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Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915) was an American anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality.
Anthony Comstock (born March 7, 1844, New Canaan, Conn., U.S.—died Sept. 21, 1915, New York, N.Y.) was one of the most powerful American reformers, who for more than 40 years led a crusade against what he considered obscenity in literature and in other forms of expression.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jul 7, 2021 · The Comstock Act, as it became known, was named after Anthony Comstock, an anti-vice crusader who later became a special agent to the U.S. Post Office, giving him the power to enforce the law.
- Terry Gross
May 2, 2016 · Learn about the life and times of Anthony Comstock, a self-righteous crusader who tried to censor all the mail in America. He was a chronic masturbator, a YMCA secretary, a postal inspector, and a persecutor of pornographers, suffragettes, and contraception advocates.
- Devin Leonard
May 13, 2022 · Learn about Anthony Comstock, a devout Protestant who became a postal inspector and banned obscene, lewd or lascivious materials from the mail. Find out how he targeted contraception, abortion and free speech advocates and how his legacy lives on.
- Greg Daugherty
Apr 12, 2023 · Learn how Anthony Comstock, a postal inspector and anti-vice activist, became the namesake of a law that bans obscene and abortifacient materials. Find out how his legacy is revived by the anti-abortion right wing and challenged by the Supreme Court.
May 15, 2024 · The Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that banned contraception and abortion, was based on the sectarian and sexist views of Anthony Comstock and his allies. The article argues that the Supreme Court should reject any attempt to revive this relic amendment that harms women's health and rights.
