Biography
Harold Hickerson was a New York playwright jailed while bringing relief to striking miners during the Harlan-Bell coal strike. He was arrested with Doris Parks on February 10, 1932, while distributing food and milk in Pineville, Kentucky, and charged with criminal syndicalism. He was held in the Bell County jail until February 16, then returned to New York to speak in support of the miners and organize further relief.
The December 16, 1932 Daily Worker captions a photograph of the bonus delegation presenting its petition to Speaker Garner. It identifies Hickerson of the Veterans’ National Rank and File Committee as the man reading the petition, next to James W. Ford; Garner is at left. The source-identified Hickerson crop is retained as his portrait with the complete original caption and group image. This event-media evidence does not establish a new arrest. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n300-NY-dec-16-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The chronology reports their kidnapping February 11, 1932 and criminal-syndicalism charges in the Harlan mine-strike repression. The assault on Taub and Waldo Frank is not assumed to prove identical jail admission for those men. Exact physical discharge and complete duration remain unreported. Daily Worker, March 12, 1932, original PDF page 3. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n061-NY-mar-12-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3
The February 20, 1932 Daily Worker describes Hickerson, co-author of Gods of the Lightning, as just released from Pineville jail where he had been held for bringing relief to miners. It announces his appearance at the February 21 Harlan Terror Protest Meeting in New York. This confirms freedom by the article's reporting time, without replacing the separately documented release date. The March 12 chronology labels the Hickerson-Parks kidnapping February 11, whereas the existing case dates arrest February 10; that source difference is preserved. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n044-NY-feb-20-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The February 17 Knoxville dispatch reports Hickerson released from Pineville jail the previous night, confirming February 16, 1932 actual release. He denied promising to leave Kentucky permanently and said he would return with relief. The report does not establish a prison sentence.
The report confirms confinement beginning February 10 while distributing food and milk with Doris Parks, and says he had just been released. A claim that he was thrust out of the county is preserved alongside the previous issue’s denial that he promised to abandon Kentucky. No additional prison sentence is inferred.
The relief-protest meeting announcement identifies Hickerson as just released from Pineville jail, where he had been held for giving relief. This corroborates actual freedom by the issue, without deriving an exact discharge day from the future meeting date.
