Biography
Frank Godlasky was an IWW member, also identified in his court case as Frank Daring, imprisoned in South Dakota following a15-year manslaughter sentence in Beadle County. His prosecution concerned the death of William D. Henderson in1921. He later appeared on International Labor Defense prisoner rosters. The court record establishes the charge and sentence but does not resolve his exact incarceration or release dates.
A letter from Sioux Falls in the April 1930 Labor Defender, page 78, acknowledges Godlasky's $5 monthly International Labor Defense allowance and thanks the organization. This contemporaneous prison-relief correspondence provides a location at publication, without establishing a new arrest, sentence, transfer day or release date.
The International Labor Defense holiday roster in the December 29, 1925 Daily Worker lists this prisoner, printed as Frank Godslasky, at Sioux Falls South Dakota. Its printed identifier is Box911; 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
The September 8, 1930 Laisve, page 5, reproduces an International Labor Defense political-prisoner directory. Its row prints Frank Godlaski, a term of life, the year 1926 in the sentencing-year column, and confinement or correspondence location Box 520, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is an attributed historical directory entry; printed years and nominal terms are not exact intake dates or measured time served, and mailing boxes do not independently identify a prison. The directory contains stale or conflicting chronology, so this row does not override independently established conviction, death or release facts. Source: https://www.spauda2.org/laisve/archive/1930/1930-09-08-LAISVE.pdf#page=5
A SiouxFalls prison-relief letter acknowledges the previous month’s donation and says workers outside had not forgotten him serving time. It corroborates imprisonment and solidarity support at publication without supplying a new commitment, exact discharge or completed duration. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1930/v05n05-may-1930-LD.pdf#page=32
1920s case review: The South Dakota Supreme Court opinion State v. Godlasky,47 S.D.36,195 N.W.832 (November15,1923), identifies him as an IWW member who joined under the name Frank Daring. It describes a15-year manslaughter sentence in Beadle County following a murder charge concerning William D. Henderson. This replaces the unsupported generic criminal-syndicalism charge. The incident date of July15,1921 and the appellate decision date are not used as prison-admission or release dates. Exact custody endpoints and an identifiable photograph remain unresolved.
Source: State v. Godlasky, paragraphs1-2, South Dakota Supreme Court. The public search-index text was readable; direct access to the complete opinion and the1922 defense brief was unavailable during this pass. No date was inferred from the15-year sentence.
The Behind the Bars directory on printed page 4 lists this prisoner under Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with 1921, with no sentence length printed. This is an attributed historical directory entry: the year and nominal term do not establish an intake day, uninterrupted imprisonment, completed service or physical release.
