19 Facts About Anthony Comstock

Anthony Comstock was an American anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality.

Anthony Comstock opposed obscene literature, abortion, contraception, masturbation, gambling, prostitution, and patent medicine.

Anthony Comstock used his positions in the US Postal Service and the NYSSV to make numerous arrests for obscenity and gambling.

Anthony Comstock served without incident in Company H, 17th Connecticut Infantry, but he objected to the profanity used by his fellow soldiers.

Anthony Comstock worked for the Young Men's Christian Association in New York City.

Anthony Comstock lived in Summit, New Jersey, from 1880 to 1915.

In 1873, Anthony Comstock created the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, an institution dedicated to moral supervision of the American public.

Later that year, Anthony Comstock successfully influenced the United States Congress to pass the Anthony Comstock Laws, which made illegal the delivery by US mail, or by other modes of transportation, of "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" material, as well as prohibiting any methods of production or publication of information pertaining to the procurement of abortion, the prevention of conception and the prevention of venereal disease.

Anthony Comstock was a savvy political insider in New York City and was made a special agent of the United States Postal Service with police-level powers, including the right to carry a weapon.

Notably, Anthony Comstock clashed with organizations and individuals who viewed his actions as an overreach.

Anthony Comstock was opposed to woman suffragists, notably Victoria Claflin Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Celeste Claflin.

Anthony Comstock took legal action against the paper for advertising contraceptives.

Anthony Comstock was involved in shutting down the Louisiana Lottery, which was the only legal lottery in the United States at the time and was notorious for corruption.

Anthony Comstock's final work was a lengthy public suicide note specifically condemning Comstock.

Anthony Comstock boasted that he was responsible for 4,000 arrests and claimed he drove 15 persons to suicide in his "fight for the young".

Anthony Comstock later lectured to college audiences and wrote newspaper articles to sustain his causes.

On September 21,1915, Anthony Comstock died of pneumonia at the age of 71 at his home in Summit, New Jersey.

Anthony Comstock wrote numerous magazine articles relating to similar subjects.

George Bernard Shaw used the term in 1905 after Anthony Comstock had alerted the New York City police to the content of Shaw's play Mrs Warren's Profession.