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New York

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 New York.

2,078Documented
40In custody
1,023Released
12Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in New York

Where New York’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.

1930s 714 1940s 176 1970s 171 1920s 166 1910s 166 1950s 159

Documented cases

2,078 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

J
John Hughson
John Hughson was imprisoned on an allegation of conspiracy during the New York prosecutions of 1741–1742. The...
S
Sarah Hughson
Sarah Hughson was imprisoned on an allegation of conspiracy during the New York prosecutions of 1741–1742. Sar...
B
Brian Hynes
Released
Brian Hynes is a Bronx peace activist associated with Upstate Drone Action. On October 25, 2012, he joined a n...
C
Carlo Ilminski
Carlo Ilminski was arrested in a police raid at the Communist Party headquarters at 200 Ellicott Street in Buf...
B
B. Iritrator
The June 9 report individually names these people arrested during the Saturday outdoor protest at the Schlom a...
I
Isadore Izen
Isadore Izen was arrested June 16, 1933 at Coney Island beach after protesting police beating a peddler. The D...
A
Albert Jackson
Albert Jackson was one of three Black young men, reported as twenty-one to twenty-two years old, picked up at...
C
Charles Jackson
Named as Charles Jackson in the IWW’s partial Red Special deportation-detention roster. The report says the gr...
F
Freda Jackson
Freda Jackson was a member of the unemployment-relief delegation beaten and arrested at New York City Hall on...
R
Raymond Jackson (Attica defendant)
Raymond Jackson is individually named in the March 1973 Attica News roster of Attica uprising prisoner defenda...
F
Frieda Jackson (Harlem relief organizer)
Frieda Jackson, organizer of the Upper Harlem Unemployment Council, was beaten and jailed during the June 30,...
A
Anne Jacobs
Arrested November 7, 1929 while distributing leaflets to soldiers at the Fourteenth Street Armory. Jefferson M...
F
Felix Jahnke
Felix Jahnke was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on February...
W
William Oral James
Released
William Oral James was a conscientious objector from New York imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed f...
N
Nazmi Jamiel
Nazmi Jamiel was an anti-fascist worker arrested while picketing the German consulate in a Free Thaelmann demo...
J
Jelapis (New York cafeteria picket, 1930)
Jelapis was a New York cafeteria strike picket. The March 15, 1930 Daily Worker names three pickets held under...
D
David Jenkins
David Jenkins was among seven workers arrested at the May 26, 1934 unemployment demonstration at 50 Lafayette...
S
Susan Jenkins
Susan Jenkins is individually named in John Howard Lawson’s report among writers and professional workers arre...
L
Louis Joell
Louis Joell was a Communist League member jailed for organizing leaflet distribution demanding free food for w...
F
Friedrich Johanning
Friedrich Johanning was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on Fe...
A
Armstrong John (Attica defendant)
Armstrong John (printed alias Bif) is individually named in the March 1973 Attica News roster of Attica uprisi...
P
Paul Willi Heinz John
INS recorded Paul Willi Heinz John in civilian custody at Ellis Island on February 29, 1944. Detention endpoin...
C
C. L. Johnson (Red Special detainee, 1919)
Named as C. L. Johnson in the IWW’s partial Red Special deportation-detention roster. The report says the grou...
A
A. Johnson
A. Johnson was among five speakers arrested June 7, 1930 at 149th Street and Third Avenue, charged with disord...

Institutions in New York

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

Ellis Island Immigration StationNew York, New York
215 cases
Fort LafayetteNew York, New York
202 cases
Manhattan House of Detention (the Tombs)New York, New York
21 cases
Attica Correctional FacilityAttica, New York
20 cases
Sing Sing Correctional FacilityOssining, New York
15 cases
Ellis IslandNew York, New York
15 cases
Metropolitan Correctional Center, New YorkNew York, New York
13 cases
Metropolitan Correctional CenterNew York, New York
10 cases