MSS 67
Smith Act Trial Collection
Table of contents
Contact Information:
Special Collections
Michigan State University Libraries
100 Main Library
East Lansing, MI 48824
517.884.6471
E-mail:spc@mail.lib.msu.edu
URL: http://specialcollections.lib.msu.edu
Date Received:
Unknown
Date Processed:
Unknown
Acquisitions Information:
Unknown
Preferred citation:
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
Box number, Folder number and/or title, Smith Act Trial Collection, MSS 67, Special Collections, Michigan State University Main Library
Copyright Notice:
Copyright is retained by the author of the items in this archive, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Usage Restrictions:
None
Photoduplication Restrictions:
Collection Summary:
Newspaper articles, personal statements, legal documents, publications, pamphlets, newsletters.
Historical Background:
Documents related to the arrest, trial and conviction of nine members of the Communist Party in Philadelphia who were accused of violating the Smith Act, which outlawed the teaching or advocating the overthrow of the American government, by force. The defendants were Benjamin Weiss, Sam Gobeloff, Walter Lowenfels, Joseph Kuzma, Robert Klonsky, Sherman Labovitz, Irvin Katz, David Dubensky, and Thomas Nabried.
Processing Note:
None
Arrangement:
| Box | Folder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Chronologies of events |
| List of lawyers, witnesses | ||
STATEMENTS BY DEFENDANTS AND WIVES ON ARRESTS |
||
| 2 | Marion [Joseph] Kuzma | |
| 3 | Helen [Benjamin] Weiss | |
| 4 | Sophie [David] Davis (aka David Dubensky) | |
| 5 | Joseph Roberts (aka Sam Gobeloff) | |
| 6 | Helen [Robert]Klonsky | |
| 7 | Pauline [Sherman] Labovitz | |
| 8 | Lillian [Walter] Lowenfels | |
| 9 | Violet [Irvin] Katz | |
| 10 | Barbara [Joseph] Roberts | |
| 11 | Collective letters of appeal from wives, to friends of the defendants | |
| 12 | Friends and Families of the Smith Act Defendants. Activities | |
| 13-16 | Newsclippings | |
LEGAL DOCUMENTS |
||
| 17 | Indictment | |
| 18 | Examination of Jurors, March 25, 1954 | |
| 19 | Appeal: Brief for Appellants | |
| 20 | Appeal: Supplemental Brief for Appellants | |
| 21 | Brief in Support of Motion to Acquit Joseph Roberts | |
| 22 | Proof of factual material involved in determining the Constitutional issues in the Smith Act cases | |
PUBLICATIONS |
||
| 23 | Vengeance on the Young, by Albert E. Kahn | |
| 24 | A Collection of Editorial & Resolutions in Opposition to the Un-American Activities Committee. January 1962. | |
| 25 | The Smith Act and the Supreme Court. ACLU, April 1952 | |
| 26 | Facts on the Smith Act. Pennsylvania Civil Rights Congress, [1954] | |
| 27 | The Supreme Court and Civil Liberties. ACLU, 1952 | |
| 28 | Let Freedom Ring. Pennsylvania Civil Rights Congress, 1953-54 | |
| 29 | My Life—My Principles, by David Davis. n.d. | |
| “Know Your Rights” n.d. | ||
| “Outline for use in visiting on question of police malpractice and denial of
protection of 4th amendment to the Negro people”. Pennsylvania Civil Rights Congress. n.d. |
||
| Feature Press Service weekly bulletin, nos. 2160, 2190 (1963-64). ACLU. | ||
| “Text of American Civil Liberties Union Statement on June 5 Supreme Court Decisions re 1950 Internal Security Act and Membership clause of Smith Act”. ACLU, July 6, 1961. | ||
| Fact Sheet: Internal Security Act (McCarren Act) passed by the U. S. Congress, Sept. 1950 | ||
| Press release, Communist Party, Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware, August 20, 1954. | ||
| List of available material from the Citizens Committee for Constitutional Liberties (book and pamphlet order form). n.d. | ||
| 30 | The Nation. Special Issue: “The FBI”. October 18, 1958. Concerns Fred J. Cook’s investigation of the F.B.I. | |
| Your Constitutional Rights . . . are in Danger! Citizens Committee for Constitutional Liberties. n.d. | ||
| 31 | Miscellaneous |