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Historical Context

Motion pictures began appearing in cities across America in the opening years of the twentieth century. Almost immediately they faced resistance for scenes of physical affection and violence, and censorship legislation began appearing in states as early as 1907. Over the course of the next twenty years seven states adopted film censorship boards: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts (Wittern-Kellar 1-3; Wirt 52).

In Ohio on May 3, 1913 a film censorship bill was passed and the Ohio Board of Film Censorship was created. The Board consisted of three political appointees and was positioned within the Industrial Commission of Ohio. (Wirt 55, 57). Of all the states to form a censorship board, Ohio was the only one to word the law in positive rather than negative language (Wittern-Kellar 26). The statute states, "only such films as are in the judgement and discretion of the board of censors of a moral, educational, or amusing and harmless character shall be passed and approved" (Carmen 11).

After the Board was established, any film or newsreel to be shown in the state had to be sent to the Board for their approval. The Board would watch the film and decide that it was either approved, approved with eliminations, or rejected. Films were submitted to the Board by distributors, rather than studios or theater owners, who were responsible for paying the $1 per reel fee and making any cuts to the film that the Board desired. Once approved the film would be given a leader to attach to the beginning of the film noting its approved status to all who would see it.



Sources

Primary Sources

    • "Censorship Board is Legal." Greenville Journal. (Greenville, Ohio), 09 April 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • Central Ohio Building Index. Digital Collection. Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH.
    • "Chairman Williams' Claim." Democratic Banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio), 06 Feb. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • Columbus in Historic Photographs. Digital Collection. Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH.
    • "Dreher's Simplex Stree and House Number Guide, Columbus, Ohio, 1929-1930." Digital Collection. City Directory Collection. Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH.
    • "Eight Big Laws in Effect in August." Mahoning Dispatch. (Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio), 18 July 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Exhibition of Film is Refused." Fulton County Tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio), 08 Oct. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • Legal Correspondence. State Archive Series 1587. 1 cubic ft. Ohio Division of Film Censorship Collection. Ohio Historical Society. Ohio History Center, Columbus, Ohio.
    • "Legalize Sunday Shows." Greenville Journal. (Greenville, Ohio), 04 April 1912. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • List of Rejected Films and General Correspondence Files, 1913-1959. State Archives Series 1581. 2 cubic ft. Ohio Division of Film Censorship Collection. Ohio Historical Society. Ohio History Center, Columbus, Ohio.
    • "May Bar Pictures of the Johnson-Willard Fight." Democratic Banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio), 27 April 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "May See Picture." Greenville Journal. (Greenville, Ohio), 12 Oct. 1916. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • Minutes of the Board of Film Censorship, 1913-1921. Ohio Board of Censors. State Archives Series 1595. 1 v. Ohio Division of Film Censorship Collection. Ohio Historical Society. Ohio History Center, Columbus, Ohio.
    • Miscellaneous Film Censorship Files. State Archives Series 2144. 1 cubic ft. Ohio Division of Film Censorship Collection. Ohio Historical Society. Ohio History Center, Columbus, Ohio.
    • "Movie Films will be Censored." Fulton County Tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio), 17 April 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Movie Referendum Fails." Greenville Journal. (Greenville, Ohio), 09 Sept. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Moving Picture Men Object." Perrysburg Journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., Ohio), 05 Sept. 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Ohio Censors will be Busy." Fulton County Tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio), 30 April 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • Shanghaied. Essanay Studios, 1915. Restored by the Chaplin Essanay Project, 2014. Archive.org.
    • "Student under Gov. Willis." Greenville Journal. (Greenville, Ohio), 25 March 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Test Validity of Censorship Act." Celina Democrat. (Celina, Ohio), 31 Oct. 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Very Sore on the Gov. are Motion Picture Men all over the State." Democratic Banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio), 04 Jan. 1916. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
    • "Will Paint Word Picture." Mahoning Dispatch. (Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio), 04 Sept. 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.


    Secondary Sources

    • Barson, Michael and Harold Erickson. "Charlie Chaplin: British Actor, Director, Writer, and Composer." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified April 12, 2019. Accessed April 30, 2019.
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    • Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.
    • Butters, Gerald. Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship 1915-1966. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007.
    • Carmen, Ira. Movies, Censorship, and the Law. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966.
    • Cinema Treasures. "Movie Theaters in Columbus, OH." Accessed April 11, 2019.
    • Engaging Columbus. "Census 1930." Ohio Wesleyan University. Accessed April 14, 2019.
    • Hunker, Henry L. Columbus, Ohio: A Personal Geography. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2000.
    • Harpole, Charles, ed. History of American Cinema. Vol. 3, An Evening's Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915-1928. Edited by Richard Koszarski. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990.
    • IMDB. "Shanghaied (1915)." Accessed April 30, 2019.
    • May, Lary. Screening Out the Past: The Birth of Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
    • May, Lary. The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
    • McGerr, Michael. A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920. New York: Free Press, 2003.
    • Sheridan, Phil. Those Wonderful Old Downtown Theaters. Columbus: Sheridan, 1978.
    • Shull, Michael. Radicalism in American Silent Films, 1909-1929. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000.
    • Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
    • Wirt, Frederick. "State Film Censorship with Particular Reference to Ohio." PhD diss., Ohio State University, 1956. Accessed February 7, 2018. .
    • Wittern-Keller, Laura. Freedom of the Screen: Legal Challenges to State Film Censorship, 1915-1981. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2008.


    Digital Humanities Resources