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Audio of the 1954 Senate hearings surfaces online. Gaines, Wertham testimony

Started by markseifert,

20 posts in this topic

markseifert

markseifert

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Wow. A pivotal moment in comic book history comes to life.

 

They've just put up two sessions from the opening day of the hearings, but it's riveting to listen to this day in history unfold, including both Wertham and Gaines giving testimony on the stand in the afternoon session. Must-listen stuff.

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/24/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency/

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/27/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency-ii/

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vaillant

vaillant

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Vey interesting, thank you! It would be great if you can keep us non-Americans posted if they add other recordings… :)

 

Wertham is not just "Seduction of the Innocent" (superficial as the work may be). I wonder how many people bothered to read "A Sign for Cain" or "The World of Fanzines"; I’d surely like to read them some day.

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markseifert

markseifert

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Wertham is not just "Seduction of the Innocent" (superficial as the work may be). I wonder how many people bothered to read "A Sign for Cain" or "The World of Fanzines"; I’d surely like to read them some day.

 

Though it's been quite some time now, I think I've read all his books except his first, "The Brain as an Organ" from 1934. World of Fanzines is the must-read aside from Seduction, and provides an interesting little twist to the end of his career.

 

(again, it's been a long time, but my recollection: he concludes that sf & comic fans created this interesting new medium of communication (fanzines), and that communication is the opposite of violence. Which is a pretty interesting statement in the context of his career. But as far as I remember, he doesn't address the contrast between this conclusion and his statements in Seduction, unfortunately)

 

There's also another interesting and little-known item out there -- when I was in college I stumbled across a book put out by Harvard after Wertham's death which was a book of photos of his personal art collection, along with some interesting biographical material and photos -- the thing I always remember about this book is a photo of Wertham talking with Alfred Hitchcock. Seemed an odd pairing, always made me wonder what the two of them could have been talking about.

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RareHighGrade

RareHighGrade

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It was interesting to see that when the proceedings started, at least some of the Senate Committee members seemed concerned that the accusation that crime comics contribute to juvenile delinquency may have beeen over-rated. But as the proceedings went on, and the parade of sordid examples continued unabated, there was a palpable sea change.

 

And it probably didn't help Gaines' cause when he said that he felt he should be able to put any type of content into a comic book as long as it met his own personal view of what was in "good taste."

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markseifert

markseifert

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But as the proceedings went on, and the parade of sordid examples continued unabated, there was a palpable sea change.

 

Yeah. I've looked through the transcripts a few times over the years, but as you said about Wertham, the audio definitely adds something to how you perceive what's going on. It becomes even more clear during his testimony that he's pushing a specific agenda rather than just laying out information.

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esquirecomics

esquirecomics

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Wow. A pivotal moment in comic book history comes to life.

 

They've just put up two sessions from the opening day of the hearings, but it's riveting to listen to this day in history unfold, including both Wertham and Gaines giving testimony on the stand in the afternoon session. Must-listen stuff.

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/24/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency/

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/27/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency-ii/

 

Finally!!! Great find! :applause:

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pennynike1

pennynike1

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Thanks for posting the links!

 

I am just finishing off listening to them, and the 1st clip was interesting when the lawyer was discussing the how the code was phrased. Essentially, the code was failing or just plainly being ignored.

 

Things start to get quite informative in the 2nd clip. Wertham champions his cause, with enthusiasm from his audience. Gaines seems that he said several things that could have been phrased in a more pro-comic sensibility. The dig at Wertham in the beginning of Gaines' testimony probably could have been held back.

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vaillant

vaillant

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Though it's been quite some time now, I think I've read all his books except his first, "The Brain as an Organ" from 1934. World of Fanzines is the must-read aside from Seduction, and provides an interesting little twist to the end of his career.

 

(again, it's been a long time, but my recollection: he concludes that sf & comic fans created this interesting new medium of communication, and that communication is the opposite of violence. Which is a pretty interesting statement in the context of his career. But as far as I remember, he doesn't address the contrast between this conclusion and his statements in Seduction, unfortunately)

 

Wow Mark, I can’t praise you enough for this. Honestly, from the little I have read, Seduction is a pretty superficial book. To me it feels like something in the vein of some late 19th century forensic psychiatry treatises ("Psychopatia Sexualis" comes to mind), from where the limited view of a large portion of 20th century psychology originated. Not that they were "superficial" in medical sense, but in the overall vision, scope, means of evaluation.

I fear I can’t explain this better, but in some way these studies are more indebted to a certain slant we find in 18th century confession manuals, which went into morbid details and ended up working against their very reason of being. Most of 19th century psychology can’t be properly addressed without referencing to what has gone before.

Said this, Seduction may have been a bad book but in my opinion the Code restrictions were one of the most favorable elements which helped to positively give shape to the Marvel age.

 

There's also another interesting and little-known item out there -- when I was in college I stumbled across a book put out by Harvard after Wertham's death which was a book of photos of his personal art collection, along with some interesting biographical material and photos -- the thing I always remember about this book is a photo of Wertham talking with Alfred Hitchcock. Seemed an odd pairing, always made me wonder what the two of them could have been talking about.

This would be really interesting to see. Often the best books to get into a public person’s shoes are visual biographies, or correspondance and non accademic texts. History books and academic texts are too much of an abstraction to return in full the person as a whole. :)

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markseifert

markseifert

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Wow Mark, I can’t praise you enough for this. Honestly, from the little I have read, Seduction is a pretty superficial book. To me it feels like something in the vein of some late 19th century forensic psychiatry treatises ("Psychopatia Sexualis" comes to mind), from where the limited view of a large portion of 20th century psychology originated. Not that they were "superficial" in medical sense, but in the overall vision, scope, means of evaluation.

 

One thing that really strikes me about actually hearing Wertham in this audio is that it reinforces the idea that part of what he's doing is akin to what "television psychologists" do today. He's playing to the audience and trying to get them stirred up.

 

Btw, I just happened to notice that there are a few used copies of World of Fanzines on Amazon. I just grabbed one myself, as I originally read it from the school library.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0809306190/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

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BOOT

BOOT

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Wow. A pivotal moment in comic book history comes to life.

 

They've just put up two sessions from the opening day of the hearings, but it's riveting to listen to this day in history unfold, including both Wertham and Gaines giving testimony on the stand in the afternoon session. Must-listen stuff.

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/24/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency/

 

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/neh-preservation-project/2012/aug/27/senate-subcommittee-juvenile-delinquency-ii/

 

WOW! Those are really great pieces of history. Thanks very much for posting them!

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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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Wertham is not just "Seduction of the Innocent" (superficial as the work may be). I wonder how many people bothered to read "A Sign for Cain" or "The World of Fanzines"; I’d surely like to read them some day.

 

 

 

There's also another interesting and little-known item out there -- when I was in college I stumbled across a book put out by Harvard after Wertham's death which was a book of photos of his personal art collection, along with some interesting biographical material and photos -- the thing I always remember about this book is a photo of Wertham talking with Alfred Hitchcock. Seemed an odd pairing, always made me wonder what the two of them could have been talking about.

 

The photos came from a sort of debate that Wertham and Hitchcock did for Redbook magazine in April, 1963. It was a discussion of television violence. I provided some audio from this session to Robert Emmons, who is making a film about Wertham's crusade called "Diagram for Delinquents: Fredric Wertham and the Evolution of Comic Books." You can listen to it here:

 

Wertham and Hitchcock discuss violence for Redbook

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