Pennsylvania State Board of Censors: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>OAbot
m Open access bot: url-access updated in citation with #oabot.
 
Organization: "people who, things which
 
Line 5: Line 5:


== Organization ==
== Organization ==
The board was composed of three members, which were appointed by the [[Governor of Pennsylvania]].  Despite a censorship law passed in 1911, a lack of funding prevented it from beginning its activities until 1914.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/download/59551/59275 |title=THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE BOARD OF CENSORS: THE GREAT WAR, D. W. THE MOVIES, AND GRIFFITH
The board was composed of three members, who were appointed by the [[Governor of Pennsylvania]].  Despite a censorship law passed in 1911, a lack of funding prevented it from beginning its activities until 1914.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/download/59551/59275 |title=THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE BOARD OF CENSORS: THE GREAT WAR, D. W. THE MOVIES, AND GRIFFITH
|author=Harris Ross
|author=Harris Ross
|publisher=The Pennsylvania Historical Association
|publisher=The Pennsylvania Historical Association

Latest revision as of 05:00, 30 June 2025

Template:Use mdy dates

File:PSBoC.png
This screen was inserted into all films to be shown in Pennsylvania, each with a specific number. This one belonged to Thru Traffic (1935) and was shown as the last frame of the film.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Censors was an organization under the Pennsylvania Department of Education responsible for approving, redacting, or banning motion pictures that it considered "sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, or immoral" or might pervert morals.

Organization

The board was composed of three members, who were appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania. Despite a censorship law passed in 1911, a lack of funding prevented it from beginning its activities until 1914.[1]

Elimination

In 1956, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled the act which created and provided for the board was unconstitutional, with respect to the Pennsylvania Constitution and so revoked the mandate for the board's existence. The Pennsylvania General Assembly re-enacted the statute in 1959, but it was struck down again in 1961 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.[2]

File:The Branding Iron (1920) - Barbara Castleton.jpg
This scene from The Branding Iron (1920) was cut by the Pennsylvania board, which then banned the film for its topic of infidelity.[3]

See also

References

Template:Reflist

External links


Template:Authority control

  1. Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  2. Laura Wittern-Keller, “All the Power of the Law: Governmental Film Censorship in the United States”, in Silencing Cinema: Film Censorship around the World, eds. Daniel Biltereyst & Roel Vande Winkel (NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013).
  3. Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".