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Massachusetts

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 Massachusetts.

351Documented
1In custody
196Released
3Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Massachusetts

Where Massachusetts’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.

1930s 102 1920s 38 1970s 30 1980s 27 1800s 27 1910s 24

Documented cases

351 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

J
Joseph Gomes
Joseph Gomes was individually named among four Potomska Mill pickets arrested in New Bedford on the morning of...
S
Sarah Good
Sarah Good was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692. S...
P
Peter Hagelias
Released
Peter Hagelias was the Communist Party section organizer arrested at the Beacon Mill gate in New Bedford on De...
A
A. Harfield
A. Harfield was among three workers arrested in a raid on the National Textile Workers Union office in Lawrenc...
S
Simon Harzigan
Simon Harzigan was a militant member of the Textile Workers Protective Union in Lowell. A rank-and-file corres...
S
Simon Harzigian
Page 3 individually identifies Simon Harzigian, Communist city-engineer candidate and Lawrence Strikers Defens...
F
Francis X. Hennessey
Released
Francis X. Hennessey was a conscientious objector from Massachusetts imprisoned during World War I. Court-mart...
A
Arthur Hetman
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
R
Robert Hillegass
Robert Hillegass served 15 days after a 1986 peace-leafleting protest at Draper Laboratories.
D
Diantha Hoag
Released
Diantha Hoag was an electrical worker cited for contempt of Congress after refusing to answer Senator McCarthy...
J
Jean Holladay
Released
Jean Holladay was a nurse, mother of four, and grandmother from Massachusetts who became one of the most commi...
O
Otis Hood
Released
Otis Archer Hood was the chairman of the Massachusetts Communist Party and the lead figure among the "Bay Stat...
E
Elizabeth Howe
Elizabeth Howe was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 169...
M
Margaret Inness
Released
Margaret Mary Inness (November 6, 1944 – August 22, 2021) was a Boston native, a Regis College graduate, a for...
H
H. J. Canter
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
G
George Jacobs Sr.
George Jacobs Sr. was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in...
J
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs was among seven anti-fascist demonstrators prosecuted after protesting Nazi propagandist Ernst H...
A
Arvid Johnson
Arvid Johnson was among seven anti-fascist demonstrators prosecuted after protesting Nazi propagandist Ernst H...
N
Nathan Kay
Nathan Kay was individually named with Fred Biedenkapp and Israel Prager among speakers arrested at the Boston...
T
Thomas Keester
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
A
Antoinette F. Konikow
Antoinette F. Konikow was a physician and birth-control lecturer. In her February 1, 1941 Militant article she...
I
Ivan Kracevich
The November 17 dispatch reports their arrest in Lawrence under federal deportation warrants that morning and...
K
Krasevich
Released
Krasevich, also reported as Kravcevich, was held at the East Boston immigration detention station during the 1...
J
John Kuryla
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...

Institutions in Massachusetts

Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Massachusetts that appear in the census’s case files.

Fort WarrenBoston, Massachusetts
75 cases
Norfolk County Jail Dedham, Massachusetts
10 cases
Boston Court House
3 cases
Charlestown State PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Deer Island PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Boston JailBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Hampshire County Jail (Northampton)Northampton, Massachusetts
1 case
Salem, MA federal jailSalem, Massachusetts
1 case