Oklahoma Congressman Claims Movies Ruining Minds and Morals of Young Men and Women, February 1922

Washington, Feb. 14—Movies are ruining the minds of two-thirds of the young women in the country and a third of the young men, Congressman Manuel Herrick, Oklahoma, of “beauty contest” fame, declared in an interview.

“All the girls in the country are longing to get in the movies,” Herrick said. “And, no matter if they succeed or don’t, their minds are perverted, and their morals loosened by what they see their favorite screen stars doing. It’s the same way with many young men.”

From the Stanly News-Herald, Albemarle, N.C., Feb. 17, 1922