Biography
Henry Storey was a Black World War veteran and Atlanta metal- and print-shop worker who chaired the American Negro Labor Congress protest meeting at which the arrests were made. Henry Storey was held on the Atlanta insurrection charge. In the spring of 1930 the state of Georgia revived an 1861 anti-slave-insurrection statute to charge a group of Communist and labor organizers with "attempting to incite insurrection" — a capital offense — for organizing Black and white workers into the same unions and leading demonstrations of Atlanta's unemployed. Held without bail in the Fulton Tower Prison and threatened with the electric chair, the "Atlanta Six" became one of the ILD's signature free-speech defenses; the insurrection charges were eventually beaten.
The July 1930 Labor Defender, page 134, reports that Storey and Herbert Newton were segregated behind a blind door at Fulton Tower and alleges that food sent by the International Labor Defense disappeared. It gives Storey's bail at press time as $1,000; the article does not establish that he had posted bail or been released.
Allen’s memoir explicitly names the Atlanta Six as Powers, Carr, Newton, Dalton, Ann Burlak and Storey, and describes their unemployment organizing, capital insurrection threat, ILD bail and eventual defeat of the charges. Its collective nearly-two-month description does not replace individually documented March/May arrests and July bail dates or prove identical service for all six. Source: https://www.marxists.org/archive/allen/organizing-south.pdf#page=74
The Atlanta report describes the six labor organizers held under the insurrection prosecution. It names Brady, subsequently explicitly identified as Herbert Newton, and Storey as Black organizers, alongside Dalton, Burlak, Powers and Carr. The May 21 raid was above a grocery store during ANLC organizing. The capital penalty was threatened exposure, not a conviction. Daily Worker, May 24, 1930, page 5. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v06-n379-NY-may-24-1930-DW-LOC.pdf
The June 6 Atlanta account describes Fulton Tower confinement, with Carr on murderers’ row and the Black defendants separated and denied visitors. It explicitly links Brady with Herbert Newton. These reported jail conditions concern the existing insurrection prosecution; death or twenty-five years remained potential penalties. Daily Worker, June 7, 1930, page 5. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n137-NY-jun-07-1930-DW-LOC.pdf
The Atlanta account reports searches and confiscation of books and mail around June 8–9, restricted attorney access, and delayed or taken meals for the Black defendants. A proposed soundproof cell is a threat, not evidence that such confinement had already occurred. Daily Worker, June 14, 1930, page 1. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n143-NY-jun-14-1930-DW-LOC.pdf
Walter Wilson's June 7, 1930 New Leader report describes the Atlanta prosecution of M. H. Powers, Joe Carr, Anna Burlack, Mary Dalton and the Black organizers Henry Storey and Gilmer Brady. The already documented identification of Brady with Herbert Newton is retained; this issue does not itself establish that identity bridge. Its page 1 United Press quotation instead prints Henry Story and Gilmer Grady. Wilson names O. C. Hancock as the International Labor Defense's retained attorney and reports support for a defense inquiry from teacher-union president Mary Barker, trades-federation secretary Karl Karston and labor editor Jerome Jones. He describes the alleged offense as organizing joint Black and white meetings and circulating Communist literature. The death penalty was possible exposure under the insurrection statute, not a conviction or completed punishment. No custody endpoint changes follow from this report. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-leader/1930/v10n18-jun-07-1930-NL.pdf#page=3
