John S. Sumner
John Saxton Sumner (September 22, 1876 - June 20, 1971) headed the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), a New York state censorship body empowered to recommend obscenity cases to the appropriate prosecutors. He served as Associate Secretary of the NYSSV for three years, succeeding founder Anthony Comstock as Executive Secretary in 1915, upon the latter's death.[1] Sumner retired in 1950; the organization, by then named the Society to Maintain Public Decency, was disbanded shortly thereafter.[2]
Biography
Sumner was born in
Sumner's actions as NYSSV chief were frequently controversial.
At a National Republican Club luncheon broadcast on national radio, playwright Elmer Rice attacked fellow speaker Sumner, saying, "[Sumner's] job is dependent on his finding vice. If he doesn't find any, his job ceases. Therefore his testimony is no more dependable than that of a prohibition enforcement officer. The obscenity issue is only a smokescreen, hiding an effort to prevent the publication of ideas which are unpleasant to various church groups and to ultra-conservatives."[10]
He died on June 20, 1971.[11]
See also
References
- ^ "Comstock's Work To Go On," New York Times, October 4, 1915.
- ^ "New Name Chosen by Sumner Group," New York Times, July 3, 1947.
- ^ "Censorship for Books" (editorial), New York Times, August 5, 1922.
- ^ "Publisher Now Sues Sumner for $10,000," New York Times, September 17, 1922.
- ^ Sumner, John S. "Film Censorship" (letter), New York Times, November 23, 1922.
- ^ "Sumner Defends Book Censorship," New York Times, November 9, 1924.
- ^ "Sumner Society Asks $100,000 Libel Award," New York Times, March 26, 1931.
- ^ "Held as Sumner Libeler," New York Times, June 24, 1932.
- ^ "Assails New Biographies: J.S. Sumner Says Many of Them Rob Nation's Heroes of Glamour," New York Times, January 18, 1928.
- ^ "Sumner Assailed as Paid Vice Hunter," New York Times, January 25, 1931.
- New York Times. June 22, 1971. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
Further reading
- Gertzman, Jay A. (Summer 1994). "John Saxton Sumner of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice: A Chief Smut-Eradicator of the Interwar Period". .
- Sumner, John S. "The Decency Crisis," Good Housekeeping, August 1938.
- Woolf, S.J. "A Vice Suppressor Looks at Our Morals," New York Times, October 9, 1932.