Skip to content
Learn More → State by State

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.

D
Dennis Carrol
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
R
Rosario Cavallero
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
A
Alex Chasley
Released
Alex Chasley was a conscientious objector from Massachusetts imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed fo...
J
John C. Cluer
Released
John C. Cluer was an abolitionist speaker jailed in Boston during the prosecution of people accused of attempt...
F
Frank Collier
Released
Frank Collier managed Boston’s Progressive Bookshop and was targeted in an anti-Communist conspiracy prosecuti...
A
Alpheus Colton
Released
Alpheus Colton was one of the leaders of Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts. He was convicted of high treason on...
P
Philip Concome
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
A
Antonio Contirello
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
G
Giles Corey
Giles Corey was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692....
M
Martha Corey
Martha Corey was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692....
R
Ruth Cort
Released
Dr. Ruth Cort was a physician living in Britain with her husband, Dr. Joseph Cort, when British authorities de...
P
Paul Couming
Released
Age 23 at indictment; Boston Technical School graduate and former VISTA volunteer in Appalachia. A member of t...
J
Joseph Covoleski
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
J
John Czarnecki
Released
John C. Czarnecki was a Lawrence textile worker and strike-committee member arrested during the February 26, 1...
A
Alex Danilevich
Released
Alex Danilevich was a strike-committee member in the 1931 Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike. Police arres...
J
Joseph Dauber
Joseph Dauber was among seven anti-fascist demonstrators prosecuted after protesting Nazi propagandist Ernst H...
W
William F. Davis
Released
William F. Davis was an itinerant street preacher who spent more than a decade challenging Boston's control of...
R
Richard Davis (Boston labor deportation detainee, 1930)
Richard Davis was reported held for deportation because of labor activity in the July 4 account of Boston ILD...
E
Ellen Dawson
Ellen Dawson was a National Textile Workers Union organizer jailed in New Bedford, Massachusetts during the 19...
L
Luke Day
Released
Luke Day was a Revolutionary War veteran (captain, Massachusetts Continentals) and a farmer from West Springfi...
R
Raymond De Martino
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
E
Emilio Di Filippo
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
G
Giovanni Di Franco
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
A
Albert Di Gola
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