When this article was originally conceived, it was not clear whether there was any new ground to cover about the famed Senate comic book Hearings of 1954. After some initial research, it was apparent that many aspects had never been addressed in previous histories, including the fundamental question as to why the Senate hearings were held in the first place and what damage was done by Gaines’ “Are You A Red Dupe?” ad. The role that Ladies’ Home Journal played has also never before been explored to any great depth.
With the opening of the Fredric Wertham papers at The Library of Congress, researchers finally have access to Wertham’s side of the affair, including Wertham’s hand-written notes of his telephone calls as they related to the Senate hearings. The records of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held at the National Archives also held previously unseen documentation. Combined with the power of such newspaper search sites as Proquest Historical Newspapers and Newspaperarchive.com, both available at the Library of Congress, this allows us for the first time to understand the full story of how the Senate comic book hearings came to be.
From the beginning, I had in mind opening to the comics world the various letters, articles and other documentation surrounding the history of the famed comics hearings of 1954. The best remedy for the many long-perpetuated misconceptions and misrepresentations on this subject is to bring all of the pertinent supporting documentation to light.
Warren Bernard
February 2013
*The entire Interim Report on Juvenile Delinquency (referenced in end notes #43, #44 & #49) is at the bottom of this page due to length.
1. N.W. Ayers & Sons, Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals: 1953 Edition.
2. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Census of Housing: 1950, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1953. XXVII, Table J.
3. Judith Crist,“Comic Books Are Called Obscene by N.Y. Psychiatrist at Hearing,” New York Herald-Tribune, Dec. 28, 1947.
4. Norman Cousins, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Jan. 5, 1948, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
5. Fredric Wertham, Letter to Norman Cousins, Jan. 11, 1948, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
6. Judith Crist, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Apr. 6, 1948, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
7. Memorandum of Understanding, August 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
8. Horace S. Manges, Letter to Rinehart & Co. Inc., Oct. 27, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
9. Monroe Froelich Jr., Letter to Rinehart & Co. Inc., Nov. 2, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
10. George T. Delacourt Jr., Letter to Stanley Rinehart, Oct. 30, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
11. James W. Rodgers, Letter to Fredric Wertham and Robert E. MacNeal, Oct. 30, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
12. Fredric Wertham, Letter to James W. Rodgers, Nov. 4, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
13. McLaughlin, Stickels & Hayden, Letter to Rinehart & Co. Inc., Nov. 16, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
14. Robert C. Hendrickson and Estes Kefauver, A Joint Statement from the Offices of Senator Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn.) and Robert C. Hendrickson (R-N.J.), Mar. 4, 1953, Records of the U.S. Senate, 83rd Congress, Committee on the Judiciary, Accompanying Papers (SEN 83A-E11), S. Res. 88 and S. Res. 89, Record Group 46, Box 72, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
15. Robert C. Hendrickson, Study of Juvenile Delinquency, May 28, 1953, Records of the U.S. Senate, 83rd Congress, Committee on the Judiciary, Accompanying Papers (SEN 83A-E11), S.Res. 89, Record Group 46, Box 72, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
16. “Senate Authorizes Delinquency Inquiry,” Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1953.
17. “Delinquency Probe Gets Chairman,” Washington Post, Aug. 5, 1953.
18. “Juvenile Probe May Take in City,” New York Times, Sept. 19, 1953.
19. “Investigating Crime by Teenagers,” Chicago Tribune, Sept. 21, 1953.
20. “Senate Inquiry Seeks Causes of Youth Crime,” New York Daily News, Oct. 15, 1953.
21. “Youth Crime Inquiry Set,” New York Times , Nov. 6, 1953.
22. Eve Edstrom, “Senators Begin National Inquiry Today into Causes of Delinquency,” Washington Post, Nov. 18, 1953.
23. Peter F. Oliva, Letter to Senator Robert Hendrickson, Nov. 6, 1953, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
24. Carl F. Hanna, Letter to Senator Robert Hendrickson, Nov. 3, 1953, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
25. Herbert Hannoch, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Nov. 27, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
26. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Herbert Hannoch, Dec. 2, 1953, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
27. Herbert Hannoch, Letter to Herbert Beaser, Dec. 2, 1953, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
28. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Herbert Beaser, Jan. 6, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
29. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Herbert Beaser, Mar. 15, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
30. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Rene de Chochor, Mar. 15, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
31. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Herbert Beaser, Mar. 17, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
32. Gary Groth and Dwight Decker, “An Interview with William M. Gaines,” The Comics Journal, #81, May 1983, p. 76.
33. “Commerce Dept. Fires 23 ‘Disloyals,’” New York Herald-Tribune, Feb. 19, 1954.
34. “Find No Red Teachers At Colleges,” New York Herald-Tribune, Feb. 23, 1954.
35. Seduction of the Innocent ad, Publishers Weekly, 1954, 2-3.
36. Lloyd E. Smith, “Protest against ad for Wertham book,” Publishers Weekly, Mar. 26, 1954, 1399-1400.
37. Fredric Wertham, Letter to Frederic G. Melcher, Mar. 26, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
38. Frederic G. Melcher, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Mar. 30, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
39. Frederic G. Melcher, Letter to Stanley Rinehart, Mar. 30, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
40. Elsie M. Quinlan, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Apr. 7, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
41. Elsie M. Quinlan, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Apr. 16, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
42. “Senate Committee Approves More Youth Inquiry Funding,” Washington Post, Jan. 19, 1954.
*43.-44. See Interim Report at bottom of the page.
45. “Sharp Rise In Juvenile Crime Noted,” Hartford Courant, Nov. 20, 1953.
46. “Senate Begins Probe Into Juvenile Delinquency,” Cleveland Call and Post, Nov. 14, 1953.
47. Ed Mowrey, Letter to Herbert Beaser, 1954, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
48. “Denver Waywards Traced To Slums,” New York Times, Dec. 15, 1953.
*49. See Interim Report at the bottom of page.
50. Executive Session Meeting Notes Apr. 5, 1954, Robert C. Hendrickson Archive, Bird Library, Syracuse University.
51. Senator Robert Hendrickson of New Jersey speaking on Juvenile Delinquency April 8, 1954, Congressional Record, 83rd Congress, 2nd session, 1954, Vol. 99, pt. 10.
52. “Hendrickson Sees Need To Curb Probes,” Baltimore Sun, Apr. 6, 1954.
53. Fredric Wertham, Personal notes on phone conversation with Herbert Beaser, Apr. 15, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
54. Fredric Wertham, Notes on Hendrickson Committee, Apr. 21, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
55. Al Feldstein, Unpublished interview by Warren Bernard, Feb. 23, 2012.
56. David Hajdu, Ten-Cent Plague (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), pp. 254-255.
57. Robert C. Hendrickson, Subpoena of William M. Gaines, April 16, 1954, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
58. Witness Schedule, 1954, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
59. “Background Statement — Mr. William M. Gaines,” 1954, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
60. “Background Statement — Dr. Fredric Wertham,” 1954, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency of the Committee of the Judiciary, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
61. Al Feldstein, unpublished interview by Warren Bernard, Feb. 23, 2012.
62. David Hajdu, Ten-Cent Plague (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), 254.
63. Lev Gleason, Letter to Senator Robert Hendrickson, April 22, 1954, Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency Papers, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
64. Estes Kefauver, Letter to Fredric Wertham, Apr. 19, 1954, Fredric Wertham Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
65. “Foul Conspiracy,” Hartford Courant, Apr. 18, 1954 .
66. Al Feldstein, Interview with Warren Bernard, Feb. 23, 2012.
67. Gary Groth and Dwight Decker, “An Interview with William M. Gaines,” The Comics Journal, May 1983 #81, p. 78.
68. Al Feldstein, unpublished interview by Warren Bernard, Feb. 23, 2012.
69. “Horror Comics for Profit,”New York Herald-Tribune, Apr. 23, 1954.
70. David Hajdu, Ten-Cent Plague, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), 284-286.
71. “Slump in Comics,” Barrons, Jan. 17, 1955.
72. Nyberg, Amy Kiste, Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code, (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998), pp. 125-126.
73. Gary Groth and Kim Thompson, “An Interview with the Man Who Brought Truth to the Comics — Harvey Kurtzman,” The Comics Journal #67 October 1981, p. 8.
*43. U.S. Congress, Senate, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, Juvenile Delinquency — Interim Report of the Committee on the Judiciary. 83rdCongress, 2nd Session., March 15, 1954, p. 9.
*44. U.S. Congress, Senate, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, Juvenile Delinquency — Interim Report of the Committee on the Judiciary. 83rd Congress, 2nd Session., March 15, 1954, p. 8.
*49. U.S. Congress, Senate, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, Juvenile Delinquency — Interim Report of the Committee on the Judiciary. 83rd Congress, 2nd Session., March 15, 1954, p. 14.
Juvenile Delinquency: Interim Report
