The New York Times,

]> PUBLIC "-//The New York Public Library//TEXT (US::NN::Sc Micro R-2476::Trenton Six Collection, 1949-1956)//ENG" "sctrentn.xml" Inventory of the Trenton Six Collection, 1949-1956 Processed by Debra Carter; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.

Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, April 1999. Revised by Terry Catapano April 2000 Description is in English October 16, 2006 EAD v1.0 finding aid converted to EAD 2002 using UC Berkeley's eadv1to2002.pl perl script. Inventory of the Trenton Six Collection, 1949-1956 Sc Micro R 2476 (Sc MG 196) Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The New York Public Library New York, New York Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. New York Public Library. 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY 10037-1801 (212) 491-2224 scmarbref@nypl.org http://nypl.org/research/sc/scm/marb.html Processed by: Debra Carter Date Completed: May 1977 Encoded By: Apex Data Services; Terry Catapano

Preface

This inventory is one of several prepared as a part of the archival preservation program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the Research Libraries of The New York Public Library.

The Schomburg archival preservation program involves the organization and preservation of primary source material held by the Center and of significance to the study of the Black Experience. It furthermore includes the preparation of detailed inventories of these records, making the information contained therein accessible as well as available to scholars.

The necessary staff and supplies for this program were made available through a combination of funds and services provided by the Research Libraries, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the State of New York.

Descriptive Summary Trenton Six Collection, 1949-1956 Sc Micro R 2476 (Sc MG 196) 1 reel microfilm The New York Public Library Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture English History 1948, January 27 William Horner, a seventy-two year old junk shop dealer, was killed and his common-law wife beaten in Trenton, New Jersey. Although the motive of such actions was allegedly robbery, the police found over $1500 on Mr. Horner's person. 1948, February 11 The Trenton police, pressured into an early solution to the case, arrested the following men: Ralph Cooper, 24, Collis English, 23, McKinley Forrest, 35, John McKenzie, 24, James Thorpe, 24, and Horace Wilson, 37. These young black men, all arrested without warrants, were held incommunicado and questioned for as long as four days before being brought before a magistrate. Shortly after their arrest, five of the six men charged with the slaying signed confessions. 1948, June 7 The State of New Jersey opened its case against the six based on the five signed confessions. The defendants were assigned four attorneys, one of whom was black. 1948, August 6 Although the defendants had since repudiated their confessions, all six men were convicted and sentenced to death. All six had been able to provide alibis, and serious doubt had also been placed on the legality of the confessions. An appeal was filed and an automatic stay of execution granted. 1948, Fall Through the tireless efforts of Mrs. Bessie Mitchell, sister of Collis English, the help of the Civil Rights Congress was enlisted. The Civil Rights Congress hired O. John Rogge, William Patterson and Solomon Golat to seek a reversal of the court decision. Mrs. Mitchell's outraged cries at union meetings, mass rallies and almost any place that would grant her the opportunity to speak placed world-wide focus on the Trenton Six. 1949, June 30 Due to the aid of the Communist Party, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, other organizations and individuals such as Paul Robeson, an appeal was granted. 1951, February 5 Prosecutor Mario Volpe's attack of appendicitis caused a delay in the second trial of the Trenton Six. 1951, March 5 The second trial was resumed. 1951, June 14 The jury handed down a verdict acquitting four of the defendants. Collis English and Ralph Cooper were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. 1951, September 11 An appeal was made for the two remaining victims. 1952, November A new trial was ordered for English and Cooper. 1952, December 31 Collis English died in prison. 1953, February Faced with another trial and additional time in prison, Ralph Cooper, last of the Trenton Six confessed to having been present along with the other five men at the scene of the Horner crime. In light of the time already served, Cooper was paroled shortly thereafter and disappeared. Scope And Content Note

The Trenton Six Collection (1949, March-1956, October) consists entirely of newspaper clippings and press releases, organized in two chronological sequences. The first section is comprised of three consecutive scrapbooks, and the second is a single chronological file of clippings.

The clippings come from both American and French newspapers, including The New York Times, the New York Post, The Daily Compass, The Herald-News, The Trentonian, The Trenton Times, the National Guardian, the Pittsburgh Courier, the Daily Worker, and Droit et Liberté. The majority of the clippings, especially those from the Daily Worker, were biased in favor of the Trenton Six. These articles stressed the themes of racial discrimination, frame-up and denial of civil rights.

It is interesting to note that, although the crime was actually committed in January 1948, press censorship suppressed publicity of the case for some time. Therefore, the earliest article in this collection is dated March 1949.

Container List 1 Scrapbooks 1 1949, Mar-Jul 1 1949, Jul-1951, Mar 1 1951, May-Jul 1 Chronological File 1 1949, Mar-Dec 1 1950 1 1951 1 1952 1 1953, Jan-Aug 1 1954, Mar 4 1 1955, Mar 27, Sep 22 1 1956, Jan-Oct 1 n.d.