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Pennsylvania

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 Pennsylvania.

836Documented
12In custody
544Released
4Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Pennsylvania

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

1930s 257 1700s 79 1910s 76 1920s 72 1960s 69 1800s 59

Documented cases

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

B
Brendan Walsh
Released
Brendan Walsh was sentenced to five years in federal prison for an arson at a U.S. military recruiting station...
R
Red Walsh (Rankin worker)
The June 5 issue identifies a Rankin worker called “Red” Walsh as recently released after being jailed on a ri...
J
J. Blake Walters
Released
Marshall identifies Walters as a Clearfield County, Pennsylvania lawyer working in Baltimore when arrested on...
T
Thomas Warner
Released
Thomas Warner was identified in prisoner-support and political-prisoner listings as a man associated with the...
C
Cyril Washko
Cyril Washko was a 29-year-old active member of the United Anthracite Miners of Pennsylvania local at Number 2...
J
John Allen Watterberg
Released
John Allen Watterberg joined the Hatfield’s Ferry smokestack protest against the Bush administration’s energy...
G
George J. Weaver
Marshall names George J. Weaver in his list of people arrested and confined from Clearfield County, Pennsylvan...
M
Mark Weintraub
Released
Mark Weintraub was listed among imprisoned draft and conscientious resisters in contemporary CCCO reports from...
B
Benjamin Weiss
Released
Benjamin Weiss was one of the nine defendants prosecuted in Philadelphia in the early 1950s as part of the Smi...
I
Irene Weiss
Irene Weiss was a picket in the Philadelphia knitgoods strike. The Daily Worker of April 11, 1934, page 3, rep...
J
Jack Weiss
Jack Weiss was a picket in the Philadelphia knitgoods strike. The Daily Worker of April 11, 1934, page 3, repo...
L
L. Weiss (Philadelphia tailor organizer)
L. Weiss was a Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union organizer arrested on a warrant during Philadelphia cust...
I
Irving Weissman
Released
Irving Weissman was a Spanish Civil War veteran, decorated United States Army veteran and Communist Party orga...
J
James Wessner
Released
James Wessner appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’ 1968 lists of imprisoned draft and...
R
Ray West
Ray West was arrested by Bethlehem police while leaving a restaurant during Metal Workers Industrial League or...
T
Thomas Wharton
Released
Thomas Wharton was a Philadelphia merchant of the Quaker Wharton family (a kinsman of, and not to be confused...
C
Charles E. Wheeler
Released
Charles E. Wheeler was a conscientious objector from Pennsylvania imprisoned during World War I. Court-martial...
E
Earl Ross Whitaker
Released
Earl Ross Whitaker was from Eldorado, Pennsylvania. Earl Ross Whitaker was a Christian conscientious objector...
J
John White (Bulger Block case)
John White was a defendant in the Bulger Block coal-strike prosecution in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The...
J
John White (Blawnox miner, 1931)
The November 24, 1931 report individually lists this National Miners Union strike prisoner at Allegheny County...
P
Philip Wigle
Released
Philip Wigle was a western Pennsylvania farmer-distiller and Whiskey Rebellion (1791-94) participant who beat...
R
Richard Wiley
Released
Richard Wiley appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’1969 current-prisoner lists of draf...
J
Jacob Willhelm
Marshall describes Willhelm as a Clearfield County associate judge and former Pennsylvania militia officer arr...
C
Craig Williams (Philadelphia Black Panther)
Craig Williams was a Philadelphia Black Panther Party officer of the day and city council candidate, arrested...

Institutions in Pennsylvania

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

Fort MifflinPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
48 cases
Allegheny County WorkhouseBlawnox, Pennsylvania
34 cases
Walnut Street JailPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
20 cases
Philadelphia GaolPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
18 cases
United States Penitentiary, LewisburgLewisburg, Pennsylvania
14 cases
Butler County PrisonButler, Pennsylvania
11 cases
FCI AllenwoodWhite Deer, Pennsylvania
10 cases
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas / SCI Pennsylvania state prisonsPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
9 cases