Once considered a relic of moral panics past, the 1873 law criminalized sending “obscene, lewd or lascivious” materials through the mail
June 15, 2023
Ellen Wexler, Assistant Editor, Humanities, The Smithsonian
“Our youth are in danger.” So read the urgent warning written by anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock in his 1883 book, Traps for the Young.
He cautioned, “Mentally and morally, they are cursed by a literature that is a disgrace to the 19th century. The spirit of evil environs them.”
Continued: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/comstock-act-transform-abortion-debate-180982363/