African American Radical Labor Memoir and Legal Struggle in Angelo Herndon’s Let Me Live, 1937

Angelo Herndon Uncorrected Galley Proof

Book

Herndon, Angelo. Let Me Live, 1937, a radical autobiographical account of African American labor organizing and state repression during the Jim Crow era. The work addresses racialized legal control and labor suppression through Herndon’s arrest, prosecution, and legal defense under Georgia’s insurrection law. Herndon’s narrative records his 1932 arrest for organizing Black and white workers and possessing political literature, with local and state authorities applying laws originally designed to suppress slave revolts to twentieth-century labor activism.

Herndon, Angelo. Let Me Live. New York: Random House, 1937. Uncorrected galley proof. The volume consists of typeset pages printed on one side only and sequentially marked “Galley 1,” “Galley 2,” and so forth, indicating its use in pre-publication review. Bound in plain brown wrappers with a typed label reading “An ‘A’ Book to be considered at the meeting to be held,” and a handwritten note above stating “Published Summer 1937 $2.15.” The text presents Herndon’s account of his early life, political development, arrest in Atlanta, and prosecution under an 1861 Georgia insurrection statute, which resulted in a sentence of 18 to 20 years on a chain gang. The narrative includes discussion of his legal defense and eventual release following the Supreme Court decision in Herndon v. Lowry (1937). Produced with assistance from journalist William L. Patterson and the International Labor Defense, the work combines personal testimony with political analysis of racial inequality and class struggle.

Issued during a period of heightened labor unrest and racial segregation, Let Me Live records legal strategies used to suppress interracial organizing in the South. The galley proof format preserves the book’s editorial and production process, reflecting its circulation within publishing and political networks prior to final release. Herndon’s case became a focal point for national and international advocacy, placing the text within broader movements addressing civil rights, labor rights, and judicial reform. Wear to wrappers, including marking to front cover and some dog-eared pages; text pages clean with sound binding; overall very good condition. A pre-publication state of an African American labor and legal narrative.

Item #21854

Price: $550.00