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District of Columbia

Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for District of Columbia.

237Documented
6In custody
230Released

Eras of repression in District of Columbia

Where District of Columbia’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.

1910s 159 2020s 19 1980s 12 2010s 8 1800s 8 1970s 6

Documented cases

237 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

D
Dr. Sarah H. Lockrey
Released
Dr. Sarah Hunt Lockrey (April 21, 1863 - November 8, 1929) was a Philadelphia surgeon and a member of the Nati...
R
Roger Ludwig
Released
Roger Ludwig was a poet and musician engaged in work with the poor in Washington, DC. He was a two-time Plowsh...
A
Annie J. Magee
Released
Annie J. Magee was recorded among the members of the National Woman's Party jailed during the 1917-1919 campai...
Z
Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi
Released
Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi, 26, climbed the Christopher Columbus statue in DCs Columbus Circle on July 24, 2024 and...
E
Effie B. Main
Released
Effie May Boutwell Main, later Roussell (August 25, 1878 - March 31, 1950), was a member of the National Woman...
J
Jack D. McIntosh
Released
The pressmen's strike against The Washington Post began before dawn on October 1, 1975, when members of Local...
E
Elizabeth McShane
Released
Elizabeth McShane (November 9, 1891 - August 13, 1976), later Elizabeth McShane Hilles, was a member of the Na...
M
Mike Miles
Released
Mike Miles was a peace activist who took part in Catholic Worker resistance to war and nuclear weapons. He des...
M
Martha W. Moore
Released
Martha W. Moore was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
E
Elizabeth Moos
Released
Elizabeth Moos was an educator and a co-defendant of W. E. B. Du Bois in the 1951 prosecution of the officers...
M
Mildred Morris
Released
Mildred Morris was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
G
Gertrude Murphy
Released
Gertrude E. Murphy, later Gertrude Murphy Schneller and also spelled Sneller, was born about 1891 and was a me...
I
Irving Murray
Released
Irving Murray was one of a group of Black youths indicted for the first-degree murder of Park Policeman Milo K...
G
Gwendolyn Myers
Released
Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers (codename Agent 123) was the wife and co-conspirator of Walter Kendall Myers, the...
E
Eugene E. O'Sullivan
Released
The pressmen's strike against The Washington Post began before dawn on October 1, 1975, when members of Local...
M
Margaret Oakes
Released
Margaret Oakes was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during...
E
Edna Mary Purtell
Released
Edna Mary Purtell (February 1899 - December 8, 1985) was a Connecticut member of the National Woman's Party an...
J
John H. Raffo
Released
The pressmen's strike against The Washington Post began before dawn on October 1, 1975, when members of Local...
M
Marie Richardson
Released
Marie Richardson was a Black Progressive Party leader in Washington, D.C. convicted in March 1952 of falsely d...
M
Mrs. George E. Roewer
Released
Mrs. George E. Roewer was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned...
M
Marguerite Rossette
Released
Marguerite Rossette was a member of the National Woman's Party and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned du...
P
Patricia Rusk
Released
Patricia Rusk participated in the Assembly of Unrepresented People’s antiwar sit-down in Washington, D.C. She...
C
Cecil E. Rust
Released
The pressmen's strike against The Washington Post began before dawn on October 1, 1975, when members of Local...
E
Edward Sayres
Released
Edward Sayres was captain and owner of the schooner Pearl, chartered for the April 1848 mass escape of more th...

Institutions in District of Columbia

Prisons, jails, and detention centers in District of Columbia that appear in the census’s case files.

District of Columbia JailWashington, District of Columbia
7 cases
District of Columbia Department of CorrectionsWashington, District of Columbia
6 cases
Washington County JailWashington, District of Columbia
5 cases
War Tax ResistanceWashington, District of Columbia
4 cases
D.C. Central Detention FacilityWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
Old Capitol PrisonWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
U.S. District Court for the District of ColumbiaWashington, District of Columbia
2 cases
Washington, D.C. JailWashington, District of Columbia
1 case