1915 - Lexington Censorship Ordinance
It was the turn of the twentieth century in Lexington – in what historians call the Progressive Era – and Kentucky was civilizing itself into a new society that was less violent, more Eastern, more secular, and more socially-conscious - if predominantly white and male. But women were beginning to make themselves heard.
Led by Laura Clay, The Kentucky Equal Rights Association, which would later become the Kentucky League of Women Voters, organized a national meeting in Louisville pressing for women’s suffrage. They brought Susan B. Anthony to Richmond to speak on the need for economic protections for women. The Women's Club of Central Kentucky formed and Lexington Mayor Henry Duncan appointed Mrs. Wilbur Smith to serve on the school board. Women won the right to vote in school board elections in 1894, but in 1902, two Lexington members of the General Assembly led a campaign that repealed the statute halting partial suffrage for women in Lexington.
By 1915, the population of Lexington had reached 38,000. Central Christian Church had been built by that time and UK’s Stoll Field and the Kentucky Theater would soon open.
But controversy was brewing in the local movie houses. There were few legal controls protecting children in those days. Thomas Edison had just predicted that motion pictures would render books obsolete in the schools. “Scholars will be instructed through the eye,” he proclaimed. Lexington schools Superintendent Massillon Alexander Cassidy was enthusiastic and wanted to train his students’ tastes, while bringing the world into every classroom. He ordered a projector for every school and the training commenced.
But the Colonial Movie House had just shown the silent film “Hypocrites” - described by the filmmakers as “a moral lesson” including, “the figure of an undraped woman.”
Reverend E. T. Edmonds of the Woodland Christian Church objected, and warned of “special dangers” to children who were permitted into the theater to watch low-quality movies of questionable taste. Rev. Edmonds led a censorship campaign with strong support from the Transylvania University faculty, both newspapers (the Lexington Herald and the Lexington Leader); and Superintendent, Cassidy. Two weeks later, the city council passed a new Censorship Ordinance.
On January 6, 1920, after decades of struggle, Kentucky Governor Edwin P. Morrow signed the bill ratifying the right of Kentucky women to vote in all elections.
Led by Laura Clay, The Kentucky Equal Rights Association, which would later become the Kentucky League of Women Voters, organized a national meeting in Louisville pressing for women’s suffrage. They brought Susan B. Anthony to Richmond to speak on the need for economic protections for women. The Women's Club of Central Kentucky formed and Lexington Mayor Henry Duncan appointed Mrs. Wilbur Smith to serve on the school board. Women won the right to vote in school board elections in 1894, but in 1902, two Lexington members of the General Assembly led a campaign that repealed the statute halting partial suffrage for women in Lexington.
By 1915, the population of Lexington had reached 38,000. Central Christian Church had been built by that time and UK’s Stoll Field and the Kentucky Theater would soon open.
But controversy was brewing in the local movie houses. There were few legal controls protecting children in those days. Thomas Edison had just predicted that motion pictures would render books obsolete in the schools. “Scholars will be instructed through the eye,” he proclaimed. Lexington schools Superintendent Massillon Alexander Cassidy was enthusiastic and wanted to train his students’ tastes, while bringing the world into every classroom. He ordered a projector for every school and the training commenced.
But the Colonial Movie House had just shown the silent film “Hypocrites” - described by the filmmakers as “a moral lesson” including, “the figure of an undraped woman.”
Reverend E. T. Edmonds of the Woodland Christian Church objected, and warned of “special dangers” to children who were permitted into the theater to watch low-quality movies of questionable taste. Rev. Edmonds led a censorship campaign with strong support from the Transylvania University faculty, both newspapers (the Lexington Herald and the Lexington Leader); and Superintendent, Cassidy. Two weeks later, the city council passed a new Censorship Ordinance.
On January 6, 1920, after decades of struggle, Kentucky Governor Edwin P. Morrow signed the bill ratifying the right of Kentucky women to vote in all elections.
- Mainstreet Amusements, 141
- The New York Dramatic Mirror in July 1913
- Mainstreet Amusements, 144-5
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Lexington,_Kentucky