The Constructive Era: Placing Non-State Actors in Early Twentieth-Century American History

In 2012, the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting went to four Associated Press journalists who exposed secret New York Police Department intelligence operations.  The journalists documented that, in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, the NYPD deployed undercover operatives to infiltrate liberal political groups, universities, and mosques in search of radical Muslims. Although this is framed as part of larger “post-9/11” developments, the NYPD and its adjuncts have been actively engaged in anti-radical campaigns for the last century.

What is an important post-9/11 development is interest in historicizing the “rise of the right.” These studies tend to focus on the post-World War II period. I argue that historians should re-assess the early-twentieth century.  First, I argue for replacing the term “progressive” with “constructive.”  Then, I claim that a focus on social activists’ techniques will reveal the extent of private actors’ role in the construction of the modern state.

Using evidence from the battle over film censorship in the 1910s and 1920s, my paper explores how social activists struck temporary coalitions in the service of their goals. For example, as the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (NBR) embarked on its nationwide campaign to prevent legal film censorship, its members discovered that sentiment on the issue varied widely from region to region.  Therefore, the NBR adapted to this reality by cultivating local activists in service of its goal. In Virginia, the NBR’s strongest allies also supported legal segregation of the races in public accommodations. In New York, the NBR worked closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  In Georgia, it accepted money from Paramount Pictures to run its anti-censorship campaign.  Private-public partnerships took hold in the early-twentieth century, and continue to exert influence.