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 This page intentionally left blank 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 This page intentionally left blank 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-