Library of Congress opens Fredric Werthams files

Alan Gardner August 31, 2010 1 minute 1 comment

From Boing Boing comes this little nugget of comic book history:

The Library of Congress has just opened up 222 boxes worth of files and papers on Fredric Wertham, the scaremonger whose book Seduction of the Innocent led to widespread bans, burnings and censorship of American comic books. Wertham wasnt just a nutcase pro-censorship crusader: he was also paradoxically, a civil rights pioneer who worked for racially integrated education in America he also appeared in defense of Ethel Rosenberg, later executed for spying for the USSR.

via Boing Boing.

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Dave Stephens

Wertham defended her – did he defend her as being innocent? She wasn’t innocent, but probably wasn’t a spy. However, she knew full well that her husband was. Which is monstrous however you feel about whether or not she should have been given the electric chair.

Or is this a “Stand by your man” situation?

I wonder if McCarthy knew Wertham?

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Library of Congress opens Fredric Werthams files

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Dave Stephens

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