Raynors HCA 2017-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/7/2017
Newspaper, a complete and authentic issue of the Chicago Defender, Decmber 23, 1944, 18pp., disbound, VG. Two very important reports on the front page. First, stacked headline “Supreme Court Swats Lily-White Rail Unions,” reports the TUNSTALL v. BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN case whereby “Negro Firemen Win Historic Decision.” An early civil rights case ... Also on the front page, above the headline, “28 Soldiers Convicted in Camp Riot,” with the report of the largest court marshall in army history, the Fort Lawton case. The Fort Lawton incident occurred after a clash between black soldiers and Italian prisoners of war, all of whom were housed at Fort Lawton. The morning after the riot, the body of POW Guglielmo Olivotto was found hanging from wires on an obstacle course at the base of Magnolia Bluff. Forty-three black soldiers were charged with rioting and three were also charged with murder. Twenty-eight were convicted of rioting or manslaughter. However, in 2011 the Army apologized to soldiers convicted after 1944 Fort Lawton riot. The Army Board for Correction of Military Records last year set aside the convictions after Seattle journalist Jack Hamann revealed in his 2005 book, "On American Soil," that prosecutors gave defense attorneys only 10 days to prepare their case and withheld information from them that showed the criminal investigation was flawed and evidence suggested a white soldier may have committed the murder.
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