100 years ago in Spokane: Petition sought end of movie censorship ordinance

From our archives, 100 years ago

The moviegoers of Spokane made their position clear: They did not want further censorship of movies.

About 6,300 people signed a petition to submit the new censorship ordinance to a referendum. That was triple the number of names required.

The local theater manager’s association, which was behind the petition drive, said the only reason they didn’t have even more signatures was that “we have exhausted our supply of blank petition forms.” The petitions had been circulating at movies and vaudeville shows for several days.

The new censorship ordinance, which was about to take effect, was poised to get its first major test. An ad in the paper touted the return engagement of “The Birth of a Nation,” which it called a “historical masterpiece.” It was coming to Spokane’s most prestigious theater, the Auditorium Theatre, complete with a 30-piece symphony orchestra.

The censorship ordinance was mainly about sexually suggestive movies and plays, but it also was intended to prohibit movies that incited racial hatred.

A committee of Spokane’s black residents believed “The Birth of a Nation” did exactly that. They protested, unsuccessfully, when the movie first played Spokane. Now, they had lodged a complaint with the city’s soon-to-be official censor about the return engagement.