Anthony Comstock was a United States Postal Inspector and secretary for the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. He was also used as a character for the opera by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein titled "Mother of us All". Robert Indiana (American, 1928-2018) designed the costumes for the production twice, in 1967 and 1976. Comstock was vehemently opposed to the Women's Suffrage movement.
