Herndon, Angelo, 1913-1997

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Communist Party organizer in Georgia and renowned African-American political prisoner in the 1930s. Angelo Herndon, who helped organized a protest march of Black and white unemployed workers in Atlanta in 1932, was found guilty of "inciting to insurrection" in a Fulton County court, under an 1861 slave stature, and condemned to 18 to 20 years on a Georgia chain gang. A petition drive for his release organized by the International Labor Defense collected two million signatures. Freed on bail in December 1934, he toured the United States, speaking to thousands of supporters. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor in April 1937. Earlier that year, his autobiography "Let Me Live" was published by Random House. Herndon continued with his literary and political activities into the next decade, co-editing with Ralph Ellison the short-lived "Negro Quarterly: a Review of Negro Life and Culture," but retired to private life before the onset of the Cold War. He died in 1997.

From the description of Angelo Herndon papers, 1932-1940. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 85221568

From the guide to the Angelo Herndon papers, 1932-1940, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)

Angelo Herndon was a labor and Communist Party organizer who was convicted and sentenced to twenty years hard labor on charges of attempting to incite insurrection in Georgia in 1932. He had led a demonstration of unemployed African Americans and whites to protest cuts in relief rations, and was later arrested for possessing Communist literature and charged with insurrection. The latter charge was based on an 1861 anti-slavery insurrection law. Herndon's case was a cause celebre among leftist and civil rights circles. He was released from prison before serving the full term, through the efforts of these organizations, particularly the International Labor Defense.

From the description of Angelo Herndon collection, 1934-1938. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122517351

From the guide to the Angelo Herndon collection, 1934-1938, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Guide to the John Pittman Papers, circa 1880s-1987 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn International Labor Defense records, 1926-1946. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Angelo Herndon papers, 1932-1940 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
creatorOf Negro Publication Society of America. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1941. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Guide to the John Pittman Papers, circa 1880s-1987 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn The Nation, records, 1879-1974 (inclusive), 1920-1955 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Tuttle, Elbert P. (Elbert Parr), 1897-. Elbert P. Tuttle oral history interview, 1992 Apr. 17. Georgia State University
referencedIn Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966. Papers, 1681-1966 (bulk 1900-1960) Houghton Library
referencedIn Earl Browder Papers, 1879-1990 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Herndon, Angelo, 1913-1997. Angelo Herndon collection, 1934-1938. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Jacobs, Joseph, 1908-. Joseph Jacobs oral history interview, 1991 Mar. 6. Georgia State University
creatorOf Herndon, Angelo, 1913-1997. Angelo Herndon papers, 1932-1940. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn International Labor Defense records, 1926-1946 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
referencedIn Miller, Loren. Papers of Loren Miller, 1876-2003 (bulk dates 1932-1966) Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Angelo Herndon collection, 1934-1938 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section
creatorOf Southern Negro Youth Conference. Correspondence with Marian Anderson, 1939. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Loren Miller papers, 1876-2003, 1932-1966 Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
referencedIn Guide to the Reference Center for Marxist Studies Pamphlet Collection, 1900-2004 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Angelo Herndon Petition Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Browder, Earl, 1891-1973 person
associatedWith Damon, Anna person
associatedWith Damon, Anna. person
associatedWith Davis, Benjamin J. (Benjamin Jefferson), 1903-1964. person
correspondedWith Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966 person
associatedWith International Labor Defense. corporateBody
associatedWith Jacobs, Joseph, 1908- person
associatedWith Miller, Loren person
associatedWith Miller, Loren. person
associatedWith Mooney, Tom. person
correspondedWith Nation (New York, N.Y. : 1865). corporateBody
associatedWith Negro Publication Society of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Pittman, John. person
associatedWith Pittman, John. person
associatedWith Reference Center for Marxist Studies. corporateBody
associatedWith Southern Negro Youth Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith Talmadge, Eugene, 1884-1946. person
associatedWith Tuttle, Elbert P. (Elbert Parr), 1897- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Georgia
United States
Georgia
United States
Georgia
Subject
African American activists
African American communists
African American comunists
African American writers
Chain gangs
Chain gangs
Communist parties
Communist parties
Communist trials
Communist trials
Death row inmates
Death row inmates
Labor movement
Labor movement
Political prisoners
Political prisoners
Trials (Sedition)
Trials (Sedition)
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1913-05-06

Death 1997-12-09

Information

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SNAC ID: 66971911