Biography
Americo V. Alexander was a conscientious objector from New Jersey imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth. Sentenced to twenty years in prison, reduced to eighteen months. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: registered on June 5, 1917 as a C.O.; assigned to Medical Detachment, Base Hospital, Camp Dix (New Jersey), Sept. 19, 1918 (may not have been his first assignment); spent 3 months working at base hospital; interviewed by Bd. of Inquiry on Feb. 1919 at Ft. Leavenworth; classified by Bd. …
The September 1919 Liberator quotes a humorous obituary from the prisoners’ Wire City Weekly announcing that Americo V. Alexander left on June 18, 1919. Its closing words, Home—La Bonne Parole—Home, identify the event as parole to freedom, rather than a death. This physical departure preceded the separately recorded August 26 remission of his sentence. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1919/09/v2n09-w19-sep-1919-liberator.pdf#page=49
Custody record
The cited World War I archival record does not establish a one-day imprisonment. The imposed sentence and the period actually spent in custody are different; no exact duration is recorded here unless supported by custody records.
The Swarthmore row gives a reduction to one and a half years, not one year, and records August 26, 1919 remission. Remission is not necessarily the physical release date.
The September 1919 Liberator quotes a humorous obituary from the prisoners’ Wire City Weekly announcing that Americo V. Alexander left on June 18, 1919. Its closing words, Home—La Bonne Parole—Home, identify the event as parole to freedom, rather than a death. This physical departure preceded the separately recorded August 26 remission of his sentence.
