Letter from Eugenia Y. Genovar Regarding Comic Book Censorship
11/24/1953
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This letter was received by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Special Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. The subcommittee was established in April 1953 to investigate the causes of what appeared to be an increased amount of criminal activity by teenagers, and to determine what steps the Federal Government might take to combat this trend.
Eugenia Genovar, a mother, wrote to express her support for banning comic books, which were then being investigated by the subcommittee to determine whether a relationship existed between juvenile violence and crime and such media as television and comic books.
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[stamped] Nov 27 1953
[handwritten in red ink] Card 1-6-5X
271 St. George Street
St. Augustine, Florida
November 24, 1953
My Dear Senator Hendrickson,
I see in today's Florida Times-Union that you have been appointed to head a committee for the investigation of juvenile delinquency.
This is indeed a very fine idea for really a mother today lives in constant fear because of the awful increase in crime among the young, and especially the dreadful increase of sex crimes and depravity.
My dear Senator Hendrickson as an American mother I offer you these suggestions.
First, please read the article in the November issue of Ladies Home Journal on "What Parents Don't Know About Comic Books" by Dr. Frederick Wertham. I am positive that he has the right idea!
If the mothers of our beloved country would unite to have these pernicious comic books banned I am sure it would be a great step forward in the control of the young, especially the young boys.
Second, all the awful crime stories and murder mysteries sent out to pollute the air and corrupt the minds of our younger generation.
I do not want to bore you with onerous detail but I have found that even though a mother is alert and does not allow her children to waste their money or time on these cheap and filthy comics, one's children can read them at the book stands or read them when they visit their friends.
Third, reading all these lurid, highly colored comics ruins a child's appetite for good books as the better literature sounds too tame after this other highly seasoned diet.
I believe that the P.T.A's all over the country could unite to have these comics banned, many cities have done this and as Dr. says, we have laws that prohibit selling poison, why can't we prohibit these people from selling poison to our children's minds?
I do not think that it is necessary or just to conduct an investigation that will cause the long suffering, over taxed American citizen a great deal of money when the evidence is right in front of our eyes and the way to stop it is so very simple.
Of course you will have educators (?) and others who will rise up and say these comics do not harm the minds of the readers but I think the proof that they do is right in front of us, in increased juvenile delinquency for as you know, we do spend a great deal of money on our schools, our recreation programs, ect, and the great majority of the parents are trying to bring their children up right, yet, in spite of all this we are appalled at what we read in the papers every day and hear from our neighbors, friends, nurses and doctors.
I will not take up any more of your time.
With heartfelt best wishes, I am,
Sincerely yours,
[signed] Eugenia Y. GenovarThis primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
National Archives Identifier:
6120051Full Citation: Letter from Eugenia Y. Genovar Regarding Comic Book Censorship; 11/24/1953; Committee Papers, 1816 - 2011; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/genovar-letter, March 28, 2024]