Ossian Sweet's Murder Trial Scrapbook, 1925.

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Ossian Sweet's Murder Trial Scrapbook, 1925.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37916417

Scrapbook and photocopy of the Nov. 1925 murder trial of Ossian Sweet. Dr. Ossian Sweet and eleven others, all African Americans, including his wife, were charged with the murder of a white man, Leon Breinek, who was killed on Sept. 9, 1925 during the course of a neighborhood protest about the Sweets moving into a previously all white neighborhood in Detroit (Mich.). The trial, which was held in the Recording Court of Michigan, was presided over by Judge Frank Murphy, prosecuted by Robert Toms, and defended by Clarence Darrow in one of his last cases, ended in a hung jury. A second trial in 1926 ended in Sweet's acquittal. This was a major trial for Civil Rights in Michigan. For further information see Frank Murphy, the Detroit Years (1975) by Prof. Sidney Fine. For further information on Toms, see his Speeches, made on the occassion of his retirement in 1960, also in the Clarke Historical Library.

2 folders.

Clarke Historical Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 7398447

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Darrow, Clarence S. (Clarence Seward), 1857-1938

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67q9pzg (person)

Clarence Seward Darrow, prominent Chicago trial lawyer, was born in Kinsman, Ohio on April 18, 1857. He attended Allegheny College, after which he studied one year at the University of Michigan Law School. He then worked as a lawyer in Youngstown, and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1878. He practiced in Ohio for nine years, before moving to Chicago, where he practiced privately before being appointed assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago. For four years he served as Chi...

Sweet, Ossian, Dr., fl. 1925-1960.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6418g24 (person)

Toms, Robert M. (Robert Morrell), 1886-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hd9dg8 (person)

Toms was born in LaCrosse (Wis.) on Oct. 14, 1886. He earned an A.B. from the University of Chicago 1907 and a L.L.B., from the University of Michigan Law School in 1910. In 1912 he became Assist. Prosecutor, in 1921 Chief Assist. Prosecutor for 4 years, then Prosecuting Attorney, 1925-1929. In 1925 he was the Prosecuting Attorney for the famous Ossian Sweet murder trial in Detroit. He was elected Wayne Circuit Court Judge, in which position he served, 1929-1961. (For further information on Toms...

Breiner, Leon, d. 1925.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mk7xzn (person)

Murphy, Frank, 1890-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6833srv (person)

Mayor of Detroit; Governor of Michigan; Governor General of the Philippine Islands; associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. From the description of Frank Murphy papers, 1893-1960 (Detroit Public Library). WorldCat record id: 369174924 Mayor of Detroit, governor of Michigan; justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. From the description of Frank Murphy autograph book, 1930-1942. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 85778857 Detroit (Mich.) Recorder...