Leaflet for the Young Communist League featuring Angelo Herndon: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A bifold leaflet for the Young Communist League featuring Angelo Herndon. The leaflet is printed in black ink on white paper with a black-and-white printed photograph of Angelo Herndon. The leaflet is comprised of an article written by Herndon, discussing his case for freedom before the U.S. Supreme Court. At the top of the second and third pages is the title of the article [KEEP HERNDON OFF THE CHAIN GANG-SEND HIM TO ALBANY], followed by the vertically oriented text along the right margin of page three [VOTE COMMUNIST]. In the bottom corner of page three is a small communism emblem, the hammer and sickle. Herndon discusses the national reaction to his imprisonment – a result of the state of Georgia’s use of the Insurrection Act against Herndon for organizing a successful protest of white and black people, against authorities that rescinded relief allotments to the working poor of Atlanta. Herndon writes about President Roosevelt’s responsibility towards his and the Scottsboro Boy’s freedom, and the support he received from the Young Communist League. He ends the article emphasizing the role of socialism in ending segregation and Jim Crow. The back (third) page features a “VOTE COMMUNIST!” notice below Herndon’s article, advertising the names and images of candidates for a political race. Below the notice is a “YOUTH PROGRAM” for 1936, and Young Communist League booklet subscription box. In the bottom left corner is an Allied Printing Trades Council (38) emblem.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1936
• Created by: Young Communist League, American, founded 1920
• Subject of: Angelo Braxton Herndon, American, 1913 - 1997
• Subject of: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, American, 1882 - 1945
• Subject of: Allied Printing Trades Council, founded 1911
• Type: bifolia
• Type: leaflets
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (closed): 8 5/8 × 5 7/8 in. (21.9 × 14.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (open): 8 5/8 × 11 in. (21.9 × 27.9 cm)
• Place printed: Buffalo, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Government
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Race relations
• Object number: 2015.125.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.