Intolerance is the ultimate cowardice.
-The Companionate Marriage, 1927
Benjamin Barr Lindsey
WORKS BURNED
The Revolt of Modern Youth
The Companionate Marriage
Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey (1869-1943), born in Jackson, Tennessee, achieved worldwide recognition for establishing a national juvenile court system in the United States. A champion of progressive causes, including the further emancipation of women, Lindsey published Companionate Marriage in 1927, arguing for cohabitation before marriage, birth control, and no-fault divorce. The Nazis, strongly opposed to abortion and birth control, singled out the German edition of this work for inclusion in the book burning, along with Lindsey's earlier work, The Revolt of Modern Youth. In the U.S., Lindsey was also ousted from a judgeship and disbarred for his radical views. He moved to California where he was elected to the Los Angeles County Superior Court and continued to champion causes such as feminism, birth control, and trial marriage.