDBYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,41WILLIAMSTREET,
PRINCETON,NEWJERSEY08540
INTHEUNITEDKINGDOM:PRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,
CHICHESTER,WESTSUSSEX
ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
BEISEL,NICOLAKAY.
IMPERILEDINNOCENTS:ANTHONYCOMSTOCKAND
FAMILYREPRODUCTIONINVICTORIANAMERICA/NICOLABEISEL.
P. CM.—(PRINCETONSTUDIESINAMERICANPOLITICS)
INCLUDESBIBLIOGRAPHICALREFERENCESANDINDEX.
ISBN0-691-02779-X(CLOTH:ALK.PAPER)
1. UNITEDSTATES—MORALCONDITIONS—HISTORY—19THCENTURY.
2. CHILDREARING—MORALANDETHICALASPECTS.
3. COMSTOCK,ANTHONY,1844–1915. 4. CENSORSHIP—UNITEDSTATES—
HISTORY—19THCENTURY. 5. SOCIALMOBILITY—UNITEDSTATES.
6. UNITEDSTATES—SOCIALLIFEANDCUSTOMS—1865–1918.
I. TITLE. II. SERIES.
HN90.M6B45 1997
306′.0973—dc20 96-3013 CIP
THISBOOKHASBEENCOMPOSEDINSABON
PRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESSBOOKSAREPRINTED
ONACID-FREEPAPERANDMEETTHEGUIDELINES
FORPERMANENCEANDDURABILITYOFTHECOMMITTEE
ONPRODUCTIONGUIDELINESFORBOOKLONGEVITY
OFTHECOUNCILONLIBRARYRESOURCES
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
BYPRINCETONACADEMICPRESS
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
For My Parents
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
ONE
Introduction: Family Reproduction, Children’s Morals,
and Censorship 3
TWO
The City, Sexuality, and the Suppression of Abortion
and Contraception 25
THREE
Moral Reform and the Protection of Youth 49
FOUR
Anthony Comstock versus Free Love: Religion, Marriage,
and the Victorian Family 76
FIVE
Immigrants, City Politics, and Censorship
in New York and Boston 104
SIX
Censorious Quakers and the Failure of the
Anti-ViceMovement in Philadelphia 128
SEVEN
Morals versus Art 158
EIGHT
Conclusion: Focus on the Family 199
NOTES 219
BIBLIOGRAPHY 255
INDEX 269
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
HIS BOOK began life as a doctoral dissertation. Many people
have contributed to its growth, and to mine. My thanks first of
alltoWilliamSewell,Jr.,forbeingawonderfuldissertationchair
and mentor. Bill’s scholarship provides a vision of what is to be gained
from interdisciplinary work; his capacity to foster intellectual courage I
canonlyhopetoemulate.NicholasDirks,MayerZald,WilliamMason,
and Renee Anspack all provided helpful comments on the dissertation.
I am especially grateful to Terrance McDonald for helping make an
Americanhistorianoutofhistoricalignoramus.Finally,Iwouldnothave
continuedmygraduatestudieswereitnotforthesupportofJamesHouse
and Rosemary Sarri, nor would Ihavestarted themwithout theencour-
agement of Craig McEwen. I am grateful to them for helping me find
mycalling.
Anumberofcolleagueshaveengagedmeinusefulconversationsabout
theideasinthisbookorhavecommentedonvarious partsofthemanu-
script.IwouldespeciallyliketothankPaulDiMaggio,WendyGriswold,
Pamela Walters, William Gamson, William Roy, Neil Fligstein, Gerald
Marwell,WendyEspeland,CarolHeimer,MarcSteinberg,VeraZolberg,
Jonathan Teaford, Sonya Rose, Elizabeth Hovey, Jane Mansbridge, and
Christopher Jencks for sharing their insights. Michele Lamont, Kristin
Luker, and James Oakes generously read and commented on the entire
manuscript. It was much improved by their labors. Arthur Stinchcombe
againshowedwhatanamazingpersonandcolleagueheisbyreadingthis
manuscript three times. I cannot thank him enough for sharing his re-
markableintellect.
I am indebted to the institutions that have supported me during the
years of research and writing. The Pennsylvania Historical Society and
LibraryCompanyofPhiladelphiaprovidedasummerfellowshipthatal-
lowed meto collectdata oncensorship inPhiladelphia. IthanktheUni-
versity of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities, and especially the
Huntingfamily,forthefellowshipthatsupportedthefinalyearofdisser-
tation writing. Northwestern University provided release time from
teaching,asdidtheCenterforUrbanAffairsandPolicyResearch.Ivery
muchappreciatetheirsupportofmywork.
Mywork hasbeenaidedandenrichedby,anddependenton,thehelp
and knowledge of librarians and archivists. My thanks to the library
staffsattheUniversityofMichiganandNorthwesternUniversity,aswell
as the archivists at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Harvard
LawLibrary,theHarvardBusinessSchool,theLibraryCompanyofPhil-