Date of Award
Spring 2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
During the Progressive Era in the United States, the rise of Anti-Profanity Leagues—such as those led by Roland D. Sawyer and Arthur S. Colborne—mirrored a growing national moral sentiment against profanity that aligned with broader ideals of social reform and public virtue. These leagues responded to widespread concerns about the perceived erosion of public decency and sought to promote “clean speech” through grassroots organizing, religious engagement, and civic advocacy. This paper situates the Anti-Profanity Leagues within the larger framework of Progressive Era moral reform movements, including temperance, anti-vice campaigns, and social purity efforts. Drawing on period newspapers, archival materials, and secondary scholarship on language and moral reform, this paper explores how these leagues used pledges, public events, and literature distribution to promote linguistic self-control as a reflection of national character. While their efforts may seem quaint or peripheral today, they illuminate how language functioned as a contested site of moral authority and cultural identity in early twentieth-century America. Ultimately, this study argues that Anti-Profanity Leagues were not leaders of a movement isolated from mainstream society, but instead reflected the era’s larger impulse to reshape American society through personal discipline, moral persuasion, and the collective pursuit of virtue.
Recommended Citation
Christensen, Evan J., "Crusading Against Vice in the Progressive Era: American Anti-Profanity Leagues and Their Legacy" (2025). Roland D. Sawyer Scholarship Papers. 3.
https://scholars.unh.edu/sawyer_scholarship/3
Included in
Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, Cultural History Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons