JOURNAL ARTICLE

Targeting Victoria Woodhull: The Visual Debates that Drove Anthony Comstock's Pursuit of the First Woman to Run for United States President.

  • Published In: Journal of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era, 2024, v. 23, n. 4. P. 456 1 of 3

  • Database: America: History and Life with Full Text 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Lange, Allison K. 3 of 3

Abstract

Victoria Woodhull was Mrs. Satan. Or at least that is what Harper's Weekly wanted its readers to see. The popular New York City-based paper published a full-page engraving, by its most famous artist, of Woodhull as the biblical devil in February 1872 (Figure 2). Horns curl away from her skull and spiked wings stand almost as tall as she does. Anthony Comstock, an evangelical Christian who made it his mission to protect public morals, almost certainly imagined the woman who promoted free love as the personification of evil. He needed public support for his crusade, and this cartoon by Thomas Nast helped him win it. Comstock arrested Woodhull on November 2, 1872, for distributing her supposedly obscene newspaper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Journal of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era. 2024/10, Vol. 23, Issue 4, p456
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:1537-7814
  • DOI:10.1017/S1537781424000318
  • Accession Number:183110695
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Journal of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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