Alfred Tiala

Alfred Tiala was national secretary of the United Farmers’ League. On January 20, 1934, he, his wife Viola and farmer Jesse Hann were arrested during resistance to the foreclosure sale of Clarence Gearhart’s farm near Leesville, Indiana. They were jailed on bail as high as $30,000. On February 17, Tiala was sentenced to six months in jail and a $200 fine for obstructing justice. The United Farmers’ League and International Labor Defense organized his defense and appeal. He was released from the Indiana State Penal Farm at Greencastle by mid-July 1934. Tiala was born on December 14, 1892, in Minnesota. He ran for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota on the Communist ticket in 1934 and later edited the Finnish-language newspaper Tyomies in Superior, Wisconsin. He died on February 10, 1978.

The February 6, 1934 New Masses account, printed page 9, describes about one thousand farmers resisting a foreclosure at Warsaw on January 20 and police using tear gas. It names Alfred and Viola Tiala and Jesse Hann as the arrested defendants, says the sheriff initially promised to hold them only ten minutes, and reports resisting-an-officer charges and bail of $30,000 instead. The International Labor Defense and farm organizations were campaigning for their release. This corroborates the existing January 20 detention; the sheriff’s promise was not a release, and the announced February 1 court appearance was prospective. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1934/v10n06-feb-06-1934-NM.pdf#page=13

The February 3 Daily Worker reports continuing detention in Michigan City under $30,000 bail following the January 20 protest against forced sale of Clarence Gearhart’s Leesville farm. It describes a release campaign by the Workers and Farmers Cooperative Unity Alliance and working women’s clubs. This corroborates the established farm-struggle case; the printed Hann/Harm variation is retained as a period spelling. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n030-feb-03-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3

A February 28 United Farmers League appeal printed March 1, 1934, describes Tiala as national secretary and a member of the Farmers National Committee for Action executive council. After a four-day trial he received six months in jail and a $200 fine on February 17. Henry Puro urged contributions for the UFL and International Labor Defense appeal and hoped to obtain bail so Tiala and Jesse Hann could tour in support of the farmers movement. The original image reads six months; the extracted text incorrectly reads eight. Bail was a proposed next step, not a documented release. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n052-mar-01-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=6

The Eighth Communist Party Convention adopted greetings to Tiala as an imprisoned Indiana farm leader, linking his confinement to resistance in the countryside. This April 9 report corroborates the existing farm-struggle detention without supplying another admission or release. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n085-apr-09-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2

Labor Defender, March 1934, PDF page 8: The farmers-defense account says Alfred Tiala, his wife and Jesse Hann were moved from jail to jail and held incommunicado after the January 20 Warsaw foreclosure protest. It reports bail raised from $5,000 to $10,000 each and a change from resisting an officer to obstructing the course of justice. Its bulletin reports Alfred’s six-month sentence, without establishing completed service or a new release day. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1934/v10n03-mar-1934-orig-LD.pdf#page=8

Daily Worker, July 16, 1934, page 3: The July 15 Chicago report explicitly says Tiala had been released from the Indiana State Penal Farm at Greencastle after serving six months for fighting the Warsaw foreclosure. He was elected United Farmers League president while imprisoned at the organization's first national convention in Minneapolis. Release was accomplished by the dispatch, but the article supplies no exact gate-release day; the reported six months is not converted into a day count. The page's printed July 9 header conflicts with its July 15 dispatches and the July 16 issue masthead, and is retained as a source discrepancy. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n169-sect-one-jul-16-1934-DW-LOC.pdf

PDF page 3 corroborates a six-month sentence for leading farmers against foreclosure and prints $5,000 bond in this retrospective. That figure is not substituted for the earlier stage's higher bail, nor does it prove payment. The previously documented physical release remains preserved. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1935/v11n01-jan-1935-orig-LD.pdf