Ralph Ginzburg, a leading free-speech agitator of the 1950s and 1960s, was the next figure to take up Craddock’s life in the context of his own larger explorations of American censorship. Publisher of an artsy quarterly called Eros, Ginzburg was charged with obscenity in 1962 under the same Comstock law that had vexed Craddock sixty years earlier. The case eventually wound its way to the Supreme Court where Ginzburg lost on a 5-4 decision in 1966, ultimately serving eight months in prison and becoming something of a countercultural hero. When not taunting his opponents with his libidinous ventures—he tried, for example, to get Eros mailed from Intercourse, Pennsylvania, before settling on Middlesex, New Jersey—Ginzburg made plans to write a book-length exposé of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. To that end, he began research on many of Comstock’s old thorns, including Craddock, but he, too, failed to see his project into print and ended up with only a ream of clippings, notes, and rough chapters. Without his foresight, though, crucial pieces of Schroeder’s original collection of Craddock manuscripts would have been lost. In its small way, this book offers a vindication of the failed designs of Schroeder and Ginzburg, particularly their confidence in the significance of Craddock’s story.
Most of Theodore Schroeder’s papers, including his Craddock assemblage, came to rest in the Special Collections Research Center at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. I owe the manuscript curators, librarians, and assistants there an immense debt for their professionalism and patience as I made all too many requests for archive boxes and photocopies. Ralph Ginzburg’s papers are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, and the staff members there were likewise extremely helpful and supportive. The stewards of other research collections also played essential parts, including those at the New York Public Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia City Archives, Princeton University, the University of Michigan, the Library of Congress, the Chicago History Museum, the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and the British Museum. I extend a special thanks to Denise Morris for personally searching the records of Friends’ Central School for material on Craddock’s attendance there. Finally, I offer my appreciation to Frederick R. Koch for his generosity in inviting me to view his art collection, particularly William Bouguereau’s Le ravissement de Psyché.
Rebecca Davis, Cynthia Eller, Jonathan Gold, Kathryn Lofton, and Jon Pahl offered incisive commentary when I premiered chapter drafts among colleagues at Princeton. Anne Boylan at the University of Delaware, Sarah Iles Johnston at Ohio State University, and Hussein Ali Agrama at the University of Chicago welcomed presentations from this project on the sexual history of religion. Bradford Verter provoked my initial interest in the writers on “phallicism” who so engrossed Craddock, and I have over the years learned much else besides from his esoteric learning. Ann Braude, accomplished historian of the broader religious and political world Craddock inhabited, provided critical feedback and scholarly encouragement. Rachel Lindsey supplied valuable research assistance in the early stages of the book’s development, while Kip Richardson did the same in its final preparation for press. Finally, Lara Heimert, Giles Anderson, Alex Littlefield, and Sandy Chapman furnished wise editorial and literary counsel along the way.
John Merrill, a tried-and-true friend since graduate school, accompanied me on my first trip to Carbondale. During the day he pursued his art, photographing (in this case) Midwestern outbuildings; in the evening over beers, he assured me that what I was finding in the archives sounded like it had potential. My standard question to him after the library’s closing time: “Was it a good day for the arts?” His return query: “Was it a good day for the humanities?” Both were flourishing for us in that midland meeting point.
R. Marie Griffith is a far better historian of women, gender, and sexuality than I will ever be. I thank her for indulging my trespass onto her scholarly terrain. I thank her, too, for all the spirited banter about Craddock’s ideas and experiences. I have no doubt that she heard a little bit more about this project over the last five years than she found necessary or enlightening. Craddock never said right marital living would be easy. The book dedication is not recompense; it is gratitude and admiration.
INDEX
IC stands for Ida Craddock.
Page numbers in italics indicate photographs.
Abbot, Francis E.
The Abduction of Psyche (painting by Bouguereau)
Abhayananda, Swami
Act for Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use (1873)
Addams, Jane
Adler, Felix
Advice to a Bridegroom (Craddock)
After the Sex Struck; Or, Zugassent’s Discovery (Miller)
Alienist and Neurologist
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Folklore Society
American Secular Union
commitment to separation of church and state
contest for moral conduct treatise
insignia, disagreement over
mission to attack Comstock laws
purpose of
split from National Liberal League
and women’s rights
American Society of Comparative Religion
Ames, Julia
Anagarika Dharmapala
Ancient Symbol Worship: Influence of the Phallic Idea in the Religions of Antiquity (Westropp and Wake)
Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindüs, Being an Epitome of Some of the Most Remarkable and Leading Tenets in the Faith of that People Illustrating their Priapic Rites and Phallic Principles (Sellon)
Anthony, Susan B.
Anthropological Society of London
Anti-Vaccination League
Asbury, Francis
Atlanta Constitution
Baggott, Julianna
Baldwin, Roger
Barlow, Thomas W.
Bell, Clark
Bellamy, Edward
belly dance. See Danse du Ventre
Bennett, D. M.
Bernard, Pierre Arnold
Besant, Annie
Blackwell, Henry B.
blasphemy
Blavatsky, Madame
Bloom, Sol
Blue-grass Blade
Borderland
Boston Investigator
Bouguereau, William
Bourke, John G.
Brinton, Daniel
British Library
Brooklyn Philosophical Association
Carpenter, Edward
Chamberlain, Edward W.
Chavannes, Albert
Chicago, rise of religious diversity in
Chicago Clinic
Chicago Tribune
Chicago World’s Fair (1893). See Columbian Exhibition (1893)
Church of Yoga
Cixous, Hélène
clairaudience
Cleyre, Voltairine de
coitus reservatus
Columbian Exposition (1893)
Danse du Ventre
investigation of by Comstock
popular entertainment at
as showcase for American progress
World’s Parliament of Religions
Comstock, Anthony
and Alice B. Stockham
allegations against IC by
appearance of IC in logbook of
arrest of IC by
as author
awareness of IC’s activities
career in vice suppression
comments about IC,
denunciation of at Brooklyn Philosophical Association
harassment of IC by
IC’s public letter to
investigation of Danse du Ventre at Columbian Exposition (1893)
and Moses Harman
as object of satire
photos of
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publication of letter of self-defense
sexology, view of
as special agent for U.S. Post Office
suppression of radical writers and publishers
view of government as guardian of public morals
Conduct as a Fine Art (American Secular Union contest winner)
Conjugial Love (Swedenborg)
Conway, Moncure D.
Craddock, Ida C.
academic credentials, lack of
American Secular Union, corresponding secretary of
Bureau of Highways, secretarial job at
burial of
as case history of a psychoneurotic
and Church of Yoga
on church-state separation
civil liberties, as advocate for
on connections among religion, women’s equality, and sexual expression
dancing, love of
Danse du Ventre, defense of
in Denver
dress reform, as advocate for
education
educational and social constraints on
family background
on Free-Love
as freethinker
Freethought Sunday-schools, promotion of
horror of insane asylums
immunization, refusal of
infatuation with female teacher
insane asylum, confinement in
legal difficulties
arrest by Comstock
arrest in Philadelphia
arrest in Washington, D.C.
Chicago postal inspectors, complaint by
federal indictment
harassment by Comstock
plea deal in Chicago trial
on religious freedom as defense
on trial in New York’s Court of Special Sessions
on trial in U.S. District Court
warnings from Philadelphia postal inspector
in London
mail order business of
male companions of
as marriage reformer
advertisements for
advice to married couples
anger at sexual aggression against women
case notes
and Eunice Parsons
on importance of female sexual enjoyment
male continence (coitus reservatus), as advocate of
necessity for face-to-face instruction
personal counseling, challenges of
as proponent of equality in marriage
and reproductive planning
on sex as spiritual experience
memorial service for
and Moses Harman
mother, relationship with
newspaper coverage of death
at Ocean Grove, New Jersey
oriental psychics, fascination with
admiration for Anagarika Dharmapala
Tantrism, discovery of
training with Iases
uninterest in asceticism and celibacy
Vivekananda, Swami, teachings of
paintings, attraction to
Peter Ibbetson, fascination with
phallic worship, IC’s history of
photos of
postmortem influence of
prison-release celebration for
protest at death of
public letter to Comstock
religion
affiliation with Unitarianism
on connection between religious and sexual experience
on connections among religion, women’s equality, and sexual expression
on sexual history of
in San Francisco
sanity, speculations about
as scholar
scholarly works of
Alaskan mythology
origins of the devil
phallic worship
as sexologist
Alice B. Stockham, friendship with
clitoral stimulation, warning against
influences on
lack of academic credentials
linking of religious liberty and sexual enlightenment
male continence (coitus reservatus)
masturbation, horror of
oral sex, prohibition of
same-sex love, ambivalence toward
sex, science and
young people, on sex education of
Soph (IC’s spirit husband)
darker side of IC’s relationship with
derivation of name of
IC’s explanation of relationship with
as IC’s ideal companion
as IC’s rationale for sexual knowledge
IC’s renewed courtship with
role of in IC’s confinement in asylum
spiritualism
clairaudience, experiments with
dance, view of as spiritual experience
divine betrothal, prevalence of in literature
levitation, attempts at
origin of the devil, treatise on
Ouija board
Psyche, identification with
psychical research, interest in
sex, view of as spiritual experience
spirit connections
spirit husband, role of in confinement in asylum
spiritual life, doubts about
and spiritualist photography
suicide of
as teacher of stenography
University of Pennsylvania, attempts to gain admission to
witchcraft, interest in history of
writings of
Advice to a Bridegroom
Danse du Ventre essay/pamphlet
“Diary of Psychical Experiences,”
The Heaven of the Bible
“Heavenly Bridegrooms,”
Helps to Happy Wedlock: No. 1 for Husbands
Intermediate or Full Phonography
Letter to a Prospective Bride
”The Marriage Relation,”
Primary Phonography: An Introduction to Isaac Pitman’s System of Phonetic Shorthand
Right Marital Living
The Wedding Night
Craddock, Joseph T. (father)
Craddock, Lizzie (mother)
advice about courtship
advice to plead insanity
attempts to commit IC to insane asylum
attitude toward IC’s marriage reform work
as authoritarian parent
death of
and IC’s suicide
letters to William Stead
as member of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
at Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Craddock, Nana (sister)
Cramer, Malinda
Crowley, Aleister
Cupid and Psyche (painting by Bouguereau)
Danse du Ventre
association with Ghost Dance
at Columbian Exhibition (1893)
commercialization of
controversy over
IC’s defense of
photos of
Danse du Ventre essay/pamphlet (Craddock)
Darrow, Clarence
Debs, Eugene
Demonology and Witchcraft (Scott)
Dercum, Francis
“Diary of Psychical Experiences” (Craddock)
Discourse on the Worship of Priapus (Knight)
inaccessibility of
lingam
votive offerings in
divine betrothal, prevalence of in literature
Divine Science
Du Maurier, George
Duncan, Isadora
Eddy, Mary Baker
Edgerton, Warren P.
Ellis, Havelock
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
erotomaniac, defined
The Esoteric Science and Philosophy of the Tantras, Shiva Sanhita
Evans, Elizabeth E.
Evening Sun on IC’s suicide
Evening World on IC’s suicide
Expression: A Journal of Mind and Thought
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Falwell, Jerry
Faust (Goethe)
Fergusson, James
Ferris wheel
Field, Kate
Field Museum
Fletcher, John
Foote, Edward Bliss
Foote, Edward Bond
Forlong, J. G. R.
Foster, Rachel G.
Fox, Kate
Fox, Margaret
Frank, Henry
Frauds Exposed (Comstock)
Free-Love movement
Free Speech League
Freer, Ada Goodrich
Freethinkers’ Magazine
Frick, Euclid
Friends’ Central School
From Adam’s Peak to Elephanta (Carpenter)
Fuller, Loie
Gage, Matilda Joslyn
Gamble, Eliza Burt
Gardener, Helen H.
Ghost Dance
Giddings, Franklin
Gillen, Alma
Girard, Stephen
Girard College, secularism vs. sectarian dogmatism at
The God-Idea of the Ancients: Or, Sex in Religion (Gamble)
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Goldman, Emma
Grew, Mary
Gutmann, Amy
Hall, G. Stanley
Hamilton, William
Hanish, Otoman Zar-Adusht
Harman, Lillian
Harman, Moses
Harmony
Harrison, Jane Ellen
Harvard Monthly
The Heaven of the Bible (Craddock)
“Heavenly Bridegrooms” (Craddock)
Hefner, Hugh
Helps to Happy Wedlock: No. 1 for
Husbands (Craddock)
Heston, Watson
Heywood, Ezra
Hicklin standard
Hicks, Elias
Hinckley, Frederic A.
Hinsdale, Elizur Brace
Hirsch, Emil
A History of Religions, Being a Condensed Statement of the Results of Scientific Research and Philosophical Criticism (Evans)
Iases (IC’s spirit guide)
Ida C, in writings of Theodore Schroeder
“Ida’s Theomania” (Schroeder)
If Christ Came to Chicago! (Stead)
In His Steps (Sheldon)
In Tune with the Infinite (Trine)
India: What Can It Teach Us? (Müller)
Ingersoll, Robert
Inner Studies (Hanish)
insane asylums, requirements for commitment to
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