Fred Powers

Fred Powers was arrested with Joe Jackson in New Britain, Connecticut in March 1931 after helping lead a demonstration of 5,000 unemployed workers. He remained imprisoned in 1932 while the movement for the prisoners’ release pressed Governor Wilbur Cross. At Hartford County Jail, Powers and nine other prisoners signed an August 31, 1932 complaint to the State Board of Health about sour, musty bread. Jail staff threatened Powers with solitary confinement for protesting the food. He appealed to the International Labor Defense to intervene with the health authorities and Sheriff Ed Dewey.

The May 17, 1932 Hartford dispatch published May 18 explicitly says Jackson and Powers had been confined since June 10, 1931 for leading the March 13, 1931 New Britain unemployment demonstration. The Hartford jail and organizing context identify the established Fred Powers case. June 10 is a stated physical-confinement start, distinct from the earlier demonstration and approximate March arrest. Almost a year describes continuing custody, not an actual release or a completed year. Jackson’s first name is not supplied here, so unrelated Jackson records are not merged. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n118-NY-may-18-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1

Printed page 176 reproduces Powers's Hartford County Jail letter about moldy bread and guard Judd's threats of solitary confinement. He says nine other prisoners joined a State Board of Health complaint dated August 31, 1932, and requests protests to Sheriff Ed Deweys. The threat is not proof solitary was actually imposed; this is a first-person conditions account during his existing New Britain protest case, without a new sentence or discharge. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1932/v08n09-sep-1932-LD.pdf