Censorship and Diversity on the Screen

In 1907 many older Americans were in a panic over the effects of the new immigration, women's roles changing, or the fears of "race suicide". Much of the film audience was foreign born so many of the films were foreign made. They thought that the films would further push the foreigners into a stronger position, and furthermore they thought that the children that saw these films would emulate what they saw heading themselves to a life of crime and delinquency.

In 1908 Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr., closed over 600 Nickelodeons (theater's), making them reapply for their licenses with new rules that would keep them from opening on Sunday and from showing films that were considered to "degrade or to injure the morals of the community".