Date

4-2025

Date Created

April 2025

Project Type

URC Presentation

Department

History Department

College or School

COLSA

Class Year

First Year

Subject

Moral Reform and Public Discourse in the Progressive Er

Major

Genetics: Genomics option

Faculty Research Advisor

Kimberly Alexander

Language

English

Abstract

This presentation examines the rise of American Anti-Profanity Leagues during the Progressive Era, with particular focus on the efforts of Roland Sawyer and Arthur Colborne. These leagues sought to eliminate profanity from public and private life, using printed materials, pledge campaigns, public speeches, and media outreach to promote “clean speech” as a moral imperative. Drawing on archival research, including the Roland D. Sawyer Papers housed at the UNH Library, as well as digital newspaper databases, this project investigates how profanity was framed as a threat to civic virtue, and how anti-profanity activism mirrored the goals and methods of other Progressive-Era moral reform movements. The project invites a broader reflection on language, social control, and the enduring tensions between freedom of expression and public morality.

Source

Roland Douglas Sawyer Papers, Milne Special Collections and Archives, UNH Library

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