Muni; News; Senate Hearings : Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency

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Collection
Muni
Series
News
Episode
Senate Hearings : Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency
Contributing Organization
WNYC (New York, New York)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/80-56n03kc8
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Description
Description
Senate Hearings into comic books and juvenile delinquency. Senator Estes Kaufauver of Tennessee Witness - Richard Clendenon - Staff Director of Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Deliquency; William Gaines - of Mad Magazine- Partial statement. Others. Sides 1-4 Proceedings or U.S. Senate Subcommittee on juvenile delinquency from the Federal Court in lower Manhattan. Starts during testimony of Richard Clendenon. It is the business of making money. "Anyone who questions comics is communist." Dr. Harris Peck is sworn in and states his name and title. He is a psychiatrist and Director of the Bureau of Mental Health Services for New York City Court of Domestic Relations. Makes clear that he has worked extensively in the psychiatric treatment of juvenile deliquents. He has had some contact with comic books but has made no systematic study of it. States that he cannot testify as an expert in comic books. States that most of the children he sees at the psychiatric services do read comic books. His own general view is that comic books are not primary cause of juvenile deliquency. Children they see come from home where there is some form of disruption like divorce, desertion of a parent, or a parent who is emotionally ill. It's conceivable that this kind of material could give an additional thrust to other forces already operating on the child. Talks about differences between reading like Hans Christian Andersen and comic books. Is asked if it possible to use comic books as a tool for teaching. Says that he has a middle of the the road point of view. Is asked if the destructive impulse is inherent. 00:30:30 Next witness, Henry Edward Schultz, is an attorney and counsel for the Association of Comic Magazine Publishers. Talks about the beginnings and purpose of the association. Publishers banded together to as a response to crititcism and formed a trade association with a committee formed a code. Headed by George Hecht. At one time, almost every publisher was a member; currently the association had few publishers. States that people didn't necessarily leave the association because of code. Some resignations directly linked to some publishers' defection. Mentions two companies, Entertainment Comics and Avon. Advisory committee of educators, superintendent of schools in New York, and the state librarian to set up a counterpart of the Motion Picture Production code. A seal of approval on comic books does not necessarily mean anyone in the association has read the comics. They conform to the code in their own judgment. No sanctions on comics that do not meet standards. They read the comics code aloud. Responsibility to the readers and the public to not publish comics that lowers the moral standards of those that reads them. Five main points: No sexy, wanton comics; no crime details or methods; no scenes of sdaistic torture; no vulgar, obscene language; no divorce as glamorous or alluring; no attack on any religious group. Retailers not required to carry crime and horror books. Is there any compulsion by publishers to carry crime and horror books along with other books? Possibly at the wholesale level. Talks about how juvenile deliquency is complex and can't attribute causes to mass media including comic books or telelvision or motion pictures. If there is any impact, it is a small part. Run down a list of publishing companies that are or aren't members of the association. Seal of approval mean that publisher is a member of the association and they are conforming to the code and censoring their own material.
Date
1954-04-21
Genres
Event Coverage
Rights
Owner/Custodial History: Municipal Archives; Acquisition Source: Municipal Archives; Terms of Use & Repro: PUBLIC DOMAIN
Media type
Sound
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Credits
Speaker: Clendenon, Richard
Speaker: Gaines, William M.
Speaker: Kaufauver, Estes
Speaker: Wertham, Fredric, 1895-1981
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.1 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.2 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: DAT
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.3 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.4 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.5 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.6 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.7 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.8 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.9 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.10 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.11 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: DAT
Generation: Original
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.12 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:00:00
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 2238.13 (WNYC Media Archive MDB)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Copy: Access
Duration: 00:00:00
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Citations
Chicago: “Muni; News; Senate Hearings : Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency,” 1954-04-21, WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 26, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-56n03kc8.
MLA: “Muni; News; Senate Hearings : Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency.” 1954-04-21. WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 26, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-56n03kc8>.
APA: Muni; News; Senate Hearings : Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency. Boston, MA: WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-56n03kc8