The Convent Committee, Better Known as the Smelling Committee

D. C. Johnston’s The Convent Committee, Better Known as the Smelling Committee is a single-issue comic from 1855, a satirical broadside that skewers a real-life Massachusetts legislative investigation into alleged immorality at a Charlestown convent. Published during a period of anti-Catholic sentiment, Johnston’s cartoon mercilessly lampoons the committee members, depicting them as absurd figures literally sniffing out scandal. It stands as a sharp, early example of American political cartooning, blending visual humor with pointed social critique.