Biography
Margaret "Peggy" Hudgins was one of the six women of the New Haven Black Panther chapter arrested in 1969 in connection with the Alex Rackley murder, part of the "New Haven Nine." She was held without bail at the Niantic women's prison and rearraigned on charges ranging from unlawful binding to kidnapping and murder, though contemporaneous reporting noted there was essentially no evidence against her beyond her occasional presence in the Kimbro apartment. She later testified as a defense witness, and the charges against her were ultimately dropped.
The Black Panther, June 7, 1969: Printed page 8 individually names this defendant in the New Haven raid and prints captioned portraits of eight defendants. Theodore Spurlock reports the office and upstairs apartment entered at 1:05 Thursday morning, with breakfast-program money and other property taken, and initial murder/conspiracy accusations. Printed page 11 describes the eight as held without bail. These are contemporary Party reports and allegations; no final verdict or complete custody duration is established here. Printed variants include Erica Huggins, Rose Smith, Francis Carter and Peggy Hudgins; established profile identities are retained. Source: https://washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1969-06-07-black-panther-vol-3-no-7.pdf#page=7
