Censoring Disorder: American Visual Imagery of World War II
Censored WWII photographs stored in the National Archives are examined to determine what public officials felt would harm US morale & the war effort. Censors attempted to promote confidence in US constitutions & maintain the idea of a war fought by good against evil. The photographs most commonly censored were those that suggested that US soldiers were not always just & good, implied that the war might result in disruptive social change, or questioned the ability of Americans to control their institutions & personal lives. Once censored, such images could neither affect public opinion nor put the government's portrayal of the war into doubt. During the war, US citizens could not know to what extent the visual images they saw were censored, nor could they imagine what images were being censored. 5 Figures. J. Ferrari
