Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Organizational History
The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was founded in 1873 by Anthony Comstock and his supporters as a committee within the Young Men’s Christian Association of the City of New York to supervise public morality in the state, bring offenders to justice, and advocate for stricter legislation against immoral conduct. Chartered by the state legislature, it became prominent as a monitor and censor of literary works and popular literature. Comstock, who became its secretary, was succeeded after his death in 1915 by John S. Summer. The society was dissolved after Summer’s death in 1950.