Learn More → State by State
Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts.
343Documented
1In custody
203Released
3Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Massachusetts
Where Massachusetts’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 103
1920s 40
1800s 32
1970s 30
1980s 27
1910s 27
Recent dashboard entries from Massachusetts
The newest published events and reporting located in Massachusetts, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Prosecution
Judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE gets a rare public reprimand
Arrest
Five arrested during climate protest that blocked traffic in Copley Square
Arrest
Climate protestors block rush hour traffic in downtown Boston
Protest
Protesters demand Charles River Laboratories end beagle testing at its downtown Worcester lab
Arrest
Two arrested plastering anti-ICE posters on a Citizens Bank branch in Boston, part of a campaign over its financing of ICE detention operators
Protest
11 arrested in civil disobedience at Burlington ICE facility
Protest
11 arrested after protesting outside Burlington ICE facility
Protest
Eleven activists arrested trying to deliver care packages to detainees at the Burlington ICE facility
Documented cases
343 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
L
Louis Somme
Louis was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike rep...
L
Loretta Starr
Loretta Starr was seized when Marshal O'Brien's police attacked eighty textile-strikers' children hiking on De...
L
Loretta Starwertz
Loretta was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike r...
C
Charles Stearns
Released
Charles Stearns was an abolitionist and absolute nonresistant who refused, on principle, to perform militia se...
S
Sidney Steinbruk
Sidney Steinbruk is identified in Page 3 among three found guilty November 10 of disturbing the peace and loit...
F
Fritz Stepanovitch
Released
Fritz Stepanovitch was a Socialist from Mattapan, Massachusetts. Fritz Stepanovitch was sentenced to twenty ye...
M
Martha Stone
Martha Stone is identified in Pages 1 and 3's November 10 Lawrence report as an NTWU member and United Front R...
A
Antonio Suares
Released
Antonio Suares — known as Tony — was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) an...
J
John Thompson
John Thompson was a defendant jailed in Boston after the May 1854 attempt to rescue Anthony Burns from renditi...
J
James Tomacchio
James was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike rep...
V
Vincenzi Tomaselli
Vincenzi was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike...
E
Edward Tomiselli
Edward Tomiselli is identified in Page 3 among three found guilty November 10 of disturbing the peace and loit...
T
Thomas Torigian
Thomas Torigian was a Daily Worker seller in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Daily Worker of August 31, 1933, page 2,...
S
Salvatore Tortera
Salvatore was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike...
S
Sebastian Tortore
Sebastian was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike...
S
Semion Towstick
Semion Towstick, also printed as S. Towstick, was arrested with Communist literature in his possession, accord...
V
Vincenzo Tripoli
Vincenzo was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike...
M
Maria Valente
Maria Valente was individually named among four Potomska Mill pickets arrested in New Bedford on the morning o...
J
John Walersyzak
John Walersyzak was a vice president of the New Bedford unit of the Textile Mills Committee. A June 20 dispatc...
E
Ed Walsh
Ed was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report...
J
John Wesley
John Wesley was a defendant jailed in Boston after the May 1854 attempt to rescue Anthony Burns from rendition...
J
John Wheeler
Released
John Wheeler was one of the leaders of Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts. He was convicted of high treason on A...
G
Geoffrey Warner White
Released
Geoffrey Warner White was one of seven Massachusetts Communist Party leaders indicted under the Smith Act on M...
J
James White
Released
James White was one of the leaders of Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts. He was convicted of high treason on Ap...
Institutions in Massachusetts
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Massachusetts that appear in the census’s case files.
Fort WarrenBoston, Massachusetts
75 cases
Norfolk County Jail Dedham, Massachusetts
10 cases
Boston Court House
3 cases
Charlestown State PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Deer Island PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Boston JailBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Hampshire County Jail (Northampton)Northampton, Massachusetts
1 case
Salem, MA federal jailSalem, Massachusetts
1 case