Biography
Dominick Venturato was president of United Mine Workers Local 3953 at Oco, Ohio. He was arrested in 1922 after the June 27 killing of mine operator John I. Major near New Lafferty during the coal strike. Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, he was already reported sent to prison by September 1922. Labor-defense reporting challenged the prosecution evidence and described his continued imprisonment in Columbus, Ohio in 1925. His exact arrest and prison-entry days, eventual release date, and an identifiable photograph remain unresolved.
The International Labor Defense holiday roster in the December 29, 1925 Daily Worker lists this prisoner, printed as Dominic Venturato, at London Ohio. Its printed identifier is LockBox68; this is a prison number or mailing designation, not a year or a custody date. This documents confinement at the roster’s reporting time, without establishing an admission, transfer, release, new conviction or complete duration. Existing independently sourced custody chronology remains separate. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1925/1925-ny/v02b-n297-NYE-dec-29-1925-DW-LOC.pdf#page=5
In a letter printed in the June 1930 Labor Defender, Madalena Venturato states that D. Venturato was staying at the London Prison Farm, about thirty miles west of Columbus, when the Ohio State Penitentiary disaster occurred. This contemporaneous family account distinguishes his location from the burned penitentiary; it establishes neither a transfer day nor a new sentence, release or completed duration. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1930/v05n06-jun-1930-LD.pdf#page=20
A letter from Mrs. Madalena Venturato states that D. Venturato was confined at London Prison Farm, thirty miles west of Columbus, at the time of the Ohio penitentiary fire. This explicitly accounts for his survival away from the fire, without fixing a transfer day. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1930/v05n06-jun-1930-LD.pdf#page=20
1920s source review: Arrest and incarceration are recorded at year precision only (1922). The June 27 shooting is not treated as his arrest day, and July 8 was witness Stanley Kubiack's arrest, not Venturato's. The September 30, 1922 Workers' Dreadnought (printed pages 7-8) already reports Venturato sent to prison for life. The June 26 and August 8, 1925 Daily Worker articles describe his continued confinement. Dan Agosti's pardon is not Venturato's release. January 1 is only the database anchor for year precision.
Sources: Max Salzman, The Case of Dominick Venturato, June 26, 1925, page 3; Workers' Dreadnought, September 30, 1922, pages 7-8; Salzman, Dominick Venturato Must Be Freed, August 8, 1925, supplement page 8.
The New Lafferty report says Venturato had been convicted and sentenced to life, while two subsequent defendants were acquitted. The killing is dated June 27, 1922; that event date is not an individual arrest day. The paper characterizes these prosecutions as efforts to destroy the miners’ union.
Max Salzman’s article reports Venturato still serving life at the Ohio State Penitentiary, Columbus. It challenges Stanley Kubiack’s testimony as coerced, quotes an inconsistent automobile identification and contrasts Agosti’s pardon and Farmer’s acquittal with Venturato’s continued imprisonment. The widow’s separate $250,000 civil conspiracy suit was reportedly dismissed; this did not vacate Venturato’s criminal conviction or free him.
Salzman’s follow-up reports Venturato still imprisoned for life at Columbus and challenges Governor Vic Donahey to free him. A rumored election promise is explicitly presented as rumor and is not evidence of pardon or release. The article’s “three years” is approximate elapsed imprisonment, without a precise individual admission or completed total.
Daily Worker magazine supplement, August 8, 1925, PDF page 8.
Cleveland’s ILD report says it adopted Venturato for recurring prison-relief support. This documents the source’s contemporary custody context without establishing a new admission, precise release or completed-service total.
