JOHNSON, JACK SENTENCED TO JAIL NEWSPAPER (1913)

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Regular price $275.00

HISTORY: On October 18, 1912, Jack Johnson was arrested on the grounds that his relationship with Lucille Cameron violated the Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to her being an alleged prostitute. Her mother also swore that her daughter was insane. Cameron, soon to become his second wife, refused to cooperate and the case fell apart. Less than a month later, Johnson was arrested again on similar charges. This time, the woman, another alleged prostitute named Belle Schreiber, with whom he had been involved in 1909 and 1910, testified against him. In the courtroom of Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the future Commissioner of Baseball who perpetuated the baseball color line until his death, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in June 1913, despite the fact that the incidents used to convict him took place before passage of the Mann Act. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Johnson skipped bail and left the country, joining Lucille in Montreal on June 25, before fleeing to France. To flee to Canada, Johnson posed as a member of a black baseball team. For the next seven years, they lived in exile in Europe, South America and Mexico. Johnson returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920. He surrendered to federal agents at the Mexican border and was sent to the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth to serve his sentence in September 1920. He was released on July 9, 1921. Offered here is an original and complete copy of The Sacramento Union dated June 5, 1913 which features a cover story on the original sentencing of Jack Johnson for the Mann Act violations pertaining to his involvement with Belle Schreiber. Judge Carpenter sentenced Johnson to a year and a day and a $1,000 fine, the jail time to be served in Joliet Penitentiary due to crowed conditions in the federal prison at Leavenworth.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, 14 page newspaper, The Sacramento Union, which pictures Jack Johnson on the cover with this cover story. Includes original folds. Minor edge wear. Clean inside and out. 17" x 22."

Size: 17" x 22"

Condition: Very Good