Angelo Herndon
Angelo Braxton Herndon (May 6, 1913 – December 9, 1997) was an African-American labor organizer arrested and convicted of insurrection after attempting to organize black and white industrial workers in 1932 in Atlanta, Georgia. The prosecution case rested heavily on Herndon's possession of "communist literature", which police found in his hotel room.
Angelo Herndon | |
|---|---|
Herndon c. 1932 | |
| Born | Eugene Angelo Braxton Herndon May 6, 1913 Wyoming, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 1997 (aged 84) Sweet Home, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Labor organizer |
| Known for | Herndon v. Lowry |
| Political party | Communist |
| Relatives | Paul Herndon (father) Hattie Herndon (mother) Milton Herndon (brother) Hilliard Frank Braxton (brother) Leroy M. Braxon (brother) Bishop Leo Braxton (brother) M. Lola Braxton (sister) Lizzie Liffridge (sister) Nathaniel Braxton (brother) |
Herndon was defended by the International Labor Defense, the legal arm of the Communist Party of America, which hired two young local attorneys, Benjamin J. Davis Jr. and John H. Geer, and provided guidance. Davis later became prominent in leftist circles. Over a five-year period, Herndon's case twice reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that Georgia's insurrection law was unconstitutional, as it violated First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly. Herndon became nationally prominent because of his case, and Southern justice was under review. By the end of the 1940s he left the Communist Party, moved to the Midwest, and lived there quietly.