Mary Dennett
Encyclopedia
Mary Coffin Ware Dennett (April 4, 1872 – July 25, 1947) was an American
birth control
activist and pacifist. She formed the Voluntary Parenthood League
and the group lobbied until 1926 for a bill that would exempt birth control information and materials from federal censorship laws.
In 1928 she was indicted under the Comstock law
for distributing her pamphlet, The Sex Side of Life, which explained human reproduction to adolescents. H. L. Mencken
observed the proceedings. He had briefly praised Mrs. Dennett’s book in the May 1926 issue of The American Mercury
, and took a sympathetic interest in her legal troubles: “There is, of course, nothing indecent in that pamphlet; on the contrary, it is notably prudent and clean. The author wrote it for the instruction of her own young sons, and its superiority to most other such literature was so apparent that it was reprinted at length in a medical journal, and circulated in great numbers by clergymen, Y.M.C.A. secretaries, social workers, and other such chemically pure persons. This went on for four and a half years. Then Mrs. Dennett, who is engaged in birth-control propaganda, began annoying the wowsers of the U.S. Post Office by exposing their gross stupidity and disingenuousness in the enforcement of the Comstock Act, and they retorted by barring her pamphlet from the mails. No plainer case of the use of an idiotic law to punish an inconvenient critic could be imagined.”
Eventually a safe jury was empanelled by the prosecution “and Mrs. Dennett was quickly convicted, and Judge Burrows fined her $300. . . . Six months later the Circuit Court of Appeals, consisting of [Thomas Walker?] Swan, Augustus N. Hand and Chase, JJ, set aside the verdict, decided that the pamphlet was so obviously ‘not’ obscene that ‘no case was made for submission to the jury,’ and ordered Mrs. Dennett released from her bond.”
When Judge Augustus Noble Hand
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
overturned her conviction in 1930, the Court set a legal precedent that took intent into account in the evaluation of obscenity. Dennett's trial was part of a series of rulings that culminated in the 1936 ruling in United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
, which exempted birth control information and materials used by physicians from obscenity laws.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
activist and pacifist. She formed the Voluntary Parenthood League
American Birth Control League
The American Birth Control League was founded by Margaret Sanger in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The League was incorporated under the laws of New York State on April 5, 1922. Its headquarters were located at 104 Fifth Avenue, New York City from 1921–30 and...
and the group lobbied until 1926 for a bill that would exempt birth control information and materials from federal censorship laws.
In 1928 she was indicted under the Comstock law
Comstock Law
The Comstock Act, , enacted March 3, 1873, was a United States federal law which amended the Post Office Act and made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail, including contraceptive devices and information. In addition to banning contraceptives, this...
for distributing her pamphlet, The Sex Side of Life, which explained human reproduction to adolescents. H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
observed the proceedings. He had briefly praised Mrs. Dennett’s book in the May 1926 issue of The American Mercury
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
, and took a sympathetic interest in her legal troubles: “There is, of course, nothing indecent in that pamphlet; on the contrary, it is notably prudent and clean. The author wrote it for the instruction of her own young sons, and its superiority to most other such literature was so apparent that it was reprinted at length in a medical journal, and circulated in great numbers by clergymen, Y.M.C.A. secretaries, social workers, and other such chemically pure persons. This went on for four and a half years. Then Mrs. Dennett, who is engaged in birth-control propaganda, began annoying the wowsers of the U.S. Post Office by exposing their gross stupidity and disingenuousness in the enforcement of the Comstock Act, and they retorted by barring her pamphlet from the mails. No plainer case of the use of an idiotic law to punish an inconvenient critic could be imagined.”
Eventually a safe jury was empanelled by the prosecution “and Mrs. Dennett was quickly convicted, and Judge Burrows fined her $300. . . . Six months later the Circuit Court of Appeals, consisting of [Thomas Walker?] Swan, Augustus N. Hand and Chase, JJ, set aside the verdict, decided that the pamphlet was so obviously ‘not’ obscene that ‘no case was made for submission to the jury,’ and ordered Mrs. Dennett released from her bond.”
When Judge Augustus Noble Hand
Augustus Noble Hand
Augustus Noble Hand was an American judge who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His most notable rulings restricted the reach of obscenity statutes in the areas of literature and...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
overturned her conviction in 1930, the Court set a legal precedent that took intent into account in the evaluation of obscenity. Dennett's trial was part of a series of rulings that culminated in the 1936 ruling in United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, 86 F.2d 737 , was an in rem United States Court of Appeals case in the Second Circuit involving birth control.-Background:...
, which exempted birth control information and materials used by physicians from obscenity laws.
External links
- Mary Ware Dennett Papers.
- Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
- The Sex Side of Life, ebook from manybooks.net