During the Great Depression years of the 1930s, some touring Broadway shows got into trouble in Philadelphia. "The People's Mayor" S. Davis Wilson had his limits when it came to what he would allow in the city's theaters.

Under his administration, such disparate plays as Tobacco Road, New Faces of 1936, and Langston Hughes' Mulatto make the news, as the Philadelphia Police Department and the Mayor's reconstituted Board of Theatrical Control tried to draw the line about what was acceptable on Philadelphia stages.

For more background information and images about this episode, go to our website:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/the-peoples-mayor/

On Sunday, June 29th, from 10 to 11 AM, the author and podcaster Peter Schmitz will be appearing at the Brookline Books stall at the 2025 American Library Association annual conference and exhibition at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

If you’re a librarian - or a fan of libraries - and are coming to the ALA in Philly this year, please be sure to stop by and say hello!

"Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia" the BOOK can be ordered from independent bookstores and at all online book retailers now!

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© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All original voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.

Banned in Philadelphia