Mss. 126 COMMITTEE ON EVALUATION OF COMIC BOOKS COLLECTION Scope and Content: The Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books donated the comic book collection in the Rare Books & Special Collections Department of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. It contains the founder, Reverend Jesse Murrell’s, correspondence, lists and articles regarding the Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books. This committee was founded in Cincinnati in 1948 shortly after Reverend Murrell preached a scathing sermon regarding comic books in May. Reverend Jesse Murrell of Covington, Kentucky organized the Committee. Another founding member was Ernest Miller, then the associate director, later becoming the director of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The bulk of the collection consists of over 500 comic books from 1948 to 1966 that were evaluated by the committee. In 1950 the committee’s evaluation list was published in the February and October issues of Parents’ Magazine. It was published in this magazine every year from 1950 to 1959. From 1948 to 1960 the committee produced the evaluation list at least once a year, sometimes twice. On May 21, 1970, Mr. Miller was appointed the archivist of the Committee and all materials were housed at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Main Library. The Committee on the Evaluation of Comic Books continued to meet until 1979. “Our major purpose is to help the people formulate critical judgment as to the comics, then we try to help them buy and read selectively.” Reverend Murrell died in 1972; as did Mr. Miller. It was Mrs. Miller, who stepped into her husband’s position on the Committee. She had made arrangements with the Library that the collection remain intact and housed at PLCH Main when the Committee disbanded in April 1979. In addition to being published in Parents’ Magazine the evaluation lists were distributed predominantly by Parent Teachers Associations and church organizations. Some requests for the evaluation list came from police and government agencies, and a few from around the world. The evaluation committee continued even after the industry created the Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954. Correspondence and pamphlets regarding the Code are included in the collection. A book written by Fredric Wertham entitled Seduction of the Innocent was published in 1954. It was the result of seven years of research and case studies of the effect comic books has on children. His book dealt predominantly with crime comics and implied that it was a worldwide concern. He mentions the forming of local community committees and their efforts to evaluate comic books on page 328. The author believed that legal control of comic books for children was necessary. Several communities had made attempts to ban certain comic books through the years. By the early 1980’s the comic book had lost it’s mass appeal. BOX 1 Evaluations 1948-1958 BOX 2 Evaluations 1959-1964; After 1962-1979; Review Work; publicity to the Public; Publicity of the Publishers, Publishers List; Publishers and Their Comic Books; Reviewers; Profile Charts; Larson, Dr. Ott M.; Criteria; Codes of Publishers; Association Of Comics Magazine Publishers, Inc.1948-49; “True Market” Comic Book Retail Values 1973-74 magazine; The Christian Home August 1955 article “TV and the Comics”; Minutes 1948-1979. EVALUATION 1963: 4/26/1957 The Northern Kentucky Association of Protestant Churches; C.M.A.A. Newsletter August 1963; C.M.A.A. Newsletter December 1963; 11/26/1963 Minutes Meeting Of The Committee On Evaluation Of Comic Books. EVALUATION 1964: 9/2/1964 Benner; 3/18/1964 The Committee On Evaluation Of Comic Books, Inc.; The Classifications; The Plan For Evaluating The Comic Books; Criteria For Evaluating Comic Books Revised June, 1961; Comic Books For 1964 Evaluation; Comic Books receipts; 2/11/1964 C.M.A.A. “Why The Comics Code Has Worked.” BOX 3 Miscellaneous Correspondence Prior to 1950: The International Council Of Religious Education; January 1948 Archdiocese of Cinti Telephone Directory; The Cincinnati City Commissioners; Salt Lake City Board of Education; National Congress Bulletin (PTA); The New Cannon, CT (PTA); First Evangelical and Reformed Church; Santa Monica City Schools; Watertown Public Schools, SD; Spencer Elementary School, WV; Preston Public Schools, TX; Board of Education West Orange, NJ; Butler Township Public Schools Lyndon, PA; Lansing Public Schools, MI; Pacific Lutheran College Parkland, WA; The Chicago Theological Seminary; Wilson Public Schools, KS; Sierra County Downieville, CA; Hamilton, OH; Lovettsville, VA; Barrington Public School, IL; Queensboro Federation of Mothers’ Clubs, Inc.; Missouri Federation of Women’s Clubs; Poinsettia Express Fruit Shippers Lake Wales, FL; Garfield Public Schools, KS; Community Relations Committee of the Cincinnati Jewish Community Council; Christian Advocate; Diocesan Superintendent of Education; Mary Bradstreet; City of Cincinnati; The Cincinnati Enquirer; Life (magazine); Public Affairs Committee; Woman’s Day; Good Housekeeping; Delhi Township PTA; West Orange NJ Clean Literature Committee; National Conference of Catholic Women; The Parents’ Magazine; The Archdiocese of Cincinnati; First United Church; State of North Dakota Dept. of Public Instruction; Committee on World Literacy and Christian Literature; Hillsdale, NY; Davenport Public Schools, IA; Missouri Council of Churches; Publishers Syndicate Chicago; The Ace Magazines; The Christian Century; Hildreth; Ohio Congress of Parents And Teachers Inc.; “Cincinnati Does Something About the Comic Books” & “What Can Be Done About Comic Books”; First Methodist Church Dixon, IL; Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate Inc.; Pacific School of Religion; Univ. of Chicago Committee on Human Development; Koket NY, NY; Austin, MN; Christian Board of Publication St. Louis, MO; Paralytic Home Bartow, FL; Association of Comics Magazine Publishers, Inc.; Department of State; Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; London, England; Legman NY, NY; Neurotica 6 “By Popular Demand...”; Southland News Company Chattanooga, TN; David C. Cook Publishing Co. Elgin, IL; O.E.M. Keller Letters; Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books Order Blank & Pamphlet. Dell: Dell advertisement poster January 1953; Dell Previews 1954 (American Legion Distinguished Achievement Award); Dell Comic Sales brochure c.1954; BOX 3 Continued: “Let’s get the score straight” Dell sales brochure; 1954 promotion sheets; Monson State Hospital Palmer, MA; Arkansas Pharmaceutical Association endorsement; Whirlpool Corporation endorsement; Philadelphia, MS child’s endorsement; St. Louis, MO; A.R. Schimpff; Davis, CA; Louisville, KY; Toledo Blade “Psychiatrist Discounts Comic Books As Factor In Juvenile Delinquency”; Newsdealer “What the Experts Say...About Comics”; July 1954 Newsdealer “Debunking the Debunker”; Western Advertising Research Notebook; “Editorially Speaking” Christian Herald; Boston Traveler; “Are Comics Horrible?” Newsweek; NY Times “Comic Books Help Curb Delinquency”; Memorandum To All Salesmen; Memo re: Current Comic Publicity; Statement V.P. Mrs. Meyer; Press Releases; Fish Creek, WI; Binghamton, NY; Dell Publishing to Rev. Murrell; Dell Previews; Pilgrim Congregational Church; Guaranty Trust Company of New York; Dell re: Little Lulu; George T. Williams- Cincinnati Dell rep; Edison Awards to Dell Comics - AD. CORRESPONDENCE 1950-1952: 5/3/1950 from Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books re: please send latest edition of your comic’s magazine - Jesse L. Murrell; To Geo. J. Hecht publish evaluation list; from Ruth Kranz student studying morals; Parents’ Magazine - evaluation article; WEVD radio request August report; Association of Comics Magazine Publishers, Inc. press release; The Cinti Enquirer; To Rev. Murrell from Mary Bradstreet; The Improvement Era; The Methodist Church Ohio Area; Famous Authors, Ltd.; National Association for Mental Health press release; Murrell to Bishop Hazen Werner; To Murrell from Delmar Auer; Orphans’ Court of Allegheny County; The Greater Pittsburgh Decent Literature Committee pamphlet; Knox Reeves Advertising Inc.; Our Town; William D. Baker; David C. Cook Publishing Company; Gospel Trumpet Company; Comic Books Are Increasing In Number; Gilberton Company Inc. (Classics Illustrated); The Church Federation of Greater Chicago; Elaine Lutiger; To Editor from Mrs. Fuchs; Murrell to Rep. E.C. Gathings; The South Bend Tribune; 1951 Bowers Report. CORRESPONDENCE 1953-1954: Permanent Committee On Public Decency Buffalo, NY; Gospel Trumpet Company; Ottawa, Canada; The Methodist Church, SD; Parents’ Magazine; Mazie Comic Group; Safety Director City of Canton, OH; National Council of the Church of Christ; Funk & Wagnalls Co.; Hanworth Middlesex England; Committee On Evaluation Of British Comics; Worthing Sussex, England; Dover Kent England; Stockholm Sweden; The Ford Foundation; PTA Canton, OH Ordinance; Miami, FL; Association House of Chicago; Stanhall Publications, Inc.; Waban, MA; Wertham NY,NY; Vernon Pope; Cincinnati Public Schools; Methodist Church Nashville, TN; State Literature Commission Atlanta, GA; First Congregational Church; State of Washington Dept. of Public Institutions; Dahlstrom Bentonville, AK; Pumphrey Buckland Valley Dover, England; The Cinti Enquirer; BC Canada; “PTA Told: Be Alert for Illegal Comics” Canada; Criminal Code-Section 207; United States Senate; The Dallas Crime Commission; University of Cinti Teacher’s College; St. Mary’s School Iowa; Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs,