Artist: August Henkel
Confronting Bodies: Federal Art Project
Date of Action: 1940
Specific Location: Brooklyn, New York
Description of Artwork: August Henkel's murals
Description of Incident: August Henkel's murals at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennet Airport are taken down and destroyed. The Relief Bill of 1940 required artists to sign loyalty oath of Federal Art Project artists and specifically excluded communists from the program. August Henkel refused to sign the loyalty oath in the FAP contract, resulting in the removal of his murals.
Results of Incident: In 1943 all funding for the WPA stops.
Source: Art Journal, "Time Line," Robert Atkins, Fall '91, Vol. 50 #3,pg. 34
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Name: Eugene O'Neill's play "Strange Interlude"
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Date: 1926 - 1950
Location: North America
Subject: Other
Medium: Theatre
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Artist: Eugene O'Neill
Confronting Bodies: Mayor of Boston
Date of Action: 1929
Specific Location: Boston, Ma.
Description of Artwork: Eugene O'Neill's play, "Strange Interlude".
Description of Incident: In 1929 Mayor Nichols prohibited the production of Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude".
Results of Incident: Instead of opposing the demand, the Theater Guild moved the production to a suburb beyond the jurisdiction of the city authorities; thousands flocked to see the performance.
Source: The Censor Marches On, pg. 68
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Name: Isadora Duncan, Dance Performance
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Date: 1900 - 1925
Location: North America
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Dance
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Artist: Isadora Duncan
Confronting Bodies: Mayor, James Curly
Date of Action: 1922
Specific Location: Boston, Ma.
Description of Artwork: "She possessed no technique as we know it, yet combined simple steps, runs, jumps, and turns to express effectively her concepts of beauty and truth with a masterful understanding of choreographic form. In her dancing, Duncan rebelled against the bad ballet of her day. In her lifestyle, she protested the rules society placed on women and the laws governing marriage, divorce, property and child custody." Dance Magazine, (Book Review),September 1986
Description of Incident: After pro-communist remarks and exposure of her person during a Boston performance, Mayor James Curly prohibits her from performing in Boston again. (National Association of Artists Organizations) "When Isadora Duncan returned to the United States in October, 1922 after her triumphant appearances in Moscow, she brought back boundless enthusiasm for the Soviet system and a Russian husband almost two decades her junior. Her return was widely covered in the press because she and Sergei Esenin, her new husband, were briefly detained by the immigration officials at Ellis Island under suspicion of being "Bolshevist agents." (Simon Karlinsky, New York Times Book Review, May 9, 1976 pg. 3)
Results of Incident: "In a heady atmosphere of shock, this sensual, magnetic woman became the idol of royalty, students, musicians, millionaires and Red Russians. At her last performances in America, police stood onstage with "the Bolshevik hussy" to guard the peace. By the time she died at 49 -dying as recklessly as she lived- most of her ideas were being lived out by the youth of the 1920's" (Jack Hamilton, Look, 12-10-68, pg. 70)
Source: National Association of Artists Organizations
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Freedom of the Press, Algeria
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Date: 1976 - 1984
Location: Africa
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Print Journalism
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Artist: Journalists
Confronting Bodies: Algerian Government
Date of Action: 1982-1988
Specific Location: Algeria
Description of Artwork: Algerian press
Description of Incident: " ...the Paris-based "Jeune Afrique" was banned, and the French daily "Le Monde" was periodically seized for carrying articles the government found objectionable."
Results of Incident: " ...Before the October 1988 riots, it was impossible for journalists to investigate or publish material relating to high-level government corruption, unless the information was provided by the Chadi administration itself. Radio and television were government- run, and the print media was published either by the government or the FLN. The authorities also tightly controlled the circulation of foreign journals...
Source: A Fund For Free Expression Report, Off Censorship and Corruption
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Roseanne Kiss
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Television
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Artist: Roseanne Barr (Arnold) and Co.
Confronting Bodies: ABC Television
Date of Action: March 1994
Specific Location: USA
Description of Artwork: A scene in an episode of Roseanne in which she visits a lesbian bar and receives a kiss on the lips from actress Mariel Hemingway.
Description of Incident: ABC threatened not to broadcast the episode as scheduled on March 1, 1994 claiming that "the scene is not the lifestyle that most people lead," (Stephen Weisswasser, ABC legal representative). According to Roseanne's husband and manager Tom Arnold, ABC also said the episode "violates the network's standards."
Results of Incident: Roseanne and Co. threatened to air the episode on another network, as she has hinted at moving the show to CBS. ABC aired the episode as originally planned, but included a viewer advisory before the episode . Ratings were high (averaging 28 - 33 million viewers) and complaints received by the network were fewer than expected (150 calls by noon the day following the airing). Positive calls outnumbered complaints by a 3-to-1 margin.
Source: Nightlines, Windy City Times, Chicago Sun-Times Feb.-March, 1994
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Caterpillar, Inc. Chanters
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Public Speech
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Artist: Caterpillar, Inc. factory workers
Confronting Bodies: Caterpillar, Inc. management
Date of Action: March 1994
Specific Location: Pontiac, IL
Description of Artwork: Slogans such as "No contract, no peace," and "Hey, hey, ho, ho. The final offer has to go."
Description of Incident: About 175 members of the United Automobile Workers union briefly walked off their jobs at a Caterpillar factory after being told they could no longer chant anti-company slogans in the plant. Caterpillar and the union have been locked in a contract dispute for two and a half years. The struggle included a 163-day strike that collapsed in April 1992 when the company imposed its final offer and threatened to replace all strikers.
Results of Incident: The company said they weren't going to tolerate it anymore and that further chants could lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, according to Walter Koprowski, bargaining chairman for UAW Local 2096. The walkout was brief and included only the workers from one shift. Susan Rittenhouse, a company spokeswoman, said the company had received a letter from the union making an unconditional offer to return to work.
Source: New York Times (AP), March 9, 1994
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Schindler's List in Jordan
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: Middle East and Caucasus
Subject: Racial/Ethnic
,Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Film Video
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Artist: Steven Spielberg, Director
Confronting Bodies: Jordanian officials
Date of Action: 1994
Specific Location: Jordan
Description of Artwork: The true story of how a WWII era businessman saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi execution.
Description of Incident: The film has received critical acclaim internationally. Jordanian officials are considering banning theaters from showing the film. "If it is totally designed to show sympathy to the Jews, we will not allow it in because of the current situation after the Hebron massacre," said a member of Jordan's committee that authorizes the screening of new films. "How can we expect our people to show sympathy to the Jews if the Jews are not showing any sympathy to the Arabs?" he asked.
Results of Incident: Pirated copies of the film are already available at video shops in Amman. No official word yet on whether the film will be publicly screening in Jordan.
Source: Chicago Sun Times (Reuters), March 3, 1994
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Name: Schindler's List in Philippines
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: Asia
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Film Video
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Artist: Steven Spielberg, Director
Confronting Bodies: Henrietta Mendez, Philippine chief film censor
Date of Action: 1994
Specific Location: Philippines
Description of Artwork: The true story of how a WWII era businessman saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi execution. The film has received critical acclaim internationally.
Description of Incident: Chief Philippine film censor Henrietta Mendez ordered three cuts on the film before it would be allowed screening in the Philippines, because the scenes showed women's breasts and actor Liam Neeson making love to his screen mistress. As a result of these proposed cuts, director Spielberg pulled the film from screening in the Philippines.
Results of Incident: Philippine senators, also protesting the action of Mendez, demanded the abolition of the censors board, and President Fidel Ramos told reporters he would look into the controversy. "Such narrow-mindedness precisely shows the dangers of censorship," said Senate justice committee chairman Paul Roco. Mendez has refused to back down. "The sex act is sacred and beautiful and should be done in the privacy of the bedroom," she said.
Source: Chicago Sun Times (Reuters), March 3, 1994
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: "Son of Sam" Law
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Other
Medium: Television
,Literature
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Artist: Ronald W. Price
Confronting Bodies: Maryland State government
Date of Action: August 1993
Specific Location: Anne Arundel, MD
Description of Artwork: The life story of Ronald W. Price.
Description of Incident: On August 10,1993 an Anne Arundel County judge rejected a bid by Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr.,to prevent former Anne Arundel teacher Ronald W. Price from profiting from the sale of his life story. Maryland's so-called "Son of Sam Law," which Curran invoked in an effort to seize Price's potential profits from a movie deal, "is unconstitutional and unenforceable," Circuit Court Judge Eugene M. Lerner wrote. "We find that the statute is unconstitutionally over-inclusive on its face, and violates the provisions of the First Amendment, " Lerner said. Curran's office immediately appealed the decision to the state Court of Special Appeals. Price was arrested in April, 1993 and charged with three counts of child sexual abuse in connection with allegations that he had sexual relations with underage students at the high school where he taught. Since then, Price has said he had sexual relationships with seven students over twenty years and blamed his behavior on a mental illness. He said school officials knew about the illicit liaisons, but covered it up. The former teacher has signed an option giving a Hollywood producer the right to sell his story as a made-for-TV movie.
Results of Incident: The 1987 Maryland law at issue gives the attorney general the right to hold in escrow any proceeds from a movie or book contract in which a person charged or convicted of a crime is trying to profit from that crime. Under the law, if the person is convicted, the money is to be made available to the crime's victims. The law was struck down by the Court of Special Appeals.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Panhandling in New York City
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Other
Medium: Public Speech
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Artist: People who panhandle
Confronting Bodies: New York City
Date of Action: 1993
Specific Location: New York City
Description of Artwork: Begging and loitering in public places. Begging on the streets of New York City "implicates expressive conduct or communicative activity" protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled July 29, 1993. The court struck down a New York statute that criminalized loitering in a public place "for the purpose of begging."
Description of Incident: The city argued that begging has no expressive element, and that the city's interest in combating the intimidation, fraud, and urban decline in areas where panhandlers congregate outweighs their interest in conveying a message of indigence. It also said the loitering statute was a key tool in community policing.
Results of Incident: Although the Second Circuit upheld a ban on begging in the city's subway system in 1990, it distinguished that case as involving a "limited" forum that left open alternative channels of communication above ground. The loitering statute, by contrast, applied to city sidewalks, traditional public forums in which content-based exclusions of speech must be narrowly drawn to achieve a compelling state interest. Begging was decriminalized.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Kennedy Rape Media Ban
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Television
,Print Journalism
,Radio
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Artist: Artist/Author/Producer A Boca Raton tabloid
Confronting Bodies: Confronting Bodies Florida State Government
Date of Action: Dates of action 1991
Specific Location: Location Boca Raton, Florida
Description of Artwork: The Boca Raton tabloid published the name of Patricia Bowman shortly after she accused William Kennedy Smith of rape in 1991.
Description of Incident: A Florida State Appeals court ruled the tabloid could not be persecuted for publishing the rape victim's name. The court ruled that a 1911 law making it a crime to publish or broadcast the names of rape victims violates the First Amendment. The Fourth District Court of Appeals in West Palm Beach conceded that the concerns about victims safety from retaliation and the need to encourage the reporting of sex offenses were legitimate, but did not justify censorship.
Results of Incident: The ruling was based largely on a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the Florida Star, a Jacksonville newspaper that was sued for libel after it inadvertently published a rape victim's name. The Supreme Court threw out a $100,000 judgment agai
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Name: Howard Stern, Radio Personality
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Other
Medium: Radio
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Artist: Howard Stern, Infinity Broadcasting Corporation
Confronting Bodies: Federal Communications Commission
Date of Action: 1988-1994
Specific Location: New York, NY and nationwide
Description of Artwork: Howard Sterns commentary referenced sexual and excretory activities and organs during his syndicated radio show.
Description of Incident: The FCC fined Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, the New York-based radio company that syndicates controversial radio personality Howard Stern, $500,000. It was the fifth such fine the government has meted out for Stern's allegedly indecent programming and the second in two days. The fine was the second largest ever handed out for a violation of the so called indecency rule. In December, 1992 Infinity was fined $600,000 for a separate series of Stern shows. Stern has generated more than $1.2 million in fines since 1988. Almost all of it has been against stations owned by Infinity Broadcasting. Infinity has vowed in the past to fight the fines and has appealed to the First Amendment. Yet there is evidence that, faced not only with the fines but with a drop in the number of stations willing to carry Stern, Infinity itself is taking steps to restrain the shock jock.
Results of Incident: In a letter dated July 23, 1993, Infinity told the FCC that it had undertaken "continuous review and modification" of Stern's program to comply with the rules. Since December 2, 1992, these measures have included placing the broadcasts under a multiple-delay mechanism, which permits the company to bleep out potentially offensive material.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Poetic Justice at Cineplex Odeon, LA
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Racial/Ethnic
Medium: Film Video
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Artist: John Singleton, Director
Confronting Bodies: Cineplex Odeon, LA
Date of Action: July 1993
Specific Location: Los Angeles, California
Description of Artwork: The film, "Poetic Justice," is a love story about a hairdresser and a postal carrier starring pop star Janet Jackson.
Description of Incident: An opening weekend ban on African-American director John Singleton's romantic drama "Poetic Justice" at Cineplex Odeon's Universal City multiplex theater triggered charges of racism and censorship from moviegoers, studio sources, civil rights leaders, and the Los Angeles City Council. Cineplex Odeon said the film was not screened because of fears that it might draw trouble to Universal Studio's adjacent City Walk, which features a string of trendy shops and restaurants. "Our film programmers in Los Angeles are ensuring the theater is programmed with an upscale demographic to make sure that City Walk's environment is kept safe with a family atmosphere," the theater chain said in a prepared statement.
Results of Incident: On July 27, by an 11-0 vote, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion condemning the Cineplex Odeon action. Council member Rita Walter's motion also suggested that the Los Angeles County district attorney investigate whether the theater chain's action violated state civil rights laws.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
Name: Outland, Comic Strip
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Print Journalism
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Artist: Berkeley Breathed
Confronting Bodies: Houston Post and other papers
Date of Action: August 1993
Specific Location: Houston, Texas, etc.
Description of Artwork: The strip featured an exchange between the cartoon's star, the penguin Opus, and a woman who comes upon Opus and two other male animal characters sitting in their underwear. "How do you know if a woman has been working at a computer? There's White Out on the screen," Opus jokes. "You dumb hypocrites," the woman replies. "You mock the half of humanity that makes your graceless existence bearable. Men should pause for one moment and take another long hard look at the very thing that brings meaning to their meaningless lives." The strip then shows the woman walking away and the three male characters peeking into their underwear.
Description of Incident: The Houston Post pulled the August 1 installment of the Outland comic strip by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, fearing it would offend readers. The Post substituted a previous Outland and made copies of the strip available to readers at its offices. The switch was also then explained in the paper.
Results of Incident: The installment of Outland was pulled from papers nationwide.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Name: Holt Health, Garrettsville, OH
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Date: 1985 - 1995
Location: North America
Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Literature
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Artist: Holt, Rinehart & Winston Publishing
Confronting Bodies: James A. Garfield School Board of Education, parents
Date of Action: August 1993
Specific Location: Garrettsville, Ohio
Description of Artwork: The Holt Health textbook for tenth grade students.
Description of Incident: A tenth grade health text book some parents say condones homosexuality will be reviewed by a parent committee proposed by the James A. Garfield Board of Education. Garfield officials agreed to form the committee after several parents, a local minister, and one board member protested the text book, Holt Health. Rev. Peter King read a letter to the board urging them to reconsider their approval of the book. He said there was a growing exodus of students into parochial schools because of the teaching of values symbolized by the textbook. The controversy centers on three paragraphs that say it is not unusual for adolescents to have sexual feelings for those of the same sex and even act on those feelings but be heterosexual as adults. Citing recent research, the book also explains that homosexuality is determined at birth rather than as a lifestyle that is chosen.
Results of Incident: Parents also expressed dismay over a sex survey, distributed in a tenth grade health class last spring, that asked questions concerning anal sex, homosexuality, and masturbation. Board president James Dennedy said the survey was distributed by a teacher without the board's knowledge.
Source: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association
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Date Edited: Thursday, March 7, 2002
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