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District of Columbia
Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for District of Columbia.
237Documented
6In custody
230Released
Eras of repression in District of Columbia
Where District of Columbia’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1910s 159
2020s 19
1980s 12
2010s 8
1800s 8
1970s 6
Documented cases
237 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
Mrs. R. B. Quay
Released
Mrs. R. B. Quay was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
Tracye Redd
Released
Tracye Redd, age 28, of Washington DC, Greenpeace 28 - September 2019 Houston Ship Channel bridge rappel.
Karl Reeve
Released
Karl Reeve, editor of the Labor Defender, was one of the leaders arrested in the December 1928 anti-war and "F...
Betsy Graves Reyneau
Released
Betsy Graves Reyneau (June 6, 1888 - October 18, 1964), later Betsy Graves Reyneau Ortmans, was a portrait pai...
Mrs. C. T. Robertson
Released
Mrs. C. T. Robertson was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned d...
Randall Robinson
Released
Randall Robinson was the lawyer-activist who founded TransAfrica in 1977 to organize Black American foreign-po...
Elizabeth Selden Rogers
Released
Elizabeth Selden Rogers New York civic reformer and Putnam County NWP leader. On Bastille Day July 14, 1917 wa...
Sonia Anayibe Rojas
Released
"Sonia" Anayibe Rojas Valderrama was a Colombian drug trafficker who was sentenced to 18 years of prison. Many...
Elise T. Russian
Released
Elise T. Russian was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned durin...
Nina Samorodin
Released
Nina Samorodin (July 4, 1892 - November 28, 1981), later Nina Samorodin Ramuglia, was a member of the National...
Belle Sheinberg
Released
Belle Sheinberg was a member of the National Woman’s Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
Lucille Shields
Released
Lucille Shields was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
Martha Reed Shoemaker
Released
Martha Reed Shoemaker was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned...
Joanna Smith
Released
Joanna Smith, age 53, of Declare Emergency, smeared black and red paint on the case and pedestal of Edgar Dega...
Dr. Caroline E. Spencer
Released
Dr. Caroline E. Spencer was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisone...
Doris Stevens
Released
Doris Stevens Oberlin-trained organizer (1911); served as executive secretary of the Congressional Union and a...
Elizabeth Stuyvesant
Released
Elizabeth Stuyvesant was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned d...
Eve Tetaz
Released
Eve Tetaz was a retired Washington, D.C. public school teacher who became a prominent peace-and-justice activi...
Ellen Thomas
Released
Ellen Thomas is an anti-nuclear activist associated with the White House Peace Vigil and Proposition One. She...
Iris Calderhead Walker
Released
Iris Calderhead Walker was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned...
Jim Wallis
Released
Evangelical theologian and founder/editor of Sojourners magazine. Co-drafted the original "Promise of Resistan...
Helena Hill Weed
Released
Helena Hill Weed Daughter of U.S. Congressman Ebenezer J. Hill; Vassar graduate (1896); one of the first women...
Cora Week
Released
Cora Week was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during the 1...
Camilla Whitcomb
Released
Camilla Whitcomb was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned durin...
Institutions in District of Columbia
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in District of Columbia that appear in the census’s case files.
District of Columbia JailWashington, District of Columbia
7 cases
District of Columbia Department of CorrectionsWashington, District of Columbia
6 cases
Washington County JailWashington, District of Columbia
5 cases
War Tax ResistanceWashington, District of Columbia
4 cases
D.C. Central Detention FacilityWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
Old Capitol PrisonWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
U.S. District Court for the District of ColumbiaWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
Washington, D.C. JailWashington, District of Columbia
1 case