Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EDT
Matthew Bernstein
Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media
Matthew BernsteinGoodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media
“Movie Censorship in Atlanta, 1914 – 1962”
Because the Supreme Court ruled in 1915 that movies were not entitled to first amendment protections, state and city censors sprung up all over the country. Atlanta’s two most consequential censors, Mrs. Alonzo Richardson and Mrs. Christine Smith Gilliam held this position from 1924 through 1962, when the city’s censorship law was invalidated. Mrs. Richardson and Mrs. Smith Gillam held significantly different views of their job and the Hollywood industry. In this talk, I discuss the work of both women, with reference to Hollywood’s own content regulation agencies. Not surprisingly, one of their highest priorities, like that of all former Confederate states was to prevent the screening of films that showed social equality between the races.