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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
Recent dashboard entries from Massachusetts
The newest published events and reporting located in Massachusetts, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Prosecution
Judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE gets a rare public reprimand
Arrest
Five arrested during climate protest that blocked traffic in Copley Square
Arrest
Climate protestors block rush hour traffic in downtown Boston
Protest
Protesters demand Charles River Laboratories end beagle testing at its downtown Worcester lab
Arrest
Two arrested plastering anti-ICE posters on a Citizens Bank branch in Boston, part of a campaign over its financing of ICE detention operators
Protest
11 arrested in civil disobedience at Burlington ICE facility
Protest
11 arrested after protesting outside Burlington ICE facility
Protest
Eleven activists arrested trying to deliver care packages to detainees at the Burlington ICE facility
Documented cases
351 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
M
Maria Valente
Maria Valente was individually named among four Potomska Mill pickets arrested in New Bedford on the morning o...
J
John Walersyzak
John Walersyzak was a vice president of the New Bedford unit of the Textile Mills Committee. A June 20 dispatc...
E
Ed Walsh (Lawrence textile strike, 1931)
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
S
Samuel Wardwell
Samuel Wardwell was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 16...
J
John Wheeler
Released
John Wheeler was one of the leaders of Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts. He was convicted of high treason on A...
G
Geoffrey Warner White
Released
Geoffrey Warner White was one of seven Massachusetts Communist Party leaders indicted under the Smith Act on M...
J
James White
Released
James White was one of the leaders of Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts. He was convicted of high treason on Ap...
M
Marks Whittier
Marks Whittier was imprisoned at Deer Island after a Boston unemployment demonstration. In a signed letter pri...
S
Sarah Wildes
Sarah Wildes was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692....
J
John Willard
John Willard was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692....
H
Harry Winner
Released
Harry E. Winner was a Massachusetts businessman indicted alongside the MIT mathematician Dirk Struik in 1951 u...
F
Fred Wood
Fred Wood organized the Cape Cod Cranberry Pickers Union during the September 1933 cranberry strike. Jamieson...
W
William Wood (MIT anti-Nazi demonstrator, 1934)
The July17,1934 NewMasses identifies WilliamWood, an MIT student, among the Charlestown antiNazi demonstrators...
J
John Znol
John Znol was a textile striker actually arrested and held on no stated charge in the Warren village strike re...
E
Ernestine leBeau
Ernestine leBeau was individually arrested August 6, 1984 at GTE and sentenced November 19. The report explici...
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