Womack, H. Lynn, 1923-1985

H. Lynn Womack (1923-1985) was a headmaster of a boys' school in the 1940s and then a professor of Philosophy at George Washington University. In 1952, he bought the small company Guild Press, and as publisher, editor, and distributor, turned it into a profitable gay publishing company with numerous affilated enterprises. The United States Postal Service tried to stop the circulation of MANUAL, TRIM, and GRECIAN GUILD PICTORIAL, but he took them to court and won the case on appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court (Manual Enterprises Inc. v. J. Edward Day) in 1962. This ruling changed the definintion of obscenity and its relationship to gay pornography.

From the description of H. Lynn Womack papers, 1945-1994. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63936771

From the guide to the H. Lynn Womack papers, 1945-1994, (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)