State Board of Motion Picture Censors (PA) Rules, Procedures, Forms, 1915-1956

About This Collection

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was established under the Constitution of 1874. It replaced the Office of Superintendent of Common Schools, which had been created in 1857 to assume the duties relating to the administration of public schools originally lodged with the Secretary of the Commonwealth by the Free School Act of 1834. By 1876, the officials working under the Superintendent were commonly known as the Department of Public Instruction. The powers and duties of this Department were greatly increased in 1923 when the State Library and Museum, the State Board of Censors, the Public School Employees' Retirement Board, the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, and the various State professional examining boards were made administrative units of Public Instruction. In keeping with its responsibility for administering the State's educational policies, the Department of Public Instruction supervised the public school system, distributed State subsidies to school districts, administered teachers' colleges and vocational-education programs, issued licenses for certain professions, and operated the State Library. Several administrative units were eventually separated from the Department. In 1945 the Historical Commission, the Museum and the State Archives were merged to form an independent agency, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The State Board of Censors was abolished in 1956 when the act creating it was declared unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court, and in 1963 the professional examining boards were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Department of State. In 1969 the name of the Department of Public Instruction was changed to the Department of Education. The Bureau of Statistics became the Bureau of Information Systems. This collection contains a wide variety of documents, arranged by subject, providing insight into the Board's operating procedures. Among the materials present are Fines, 1919-1947, that list the fines assessed to movie theaters for showing films that were not edited to meet the Board's requirements or did not show the Board's seal of approval and Certificates of Censorship, 1915-1951, that are the official forms sent to the manufacturer to indicate if a film has been approved, approved with eliminations, or not approved. Information included is the film's title, name of manufacturer, number of reels and date certificate was issued; Action on "Soundies," no date, list of films with sound that were reviewed by the Board and includes the film's title, leading actor and actress, and what action was taken; Record of Violations, 1939-1949, lists fines issued to each manufacturer giving the film's title, location where shown, date of the incident, and violation; Rule and Regulations, 1915-1950, contains copies of acts, rules, mission statements, legal briefs and correspondence used to direct the Board; Procedures and Forms, 1915-1956, contains copies of forms, sample letters, certificates, affidavits, violation notices, monthly reports and procedures; Inspector's Report on Eliminations, 1915-1951, contains the report submitted by the inspector after reviewing a film including the film's title, manufacturer, and requested eliminations; Violations of Censorship, 1927-1929, contains reports, correspondence and affidavits reporting violations and requests regarding the violation. Information includes the film's title, the name of the manufacturer, and the date and location of the incident and the violation.

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Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6778, Part 1)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6778, Part 2)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 1)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 2)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 3)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 4)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 5)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 6)
Rules, Procedures, and Forms (Roll 6779, Part 7)