Biography
Bill Sutherland was a striking Kentucky miner collecting relief in Knoxville for the mine strike. The February 25, 1932 Daily Worker identifies him as a Workers International Relief helper, reports a loitering prosecution and fifty-day sentence, and says he had already been put to work in a quarry. Its front-page bulletin places sentencing late February 23; another dispatch in the issue uses February 24 arrest wording, while the March 12 chronology groups his sentence with Harry Jackson under February 24. Those source differences are retained without assigning a certain arrest or admission day. The sentence is not a verified completed duration, and release is unreported. This miner is distinct from the World War II pacifist Bill Sutherland, born in 1918. Sources: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n048-NY-feb-25-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1 ; https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n061-NY-mar-12-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3
The February 25 issue further reports that Sutherland was seized while walking from home to the Workers International Relief office. It gives a $50 fine or fifty days alternative and says his inability to pay resulted in immediate jailing. The judge reportedly questioned him about jailed organizer Doris Parks and religion, then invoked god, law and order. The front-page bulletin describes chain-gang uniforms, rice breakfast and beans and cornbread for other meals. These add reported prosecution circumstances and conditions; conflicting February 23/24 chronology and unknown discharge remain unresolved. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n048-NY-feb-25-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3
