 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Thomas Mooney" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thomas Mooney | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mooney in 1916 | |
| Born | Thomas Joseph Mooney (1882-12-08)December 8, 1882 Chicago, Illinois, US |
| Died | March 6, 1942(1942-03-06) (aged 59) San Francisco, California, US |
| Resting place |
37°40′25″N122°27′19″W / 37.6735°N 122.45519°W /37.6735; -122.45519 |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Wrongful conviction for1916 Preparedness Day bombing |
| Criminal status | Pardoned in 1939 |
| Spouse | Rena Hermann |
| Conviction | First degree murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death, commuted tolife imprisonment |
| Accomplices |
|
Date apprehended | July 26, 1916 |
| Imprisoned at | San Quentin State Prison |
Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist andlabor leader, who was convicted withWarren K. Billings of theSan FranciscoPreparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that Mooney and Billings had been convicted based on falsified evidence and perjured testimony; and the Mooney case and campaigns to free him became an international cause célèbre for two decades, with a substantial number of publications demonstrating the falsity of the conviction. These publications and the facts of the case are surveyed in Richard H. Frost, The Mooney Case (Stanford University Press, 1968). Mooney served 22 years in prison before being pardoned in 1939.
The son ofIrish immigrants, Mooney was born inChicago,Illinois on December 8, 1882. His father, Bernard, had been acoal miner and a militant organizer for theKnights of Labor in struggles so intense that after one fight he was left for dead. Bernard Mooney died of "miner's con" (silicosis) at the age of 36, when Tom, the eldest of three surviving children, was ten years old. Tom's sister Anna told neighbors that the family had originated inHolyoke,Massachusetts, not Chicago.
Thomas held many jobs as an industrial worker before developing a career as a labor leader andsocialist activist. As a young man, Mooney touredEurope, where he learned about socialism. After arriving inCalifornia, he met his wife Rena, and found a place in theSocialist Party of America and the presidential campaign ofEugene V. Debs. Mooney also became a member of the militant industrial union theIndustrial Workers of the World.[1] In 1910, Mooney won a trip to theSecond International Conference inCopenhagen by selling a huge number of subscriptions to the socialistWilshire Magazine. On his way home, he visited theBritishTrades Union Congress inSheffield,England.[2]
Ten deaths and forty injuries resulted from the explosion in the midst of the Preparedness Day parade. The bombing took place at the height of anarchist violence in the United States, especially theGalleanistanarcho-communist movement ofLuigi Galleani.[3]
Mooney and Billings were convicted in separate trials. Mooney was sentenced to be hanged and Billings to life imprisonment. Rena Mooney and Weinberg were acquitted.
In 1918, Mooney's sentence was changed to life imprisonment by GovernorWilliam Stephens. Mooney quickly became one of the most famouspolitical prisoners in America. A worldwide campaign to free Tom Mooney followed. During that time his wife Rena,Bulletin editorFremont Older, anarchistsAlexander Berkman andEmma Goldman,Lucy Robins Lang, heiressAline Barnsdall,Hollywood celebrities, international politicians, and many other well-known people campaigned for his release.[4][5]Caroline Decker, a labor activist who later became active in California agricultural unionism, first went to California as part of a "Free Tom Mooney" delegation.[6] While imprisoned, Mooney corresponded with fellow union leaderNed Cobb of theAlabamaSharecroppers' Union.[7]
During his time at San Quentin, Mooney was a highly dependableorderly in the prison hospital.Dorothea Lange went to the prison to photograph him, and one of the photographs she took was used in a poster published by the Tom Mooney Defense Committee.[8]
In 1931, New York City MayorJimmy Walker made a solidarity visit to Tom's sister Anna's house in San Francisco's Mission District.[9]
Mooney filed awrit of habeas corpus which was heard by theUnited States Supreme Court in 1937. Even though he presented evidence that his conviction was obtained through the use of perjured testimony and that the prosecution had suppressed favorable evidence, his writ was denied because he had not first filed a writ in state court. Nevertheless, his case is important because it helped establish that a conviction based upon false evidence violatesdue process. Mooney was pardoned in 1939 by liberalDemocratic governorCulbert Olson.
He was old from years in prison, sick withulcers andjaundice. He had not worn his martyrdom well; he broke with modest Billings, who was convicted with him but somehow was never regarded as a martyr; he wasestranged from his wife; his former colleagues in the labor movement often found him to be selfish and conceited.[10]
Mooney then campaigned for Billings's release although the two men had become estranged. He traveled around the country making speeches. He drew a full house atMadison Square Garden inNew York City. Billings was released in 1939 and pardoned in 1961.[11]
After attempting a lecture tour, Mooney collapsed from illness. TheCalifornia Federation of Labor turned down a resolution to pay his bills, as his politics were deemed too radical.[10] While dying in a San Francisco hospital, Mooney, at 59, had only a few visitors, and only a few letters from friends. From his bed he helped advance a campaign to free CommunistEarl Browder as Chairman of the "Citizens' Committee to Free Earl Browder."[10]
Mooney died at Saint Luke's Hospital in San Francisco on March 6, 1942. A large funeral celebration was held at theSan Francisco Civic Auditorium. He is interred atCypress Lawn Memorial Park inColma, California.[12]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Media related toThomas Mooney at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
