White supremacist, institutional sadism in the face of little accountability and a lot of ruling class encouragement has always been a central feature of U.S. life. Herndon was a young Black coal miner who joined the Communist Party in 1930 and quickly became a leading organizer. Arrested in July, 1932 by Atlanta police for “inciting insurrection”, he faced the death penalty, but was sentenced to 18-20 years hard labor; the chain-gang. The case would reach the Supreme Court, which finally cleared Herndon in 1937. Here he is met under guard in prison by a delegation led by John Howard Lawson, first president of the Writers Guild of America playwright, screenwriter, Marxist literary critic, and future member of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten.

‘Angelo Herndon Is Adamant In Fascist Face of Terror’ by John Howard Lawson from The Daily Worker. Vol. 11 No. 160. July 5, 1934.

Unleashed Against Negroes By Fascist Gangs and State Officials

ATLANTA, Ga., July 4. Georgia politics revolves around the Ku Klux Klan and the Men of Justice. These fascist gangs are closely interconnected; although both groups are numerically small at present, they have enough support and prestige to be openly courted and flattered by politicians, and they are responsible for the spectacular and bloody campaign of red-baiting which is now going on in Georgia.

Angelo Herndon is caught in this web of politics; the attempt to pin a death sentence on the Atlanta Six, and on three other militant workers for whom warrants have been issued, is all parts of a cynical political game—to capitalize on the prejudice against the black race which exists among backward sections of the white workers and farmers.

Assistant Solicitor General John H. Hudson has been chosen as an excellent instrument to do the actual dirty work in this campaign —for the simple reason that he is an hysterical fanatic who will stop at nothing. Hudson is starting out on a campaign of legal lynching to which he sets no limits. He himself told us that he makes no distinction between liberals and radicals; “They’re all too liberal for the good of this country,” said Hudson, his voice trembling with excitement, as he shouted insults at our delegation and accused us of being “anarchistic, Communistic lousy bums.”

It is therefore perfectly clear that Hudson is demanding the death penalty for people whose political ideas he knows nothing about. He himself stated that he considers the American Civil Liberties Union a Communistic, illegal organization; and it is safe to assume that anyone representing the Civil Liberties Union in the State of George would be liable to arrest and that the penalty asked would be death.

Visit to Herndon

This fascist official is responsible for Angelo Herndon’s conviction; and Hudson’s influence is strongly felt in the prison, where Herndon is subjected to every possible indignity in an effort to break his spirit.

When our delegation called on Herndon, we were seated in a row while Herndon was placed in a chair facing us about ten feet away. He was surrounded and closely hemmed in by a threatening group of prison attendants. In the background half a dozen hard-faced thugs, obviously Hudson’s men, were loitering, evidently memorizing the faces of our delegation for future reference. During the whole half-hour interview, someone in another part of the prison was singing a monotonous song of which the words were indistinguishable except for the word “n***r” which was endlessly repeated.

This young hero of the working class paid no attention to these surroundings. He spoke easily and calmly, with almost superhuman disregard of the brutal stupidity which surrounds and threatens him.

Herndon definitely states that he has not received medical attention.

He was asked whether it was true that treatment had been offered him at the time he was examined and x-rays taken and that he had refused such treatment, and he emphatically denied that such treatment had been offered or refused; all this with his many jailers leaning over him. When Herndon charged that a leaking toilet had been above his cell for a long period and had been hastily mended the day before a medical inspection was made of his cell, the jail engineer Bill Turner, denied the existence a toilet above the cell, but admitted that a laundry was located on the floor above, and that there had been leakage of dirty water.

Kept in Death Cell

Herndon had been continuously kept in the cell with condemned prisoners waiting to be electrocuted.

The authorities make the curious defense that this is not technically a “death cell” and it simply happens to be used for Negroes who are condemned to die; the fact that Herndon is forced to occupy this cell is also merely a coincidence. In the treatment of Herndon, the influence of Assistant Solicitor Hudson is clearly indicated. It is admitted that all reading matter sent to Herndon is submitted to Hudson, who keeps everything which fits with his curious idea of “insurrectionary” literature. As a test case we brought with us “The History of the American Working Class.” By Anthony Bimba, and demanded a definite answer from Chief Jailer Bob Holland as to whether or not the book would be promptly delivered. Mr. Holland thumbed over the book, and stated that he would give it to Herndon without delay. At this point, Bob McCall, an assistant jailer, whispered to Mr. Holland that “you’ll have to show it to Mr. Hudson, Hudson won’t like this.” Mr. Holland gracefully ignored his assistant and repeated his assurances.

Our delegation was greeted with great courtesy at the jail and by all public officials with the exception of Hudson–although it is perfectly obvious that they are using Hudson in order to test how far they can safely go in the campaign of prejudice and red-baiting. John A. Boykin, Solicitor General and Hudson’s immediate superior, is at present preparing a new sedition law, which is designed to supplement and be even more sweeping than the old statute against slave insurrection which is at present being used. Boykin addressed a meeting of the “Men of Justice” last night on the advantages of this new fascist law which he hopes to pass.

Governor Talmadge on “N***s”

Governor Richard Talmadge discoursed to us at great length on the psychology and smartness of “n***s”–in the presence of three Negro delegates–and called Adjutant General Lindley Camp who said that the Governor had sent him to weigh Herndon and that Herndon had lost only five pounds since being imprisoned. Herndon told us that he did not recall ever having seen General Camp or being weighed by him. The presence of the General at our interview led the Atlanta papers to state that the Governor had “offered a military escort” for our visit to the jail. General Camp said that he believed Herndon was “uppitty.”

Governor Talmadge indicated that he was tremendously impressed by the vast amount of mass protest which has poured into his office on the Herndon case, and sent for the file to show us the unbelievable volume of letters and telegrams which he described as “intimidating.” Our delegation assured him that this material was simply an indication of the international wave of protest against the legal lynching of Herndon; and that he should be clearly aware of the extent and force of working class indignation.

General Camp quoted A.T. Walden, the leading Negro lawyer of Atlanta, as having stated at an open meeting that Herndon was receiving excellent treatment. Walden, local president of the N.A.A.C.P., has practiced law in Atlanta for 20 years and has never raised the question of Negroes on juries. He refused to have anything to do with the Herndon case because he knew that this issue would be brought into the case. This probably accounts for the Governor’s hearty praise of Walden:

“There’s a n***r who’s highly respected,” said Governor Talmadge of this prominent member of the Atlanta bar, “because he’s humble that n***r is as humble as the lowest farmer.”

Seething Discontent

Dr. J.A. Martin, Negro clergyman of Atlanta, who accompanied the delegation, told Governor Talmadge forcefully that the tactics of the Klan and “Men of Justice” have caused seething discontent among the Negro masses. The Klan recently broke up a peaceful Scottsboro meeting in a Negro church; the police came and arrested the Negroes who were holding the meeting, without interfering with the Klansmen who broke up the assemblage. “There isn’t a Negro in the United States who has any doubts about the innocence of the Scottsboro boys; we intend to go on fighting for those boys, and when rowdy gangs are allowed to break up peaceful protest meetings, the mass of Negroes are forced to see that the government won’t protect them. I tell you, Governor, I’ll vote the Communist ticket before I’ll vote for people who allow fascist gangs to threaten and kill Negroes.”

Dr. Martin has been repeatedly intimidated for his stand in defense of Herndon. When another Negro clergyman, Rev. J. Raymond Henderson, was recently persuaded to repudiate Herndon, reporters from Atlanta papers called Dr. Martin and told him that it was now about time for him to give up his foolish fight for Herndon and to admit that the bosses are right. Dr. Martin indignantly refused, and wrote a scathing article in the Atlanta Daily World defying the oppressors of Herndon and other Negro workers. The terror here is so great that few people dared to publicly support Dr. Martin, but he tells us that hundreds of phone calls reached him from workers, and hundreds of other workers came to him secretly at night to pledge their support.

Dr. Martin is the man who officiated at the famous funeral of Blind Glover Davis. A policeman killed Davis, claiming that Davis drew a knife on him in spite of being a blind man. It had been intended to make the funeral the occasion of a mass protest against the brutality of the police; but the thousands who came to the funeral found the scene surrounded by police and machine guns and all speeches or placards forbidden. Dr. Martin, however, led the prayer, as follows:

“God give us men who have the courage to fight police brutality; God give us men who will die in defense of their rights.”

This spirit is strong and growing among the oppressed masses of the South. The particular brutality of the verdict against Angelo Herndon makes it perfectly clear that no militant worker is safe against the illegal lynch tactics of Assistant Solicitor Hudson and his political cronies. It is almost incredible that Herndon’s savage sentence is based on an unemployment demonstration at which there was no disorder; this “insurrectionary” meeting was so calm that there was no police interference and no arrests made at the time.

Our delegation goes to Birmingham today, but returns to Atlanta Friday to make further definite demands for Herndon’s protection. We intend to concentrate upon two vigorous points:

First, reduction of the absurdly exorbitant bail; second, that the Governor or the County Commissioner appoint a commission to investigate Herndon’s physical condition and treatment in the jail.

Herndon is in the hands of fascist Negro-hating officials; these same officials want to destroy the Atlanta Six and other workers; they want to give the Klan and the “Men of Justice” free reign to murder and burn and terrorize. John H. Hudson must be exposed as the leading tool of this criminal campaign. All honest opinion in the United States must be aroused.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n160-jul-05-1934-DW-LOC.pdf