Office of Censorship
Encyclopedia
The Office of Censorship was an emergency wartime agency set up on December 19, 1941 to aid in the censorship of all communications coming into and going out of the United States
.
Government records show that the First War Powers Act, approved on December 18, contained broad grants of Executive authority for the prosecution of the war, including a provision for censorship. The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signed Executive Order 8985, which established the Office of Censorship and conferred on its director the power to censor international communications in "his absolute discretion."
The order also set up a Censorship Policy Board to advise the director with respect to policy and the coordination and integration of censorship activities, and authorized the director to establish a Censorship Operating Board that would arrange for the use by other Government agencies of information acquired through the interception of communications. To effect a closer correlation of censorship activities, representatives of Great Britain, Canada, and the United States signed an agreement providing for the complete exchange of information among all concerned parties and the creation of a central clearinghouse of information within the headquarters of the Office of Censorship.
Byron Price
, a newspaperman of long experience and acting general manager of the Associated Press
, was appointed Director of Censorship and remained in that office throughout the agency's existence. He immediately began to organize his agency, utilizing existing facilities of the War Department
and Navy Department
wherever possible. On March 15, 1942, Army
and Navy
personnel engaged in censorship activities were formally transferred from the War Department and Navy Department to the Office of Censorship. As the military situation continued to improve, plans for adjustment and eventual cessation of all censorship were devised. An X-plan was issued, giving in detail the steps to be taken for reduction of operations and personnel after the defeat of Germany. All censorship activities ceased on August 15, 1945, the day after Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms, and the demobilization of the Office of Censorship proceeded on schedule according to another plan devised months before, called the "V-J Book." By Executive Order 9631 the Office of Censorship was formally abolished as of November 15, 1945.
After the announcement of the end of censorship in August 1945, Price was photographed posting on the door of his office a sign that read: Out of Business. He told the press and broadcasters, "You have the thanks and appreciation of your government."
Information open to censorship included but was not limited to: military craft, fortifications and installations, weapons production, scientific experiments, Japanese balloon bombs, military intelligence, Soviet-Japanese relations, war prisoners, travel of government officials, weather, photographs of defense installations and potential strategic vulnerabilities, like harbors.
"super hush-hush" and Byron Price's "chief headache." Price himself called the project World War II
's "best-kept secret" . The New York Times was first to report on the specifics of the Manhattan Project on August 7, 1945, saying the atomic bomb was built in "three 'hidden cities' with a total population of 100,000 inhabitants." The sites were at Oak Ridge
, Tennessee
; Los Alamos
, New Mexico
; and Hanford
, Washington. "None of the people, who came to these developments from homes all the way from Maine to California, had the slightest idea of what they were making in the gigantic Government plants they saw around them," the New York Times said.
The Office of Censorship helped keep the Manhattan Project secret from its inception until the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
by urging officials involved in the project to keep quiet and by asking the press and broadcasters to voluntarily censor information they learned about atomic energy or the project. As the Manhattan Project neared its crucial test and before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
, censorship officials sent out a confidential memo to editors and broadcasters on May 15, 1945, requesting continued vigilance in the censorship of:
That was not the first request for voluntary censorship of atomic-related information. Price noted in comments to reporters after the end of censorship that some 20,000 news outlets had been delivered similar requests. For the most part censors were able to keep sensitive information about the Manhattan Project from being published or broadcast. Slips of the tongue occurred with individuals knowledgeable about the project. The press itself was never responsible for publishing more than passing references to the project, except one article in the Cleveland Press
entitled "Forbidden City," which detailed a secret project near Santa Fe, New Mexico
, calling it "Uncle Sam's mystery town directed by scientist Einstein
."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Overview
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
signed Executive Order 8985, which established the Office of Censorship and conferred on its director the power to censor international communications in "his absolute discretion."
The order also set up a Censorship Policy Board to advise the director with respect to policy and the coordination and integration of censorship activities, and authorized the director to establish a Censorship Operating Board that would arrange for the use by other Government agencies of information acquired through the interception of communications. To effect a closer correlation of censorship activities, representatives of Great Britain, Canada, and the United States signed an agreement providing for the complete exchange of information among all concerned parties and the creation of a central clearinghouse of information within the headquarters of the Office of Censorship.
Byron Price
Byron Price
Byron Price was director of the Office of Censorship for the United States government during World War II. For his role, he was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize in 1944. After the war he was appointed as the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. In 1946, President Harry S...
, a newspaperman of long experience and acting general manager of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, was appointed Director of Censorship and remained in that office throughout the agency's existence. He immediately began to organize his agency, utilizing existing facilities of the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
and Navy Department
United States Department of the Navy
The Department of the Navy of the United States of America was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy and, from 1834 onwards, for the United States Marine Corps, and when directed by the President, of the...
wherever possible. On March 15, 1942, Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
and Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
personnel engaged in censorship activities were formally transferred from the War Department and Navy Department to the Office of Censorship. As the military situation continued to improve, plans for adjustment and eventual cessation of all censorship were devised. An X-plan was issued, giving in detail the steps to be taken for reduction of operations and personnel after the defeat of Germany. All censorship activities ceased on August 15, 1945, the day after Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms, and the demobilization of the Office of Censorship proceeded on schedule according to another plan devised months before, called the "V-J Book." By Executive Order 9631 the Office of Censorship was formally abolished as of November 15, 1945.
After the announcement of the end of censorship in August 1945, Price was photographed posting on the door of his office a sign that read: Out of Business. He told the press and broadcasters, "You have the thanks and appreciation of your government."
The Code of Wartime Practices
The Code of Wartime Practices for press and radio set forth in simple terms subjects that contained information of value to the enemy and which, therefore, should not be published or broadcast in the United States without authorization by a qualified government source. The Office of Censorship did not undertake to suppress the publication or broadcast of anything that was given out officially by a qualified government authority, even when the information violated one of the code's restrictions. Censorship of information circulating within the United States was on a voluntary basis. However, the information became subject to border censorship when it was offered for transmission outside of the country.Information open to censorship included but was not limited to: military craft, fortifications and installations, weapons production, scientific experiments, Japanese balloon bombs, military intelligence, Soviet-Japanese relations, war prisoners, travel of government officials, weather, photographs of defense installations and potential strategic vulnerabilities, like harbors.
Censorship failures
Two conspicuous censorship failures of World War II:- June 7, 1942 the Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
announcement of breaking of Japanese Purple (cipher machine) - June 1943-the "May Incident" in which Congressman Andrew Jackson May disclosed that Japanese depth charges were set too shallow-and resulted in the estimated losses of 10 US Submarines and 800 servicemen.
- List of US Submarines lost by depth charges: 19 out of 53 lost {1/3};1522 crew lost
- USS Barbel (SS-316)USS Barbel (SS-316)USS Barbel , a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barbel, a cyprinoid fish, commonly called a minnow or carp....
4 February 1945 - USS Bonefish (SS-223)USS Bonefish (SS-223)was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the bonefish, which is a name for the ladyfish, dogfish, and sturgeon.- Operational history :...
18 June 1945 - USS Bullhead (SS-332)USS Bullhead (SS-332)USS Bullhead , a Balao-class submarine, was the very last US Navy ship sunk by enemy action during World War II, probably on the same day that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bullhead...
6 August 1945 - USS Cisco (SS-290)USS Cisco (SS-290)USS Cisco , a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cisco, a whitefish of the Great Lakes. Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 24 December 1942 sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Bennett, through her...
28 September 1943 - USS Golet (SS-361)USS Golet (SS-361)USS Golet , a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the golet, a California trout. Her keel was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was launched on 1 August 1943 sponsored by Mrs...
14 June 1944 - USS Grayback (SS-208)USS Grayback (SS-208)USS Grayback , a Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the lake herring.Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 31 January 1941 sponsored by Mrs...
27 February 1944 - USS Grayling (SS-209)USS Grayling (SS-209)USS Grayling , a Tambor-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling, a fresh-water game fish closely related to the trout....
9 September 1943 - USS Growler (SS-215)USS Growler (SS-215), a Gato-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy named for the growler, a large-mouth black bass. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 2 November 1941 , and commissioned on 20 March 1942 with Lieutenant Commander...
8 November 1944 - USS Gudgeon (SS-211)USS Gudgeon (SS-211)USS Gudgeon , a Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gudgeon). Her keel was laid down by the Mare Island Navy Yard. She was launched on 25 January 1941, sponsored by Mrs. William S. Pye, and commissioned on 21 April 1941 with Lieutenant Commander...
18 April 1944 - USS Harder (SS-257)USS Harder (SS-257), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the harder, a fish of the mullet family found off South Africa. One of the most famous submarines of World War II, she received the Presidential Unit Citation. Her skipper, the resolute and resourceful Commander ...
24 August 1944 - USS Lagarto (SS-371)USS Lagarto (SS-371)USS Lagarto , a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the lagarto, a lizard fish.Her keel was laid down on 12 January 1944 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin...
4 May 1945 - USS S-44 (SS-155)USS S-44 (SS-155)USS S-44 was a third-group S-class submarine of the United States Navy.Her keel was laid down on 19 February 1921 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 27 October 1923 sponsored by Mrs. H.E. Grieshaber, and was commissioned on 16 February 1925...
7 October 1943 - USS Scamp (SS-277)USS Scamp (SS-277)USS Scamp , a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp, a member of the Serranidae family....
11 November 1944 - USS Sculpin (SS-191)USS Sculpin (SS-191)USS Sculpin , a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin.Her keel was laid down on 7 September 1937 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 27 July 1938 sponsored by Mrs. J.R. Defrees, and commissioned on 16 January...
19 November 1943 - USS Shark (SS-314)USS Shark (SS-314), a Balao-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the shark, a large marine predator.- History :Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 28 January 1943. She was launched on 17 October 1943 , a Balao-class submarine, was...
24 October 1944 - USS Swordfish (SS-193)USS Swordfish (SS-193)USS Swordfish , a Sargo-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy named for the swordfish, a large fish with a long, swordlike beak and a high dorsal fin...
12 January 1945 - USS Trigger (SS-237)USS Trigger (SS-237)was a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the triggerfish, any of numerous deep-bodied fishes of warm seas having an anterior dorsal fin with two or three stout erectile spines....
28 March 1945 - USS Trout (SS-202)USS Trout (SS-202)USS Trout was a United States Navy Tambor-class submarine, serving in the Pacific from 1941 to 1944. She received 11 battle stars for World War II service and three Presidential Unit Citations, for her second, third, and fifth patrols...
29 February 1944 - USS Wahoo (SS-238)USS Wahoo (SS-238)was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo, a dark blue food fish of Florida and the West Indies....
11 October 1943
Censorship of the atomic bomb
The Washington Post called the Manhattan ProjectManhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
"super hush-hush" and Byron Price's "chief headache." Price himself called the project World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
's "best-kept secret" . The New York Times was first to report on the specifics of the Manhattan Project on August 7, 1945, saying the atomic bomb was built in "three 'hidden cities' with a total population of 100,000 inhabitants." The sites were at Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
; Los Alamos
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
; and Hanford
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
, Washington. "None of the people, who came to these developments from homes all the way from Maine to California, had the slightest idea of what they were making in the gigantic Government plants they saw around them," the New York Times said.
The Office of Censorship helped keep the Manhattan Project secret from its inception until the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
by urging officials involved in the project to keep quiet and by asking the press and broadcasters to voluntarily censor information they learned about atomic energy or the project. As the Manhattan Project neared its crucial test and before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
, censorship officials sent out a confidential memo to editors and broadcasters on May 15, 1945, requesting continued vigilance in the censorship of:
- "Scientific experiments.--The Code of Wartime Practices requests that nothing be published or broadcast about 'new or secret military weapons...experiments.' In extension of this highly vital precaution, you are asked not to publish or broadcast any information whatever regarding war experiments involving: Production or utilization of atom smashingParticle acceleratorA particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high speeds and to contain them in well-defined beams. An ordinary CRT television set is a simple form of accelerator. There are two basic types: electrostatic and oscillating field accelerators.In...
, atomic energyNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, atomic fissionNuclear fissionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
, atomic splitting, or any of their equivalents; the use for military purposes of radiumRadiumRadium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
or radioactive materials, heavy waterHeavy waterHeavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
, high voltage discharge equipment, cyclotronCyclotronIn technology, a cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. In physics, the cyclotron frequency or gyrofrequency is the frequency of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to the direction of a uniform magnetic field, i.e. a magnetic field of constant magnitude and direction...
s; the following elements or any of their compounds--poloniumPoloniumPolonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive element, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uranium ores. Polonium has been studied for...
, uraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, ytterbiumYtterbiumYtterbium is a chemical element with the symbol Yb and atomic number 70. A soft silvery metallic element, ytterbium is a rare earth element of the lanthanide series and is found in the minerals gadolinite, monazite, and xenotime. The element is sometimes associated with yttrium or other related...
, hafniumHafniumHafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Hafnium was the penultimate stable...
, protactiniumProtactiniumProtactinium is a chemical element with the symbol Pa and atomic number 91. It is a dense, silvery-gray metal which readily reacts with oxygen, water vapor and inorganic acids. It forms various chemical compounds where protactinium is usually present in the oxidation state +5, but can also assume...
, radiumRadiumRadium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
, rheniumRheniumRhenium is a chemical element with the symbol Re and atomic number 75. It is a silvery-white, heavy, third-row transition metal in group 7 of the periodic table. With an average concentration of 1 part per billion , rhenium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. The free element has...
, thoriumThoriumThorium is a natural radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder....
, deutrium."
That was not the first request for voluntary censorship of atomic-related information. Price noted in comments to reporters after the end of censorship that some 20,000 news outlets had been delivered similar requests. For the most part censors were able to keep sensitive information about the Manhattan Project from being published or broadcast. Slips of the tongue occurred with individuals knowledgeable about the project. The press itself was never responsible for publishing more than passing references to the project, except one article in the Cleveland Press
Cleveland Press
The Cleveland Press was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis Seltzer....
entitled "Forbidden City," which detailed a secret project near Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, calling it "Uncle Sam's mystery town directed by scientist Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
."
Further reading
- Michael S. Sweeney. Secrets of Victory: The Office of Censorship and the American Press and Radio in World War II, (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001).