Name: Red Raids, Communist Fears

Date: 1900 - 1925

Location: North America

SubjectPolitical/Economic/Social Opinion

MediumPersonal Opinion


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Artist: 4,000 Russian, Finnish, Polish,German, Italian workers in U.S.

Confronting Bodies: Woodrow Wilson's Administration

Date of Action: 1920

Specific Location: United States

Description of Artwork:  The "Red Raids" or "Palmer Raids", named after their director Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, were made on innocent alien workers in the United States including; Russians, Finnish, Polish, Germans and Italians.

Description of Incident: American uneasiness about the threat of Communism initiated a series of raids on those people suspected to be a threat to American democracy. "On January 2, 1920, one minute after midnight, about 500 FBI agents and police swooped down on (alien workmen), looking for Communists to deport. The victims were hustled off to jail and arrested without warrants, homes were ransacked without legal authorization, and all literature and letters were seized." The First Freedom Today, Robert Downs, ALA, Chicago, 1984, pg. 6-7

Results of Incident: Two-hundred and forty people were deported.

Source: New York Public Library, New York City

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