LIFE in Fall River

In Fall River, Mass., Police Chief Edward D. McMahon thumbed through his copy of LIFE'S tenth anniversary issue and lingered over its eight color pages of U.S. art. There were 25 paintings including four of nudes and all had appeared in the magazine before. Chief McMahon went to the district attorney, who agreed that some of the pictures were "indecent." Forthwith, in the counties of Nantucket, Dukes and Bristol, LIFE's issue was ordered off the newsstands. In Manhattan, LIFE Publisher Andrew Heiskell told reporters "ridiculous. . . . Certainly our readers would not wish to have a police chief decide what is, and what is not, art."

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