Biography
William Bross Lloyd was a founder and leader of the Communist Labor Party. Arrested in the 1920 Palmer-era raids in Chicago, he was convicted with a group of co-defendants under Illinois' sedition/espionage law and sentenced to one to five years at Joliet; the defense was led by Clarence Darrow. The convictions were later commuted.
Note: A New York Public Library finding aid gives a death date of June 20, 1946; this record uses June 30, 1946.
William Bross Lloyd was known as the "millionaire Communist."
1920s remaining-entry review: The Eugene Daily Guard of November 30, 1922, page 1, Chicago November 30 dispatch, was visually inspected. It reports clemency last night, Lloyd stepping through the prison gates and meeting his wife, and his freedom after eight days in prison. This supports physical release November 29, 1922 and admission during November, not a day back-calculated from the reported duration. The New York Public Library finding aid independently records eight days imprisonment in 1922. Initial prosecution arrest remains at inherited year precision; the existing photograph is retained.
