(CIVIL RIGHTS) Lynching Northern Style a pamphlet to rally s

Sale 2631 - Lot 154

Price Realized: $ 812

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Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(CIVIL RIGHTS.) "Lynching Northern Style," a pamphlet to rally support for the Trenton Six. 7 pages on 6 leaves (14 x 8 1/2 inches), bound by three staples at top edge; uneven toning and just a bit of staple rust on first left, 2 horizontal folds, minimal wear. New York: Civil Rights Congress, circa June 1949

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An elderly white junk shop owner was killed in Trenton, NJ in January 1948. Six suspects were rounded up and signed confessions under duress. Although they recanted their confessions and offered strong alibis, they were sentenced to death in August by an all-white jury. The case attracted national attention from civil rights activists and the American left, who framed the defendants as the "new Scottsboro case."

This call to action was issued by the Committee to Free the Trenton Six, led by none other than Paul Robeson as chairman, and organized by the Civil Rights Congress. The art (signed by "had") suggests a Klan-inspired lynching was in effect; its fundraising appeal urges us to "cut the lynch rope--clip the coupon." The Committee began appearing in newspapers in January 1949, and this appeal may have hit the mails a few months later. A 17 June 1949 advertorial in the Arizona Republic complained of receiving a "bulky envelope" from the committee written in "the pet phraseology of Communists." It was issued before a state Supreme Court ordered a retrial in February 1950. Ultimately, one of the defendants confessed, another was also convicted and died in prison, and four were acquitted.