Research Catalog

Title

Angela Davis Legal defense collection, 1970-1972.

Author

Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

2.2 lin. ft.

Summary

• The Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection is comprised of legal documents and other materials associated with the legal and political campaign to have Davis acquitted of all charges against her. The bulk consists of documents which reflect the legal actions taken prior to the change of venue from Marin County to San Jose, California. The rest of the collection relates to the activities mounted by various defense committees and other supporters to generate publicity and support for Davis. In addition, there is information on the Soledad Brothers, political prisoners and prisons in the United States.
• The Legal documents series is divided into four subseries documenting the different cases and jurisdictions. In Davis v. State of New York the documents deal with Davis's fight against extradition from New York State to California. The charges against David Poindexter (harboring a fugitive), Davis's friend who helped her when she fled California, are reflected in the stenographer's minutes. The motions, writs and petitions in State of California v. Davis relate primarily to Davis's request to be released on bail pending trial, and to dismiss the indictment against her. Among the documents here is a copy of a letter from Davis to George Jackson which the District Attorney used as proof that Davis and Jackson had a romantic relationship.
• The Support activities series comprises material noting the broad range of support amassed in Davis's defense. Included are statements and other documentation from U.S. Congressmen John Conyers and Walter E. Fauntroy; the National Conference of Black Lawyers, who organized a nationwide panel of distinguished black law professors that acted as consultants to the defense team; the Arab Women's League of Jordan; and others. Documentation concerning the Presbyterian Church's donation of $10,000 to the Davis Defense Fund and the ensuing controversy within the Church, is also located here.
• The series Printed matter encompasses a variety of printed material, including writings by and about Davis. The Writings by Davis folder contains an article she wrote entitled, "The Nature of Freedom." There are interviews with Davis while she was in prison, and a series of articles published in the "San Rafael Independent Journal" relating the events from the time of the kidnapping in August 1970 up to the change of venue for Davis's trial. A weekly trial bulletin,"Frame Up," published by the National United Committee to Free Davis and All Political Prisoners provides a detailed account of Davis's trial, from February to May 1972.
• Included in the Prison and Prisoners series is an early draft of "If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance," (1971) edited by Davis. A copy of a manuscript for Min S. Yee's "The Melancholy History of Soledad Prison" (1973), is also here. Prison conditions are documented in "A Convict Report on the Grievances of the Prison Population with Suggested Solutions," by John Irwin, as well as in clippings and other essays.

Subjects

• Political activists > United States
• Davis, Angela Y (Angela Yvonne), 1944-
• Prisoners' writings, American
• Yee, Min S > Melancholy History of Soledad Prison
• Political prisoners > United States
• Soledad Brothers
• Legal documents
• Trial transcripts
• Black author
• United States > Race relations
• Magee, Ruchell
• Prisoners > United States
• Soledad Correctional Training Facility
• Prisons > United States
• Imprisonment > United States
• Communists
• Jackson, George, 1941-1971
• African American intellectuals
• African American prisoners > Social conditions

Genre/Form

• Legal documents.
• Trial transcripts.

Biography (note)

• Angela Davis is an author, philosopher and political activist. In the early 1970s she became the focal point of worldwide attention due to her political activism. Imprisoned and tried on charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, Davis's case became a major cause celebre and thrust her into the leadership of the black liberation movement.
• Like many of her generation, Davis was involvd in the black liberation movement and the struggle against the Vietnam war. In 1970 she began working toward the release of the Soledad Brothers, three black inmates; George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette, who had been accused of murdering a prison guard in Soledad Prison. She became co-chair of the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee and lectured throughout California on the Brothers and prison conditions.
• During an escape attempt from a Marin County courthouse in 1970 involving George Jackson's brother Jonathan, and two prisoners, Ruchell Magee and William Christmas, three hostages were killed. The guns used in the incident were traced to Davis, thus implicating her in the escape attempt. A California warrant, in which she was charged as an accomplice to murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, was issued for her arrest. She fled the state but was arrested later that year in New York accompanied by a friend, David Rudolph Poindexter, who was charged with harboring a fugitive. Davis was extradited to California where her lawyers succeeded in moving the trial from Marin County, an upper middle class white community to San Jose, California, a racially and economically integrated community. The case garnered national and international support, and after a trial by jury, Davis was acquitted of all charges.

Call Number

Sc MG 410

OCLC

122314271

Author

Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

Title

Angela Davis Legal defense collection, 1970-1972.

Biography

Angela Davis is an author, philosopher and political activist. In the early 1970s she became the focal point of worldwide attention due to her political activism. Imprisoned and tried on charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, Davis's case became a major cause celebre and thrust her into the leadership of the black liberation movement.

Like many of her generation, Davis was involvd in the black liberation movement and the struggle against the Vietnam war. In 1970 she began working toward the release of the Soledad Brothers, three black inmates; George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette, who had been accused of murdering a prison guard in Soledad Prison. She became co-chair of the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee and lectured throughout California on the Brothers and prison conditions.

During an escape attempt from a Marin County courthouse in 1970 involving George Jackson's brother Jonathan, and two prisoners, Ruchell Magee and William Christmas, three hostages were killed. The guns used in the incident were traced to Davis, thus implicating her in the escape attempt. A California warrant, in which she was charged as an accomplice to murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, was issued for her arrest. She fled the state but was arrested later that year in New York accompanied by a friend, David Rudolph Poindexter, who was charged with harboring a fugitive. Davis was extradited to California where her lawyers succeeded in moving the trial from Marin County, an upper middle class white community to San Jose, California, a racially and economically integrated community. The case garnered national and international support, and after a trial by jury, Davis was acquitted of all charges.

Finding Aids

Finding aid available.

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Finding Aid

Local Subject

Black author.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 410