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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.

W
William West
CaptainWilliamWest,representing seamen was one of three CentralGrievanceCommittee delegates arrested after ref...
S
Sam Wexler
The December 4, 1931 report explicitly names these lathers as arrested for defying an injunction and picketing...
C
Cassandra White
Cassandra White was individually named among women arrested at Seneca Army Depot during August 1984. The repor...
C
Charles White (Harlem cafeteria, 1934)
Charles White was one of six defendants prosecuted for picketing the Empire Cafeteria at 125th Street and Leno...
E
Ellis White
Ellis White worked with Andrew Austin in the New York Black Panther Party’s newspaper-distribution network. Po...
J
Jerry White
Jerry White was a young worker arrested during a police raid of the Furniture Workers Industrial Union headqua...
R
Ruth White
Ruth White was arrested in a police raid at the Communist Party headquarters at 200 Ellicott Street in Buffalo...
S
Sol Widon
Released
Sol Widon was the chairman of its grievance committee in Brooklyn. The Daily Worker individually names him amo...
H
Hans Gustave Wiechers
Hans Gustave Wiechers was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on...
J
Johan Wiechers
Johan Wiechers was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on Februar...
S
Selma Wiechers
Selma Wiechers was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on Februar...
M
Marie Wigman
Marie Wigman was a May’sDepartmentStore striker or picket prosecuted in Brooklyn. MagistrateCharlesSolomon acq...
J
Josephine Anna Wild
Josephine Anna Wild was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on Fe...
D
Dew B. Wilde
Dew B. Wilde was individually named among women arrested at Seneca Army Depot during August 1984. The report e...
K
Kurt Otto Wilking
Kurt Otto Wilking was a civilian internee recorded in actual custody at Ellis Island, New York Harbor, on Febr...
A
Anthony Williams
Released
Anthony "Tony" Williams was an Attica prisoner prosecuted after the September 1971 uprising. Attica News docum...
A
Arthur Williams
Released
Arthur Williams was a Black worker arrested at the Harlem Unemployed Council headquarters, 353 Lenox Avenue, o...
C
Charles Williams (New York jobless demonstration, 1934)
Charles Williams was among seven workers arrested at the May 26, 1934 unemployment demonstration at 50 Lafayet...
H
Harold Williams
Harold Williams was the Black director of the New York district of the Communist Party arrested during the Aug...
J
James Williams
James Williams was arrested in a police raid at the Communist Party headquarters at 200 Ellicott Street in Buf...
O
Oscar Williams
Released
Oscar Williams was a young Black worker jailed after protesting discrimination by the Brooklyn Home Relief Bur...
S
Suzanne Williams
Released
Known as Suzi Williams, of Rochester, NY, one of the eight arrested Sept 6, 1970. She conducted her own defens...
J
J. L. Williamson
Released
J. L. Williamson was a sixty-seven-year-old Spanish–American War veteran and American Legion charter member fr...
J
Jim Wilson
Released
Jim Wilson was a Catholic Worker pacifist whose refusal to cooperate with conscription followed his religious...

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 CenterNew York, New York
10 cases
MDC BrooklynBrooklyn, New York
9 cases