Censoring the Mails: What Is Your Opinion?

During the early years of the 20th century, postal regulations authorized postmasters to confiscate mail under certain conditions. By authority of section 480 of the 1916 postal laws and regulations, the Post Office Department could deny mailing privileges to publishers of:

The Blast, an anarchist publication edited and published by Alexander Berkman, was one of several publications confiscated by postal authorities. Published biweekly in San Francisco from January 1916 to June 1917, The Blast included articles to rally public opposition to capitalism and to all government authority. The Blast also promoted the causes of activists such as Margaret Sanger, who advocated women’s rights to information pertaining to birth control.

Not long after The Blast appeared for sale, San Francisco Postmaster Charles W. Fay confiscated three issues and then recommended that the Post Office Department deny Berkman second-class mailing privileges. In a letter of March 25, 1916, to the Third Assistant Postmaster General, Fay described The Blast:

Despite the resistance of Postmaster Fay, Berkman succeeded in getting his message through the mails to subscribers for a year and a half. On the one-year anniversary of The Blast, Berkman wrote to his subscribers:

With the entry of the United States into war in the spring of 1917, Berkman’s criticism of the government became even more vitriolic. On June 15, 1917, Federal marshals arrested Berkman and his longtime friend Emma Goldman for conspiring to discourage draft registration. They were tried, convicted, and sentenced within a month of their arrest. Imprisonment of Berkman succeeded in stopping the publicationof The Blast, even though denial of mailing privileges had failed to do so.

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The independent United States Postal Service replaced the Federal Post Office Department as the carrier of the mails in 1970. In the reorganization of the mail system, the Postal Service retains authority to confiscate "pornographic" and "incendiary" material. Today, however, postal inspectors are most concerned with identifying instances of mail fraud, rather than pornographic or incendiary materials.

The letter reproduced here is from file #45217, series 40, Records Relating to the Espionage Act, 1917-21, Records of the Post Office Department, Record Group 28.

Suggestions for Teaching

1. Opinion Survey: Censorship of the Mails:

a. Provide each student with a copy of the opinion survey below. Collect the completed survey and ask student volunteers to tally the responses.

b. As an alternative to suggestion a, make a transparency of the survey to display on an overhead projector.

c. Discuss the survey results with the class. Ask students to consider: What issues might be considered "forbidden" by the government in the early 20th century? Today? Are there any circumstances that you think would justify government censorship of the mails?

d. Provide each student with a copy of the document. Discuss with students the following questions: Does the government have an obligation to reimburse Mr. van-Cleave for his financial loss? How do you think the government responded to Mr. vanCleave’s letter? What further action might Mr. vanCleave have taken if he did not receive The Blast or his money?

2. Written Document Analysis:

The Written Document Analysis Worksheet below helps students to analyze systematically this letter or any written document. It focuses students’ attention on documents and their importance to the historian and serves as a valuable beginning exercise for students who are unfamiliar with documents.