George Fingold (October 18, 1908 – August 31, 1958) was an American politician from Massachusetts who served as

Attorney General of Massachusetts The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder a ...

from 1953 to 1958. Fingold's political career began at the age of 21 when he was elected to the Malden City Council. He later served as Assistant

District attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Middlesex County and as the Commonwealth's Assistant Attorney General in charge of prosecution of racketeers. In 1952, Fingold defeated incumbent Attorney General

Francis E. Kelly Francis E. Kelly (March 26, 1903 – January 27, 1982) was an American politician who served as a member of the Boston City Council from 1930 to 1933, the 53rd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1937 to 1939 and Massachusetts Attorney G ...

. On December 18, 1953, Fingold called for the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

to ban the comic book ''

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

'' within the state, on the grounds it "desecrated Christmas" depicting the holiday in a "pagan" manner. Under his orders the head of the state police, Captain Joseph Crescio, cut off distribution of ''Panic'' throughout Massachusetts, and by December 21, the book had been pulled from nearly all the newsstands in the Greater Boston area. Fingold warned distributors who resisted compliance that they would be susceptible to criminal prosecution, although it is unclear what they would've been charged with. Publisher

William M. Gaines William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically import ...

retaliated by announcing that he was permanently withdrawing ''Panic'' from distribution in the state of Massachusetts and yanking his ''

Picture Stories From The Bible An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'' from that state (which hadn't been published in over five years). "The idea was, 'If you don't want us, we don't want you,'" explained editor and writer

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satire, satirical magazine ''Mad (magazine), Mad''. Aft ...

, who said he had felt a "certain literary pride" in having his book banned. Fingold died on August 31, 1958, at his home in Concord, Massachusetts. At the time of his death he was a candidate in the Republican primary for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachusetts ...

. In 1960, the

State Library of Massachusetts The State Library of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...

was named the George Fingold Library under Chapter 380, Acts of 1960.About the State Library
Retrieved 2010-08-05

References

1908 births 1958 deaths Jewish American people in Massachusetts politics Massachusetts city council members Massachusetts Attorneys General Politicians from Malden, Massachusetts Politicians from Concord, Massachusetts Suffolk University Law School alumni Massachusetts Republicans 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American Jews {{Massachusetts-politician-stub

See also

References