Legion of Decency
Scope and Contents
This collection contains correspondence from the national Legion of Decency as well as correspondence dealing with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The correspondence deals mainly with grading various movies and the cases before the Supreme Court that loosened censorship laws. The collection also includes lists of numerous movies ratings as well as official publications form the Legion.
Dates
- Creation: 1933 - 1968
Biographical / Historical
The Legion of Decency was founded in 1933 to review movies and issue ratings. The Legion used a three tier rating system with “A” as morally unobjectionable; “B” as morally objectionable in part and “C” as condemned. The Legion was mainly a Catholic organization but worked closely with similar groups of other denominations. Before the Supreme Court started to rule against censorship in the late 1940s, the Legion wielded great power in being able to have movies banned or requiring them to be edited before being shown to the general public.
Extent
0.4 Linear Feet (; 1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains correspondence from the national Legion of Decency as well as correspondence dealing with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The collection also includes lists of numerous movies ratings as well as official publications form the Legion.
Custodial History
Accession number 1990.134
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Repository
6719 Calvert Street
Philadelphia PA 19149
