From the late 1800s through most of the 20th century, a notable group in Boston was tasked with keeping the city“pure,” The New England Watch and Ward Society (NEWWS).

The group, founded in 1878 and originally named The New England Society for the Suppression of Vice, banned books and plays while discouraging gambling until 1975.

The organization was open to anyone who wanted to join and made a monetary donation. Members then elected a committee to run the group.

“It was something about the proliferation of impure literature, and in that instance not just novels, but things people wrote that were suggestive and thought a little bit risqué or a little bit outside of polite society. They would ban the book,” said Anthony Sammarco, a Boston Historian.

During the group’s banning of books, it became an “incorporated organization.” It had staff who would read the books and keep tabs on what was being sold in Boston.

“It was all supposed to be for something that would ban corruption. Corruption of who? Adults, young adults and teenagers,” said Sammarco.

He also explained, “People began to realize in some ways, they really did have clout. They could ban books in the public library. They advocated that books not be used in curriculum of both private and public or even parochial schools.”

As the organization grew, it moved from banning books to taking a closer look at plays.

One of these plays, Strange Interlude by Eugene O’Neill, was considered too suggestive for Boston. The plot centered on a married couple whose wife had a child out of wedlock with another man.

The play was so suggestive and “unfit for Bostonians” that the city’s Mayor at the time, Malcolm Nichols, called the NEWWS himself to have it banned after attending a performance in New York.

The NEWWS also targeted women during this era for striptease, which was one of the main ways for women to make money at the time. Gambling was also affected to the point that entertainment for anyone was hard to come by.

However, as time passed, the arrests of women, gamblers and authors did not work as intended for the NEWWS.

Women would get arrested on purpose for the publicity to help strengthen their careers and get more people to watch them dance.

Writers like H.L. Mencken held demonstrations in front of crowds to gain publicity for their work. Mencken sold his banned magazine American Mercury to the NEWWS’ Chief Agent, J. Frank Chase, on Boston Common and was promptly arrested.

“Publicity was something that backfired, and in a lot of ways, they continued to do it. It was a very ignorant way of trying to keep Boston pure,” said Sammarco.

Citing the diversity of Boston during the 20th century, Sammarco has always wondered if the arrests were targeted.

“Was it a subtle form of discrimination?

Was it selective? Did they choose which ones to go after, and did they allow others to just basically pass under the radar? I do not know.” said Sammarco.

Years later, under the leadership of Dwight Strong, the NEWWS became the New England Citizens Crime Commission and focused its work on criminal rehabilitation.

Then in 1975, the group was merged with the Massachusetts Correctional Association because of its emphasis on prison reform.

“They perceived it as something that was benefitting the public, but in essence, what they were doing is stemming the tide of the freedom of speech, to read or to discuss anything that you thought was of interest,” said Sammarco.