workingclasshistory:

On this day, 3 August 1929, a children’s summer camp run by socialists just outside Los Angeles was raided, and six mostly young women and one man arrested. The raid was conducted by members of the American Legion, led by the District Attorney. 19-year-old communist Yetta Stromberg was one of those arrested, and later convicted and jailed along with five other women for having a red flag. Stromberg was sentenced to 1-10 years imprisonment, with the other defendants receiving 6 months to 5 years in San Quentin prison. The one man who was convicted, World War I veteran Isadore Berkowitz, hanged himself after the verdict. California was one of 24 states which in 1919 banned the flying of red or black socialist or anarchist flags: a crime often punishable by sentences of 10 years or more. Stromberg eventually took her case to the Supreme Court and in 1931 the court overturned the bans as violating the first Amendment right to free speech. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1491540981031047/?type=3