The Illiberal Search for Order: Protestant Preventive Societies, Theodore Roosevelt, and Sexual Repression in Progressive Era New York City

Abstract

This thesis explores the intersection of political reform, moral policing, and social control in Progressive era New York City, centred around Theodore Roosevelt’s tenure as President of the Police Commission from May 1895 to April 1897 and Charles Parkhurst’s Society for the Prevention of Crime (SPC). The SPC and other preventive societies played a crucial role in pushing for increased policing of vice, especially sex work, and sought to redefine sexual boundaries based on conservative Protestant values. As President of the Police Commission, Roosevelt followed the illiberal methods employed by reformers like Rev. Dr. Charles Parkhurst, President of the SPC. Roosevelt’s enforcement of vice laws, specifically targeting saloons and disorderly houses, endeared him to the moral reformers, but it alienated the working class and led to his unpopularity in New York City which dogged him during his 1898 run for governor. The narrative delves into the contrasting approaches of traditional reformers, who sought non-partisan municipal administration, and Progressives, who aimed for systemic change to improve social cohesion and efficiency. The enforcement of conservative moral values curtailed individual liberties and led to increased tension between the working class and reformers.