Sydney Nathans Papers
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- Administrative report of the Anti-Klan rally, Greensboro, North Carolina
- This official administrative report of the Greensboro Police Department documents the events surrounding the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan rally where Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) confronted Communist Workers Party (CWP) members and five protestors were killed. The entire report contains a narrative account of the events leading up to the shootings and a detailed account of the actual march and shootings complied through police reports, radio tapes, and interviews with departmental employees. There are also numerous maps and appendices, including leaflets promoting the rally; the parade permit application; copies of the specific legislation discussed at a police briefing on November 3; transcripts of radio tapes at the time of the shooting; list of those arrested, injured, and deceased; and a personnel list. The report was prepared by Captain R.G. Bateman, Lieutenant W.D. Ozment, and Captain D.C. Williams.
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- Come to Greensboro to Join a New Movement for Justice
- This flyer urges attendance at a protest march to be held in Greensboro on February 2, 1980, and includes instructions for participants coming from the Durham area. The flyer most likely relates to a peaceful demonstration mobilized by the National Ant-Klan Network in response to the killings at the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march. According to the flyer, a permit had been secured, as had use of the Greensboro Coliseum. The reverse contains lyrics to protest songs such as <cite class="music">We Shall Not Be Moved and <cite class="music">We Shall Overcome.
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- Federal prosecution in the case of the Greensboro Massacre
- This June 26, 1981 report produced by the Greensboro Justice Fund seeks to clarify several aspects of the pending legal cases surrounding the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march at which five protesters were killed. The report takes a close examination of former U.S. Attorney H.M. Michaux's recommendation that there be a federal indictment and prosecution of those involved with the murders of five Communist Workers Party (CWP) members and attempts to dispel confusion around Michaux's recommendation and what all would be involved in a federal prosecution. The paper disputes assertions that CWP protests were holding up the prosecutions. The Greensboro Justice Fund states its support (and solicits public support) for indictment, for condemnation of the Justice Department's inaction, and for an investigation of any government involvement.
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- Fundraising letter from the Greensboro Justice Fund
- In this fundraising letter dated February 26, 1981, Dr. Marty Nathan, co-executive director of the Greensboro Justice Fund, seeks financial support for the civil rights suit against the Ku Klux Klan, the city of Greensboro, and the federal government following the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march where five protesters were killed. The letter was accompanied by a donation envelope and a copy of the group's February-March 1981 newsletter.
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- Greensboro Justice Fund Newsletter June, 1982
- This issue of the Greensboro Justice Fund Newsletter, dated June/July 1982, includes updates on the federal grand jury's consideration of indictments in the case involving the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979.<br><br> The newsletter includes a letter from Fund Executive Director Marty Nathan, whose husband was killed at the march, several photographs and quotes from various delegation members attending the grand jury hearings, and several short articles. The article mentions the group's call for a special prosecutor in the case and accuses the grand jury of conflict of interest. Also included are commentary on the shooting and trial by supporters of the Greensboro Justice Fund, and articles on the testimony of news reporters who witnessed the shootings and on FBI involvement. The testimony of informant Edward Dawson faced particular scrutiny by the organization and is mentioned in several articles.
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- Greensboro Justice Fund newsletter March, 1981
- This February-March 1981 issue of the Greensboro Justice Fund Newsletter includes several articles about varying aspects of the trial involving the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at the Death to the Klan march in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979. Included is a report of arrests in Greensboro of a Communist Workers Party (CWP) supporter for firebombing. Also included is an update on the civil rights lawsuit filed against Ku Klux Klan members and government agencies, including a criticism of the Justice Department for not having brought criminal charges against the defendants, some of whom it was representing in the civil suit. There are also articles on general anti-Klan activities around the country.
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- Letter from Lewis Brandon III to members of the North Carolina Federation of Progressive Individuals
- This January 15, 1982 form letter invites recipients to attend a meeting of the North Carolina Federation of Progressive Individuals in Greensboro on January 30, 1982. The letter includes details of a leadership meeting held December 12, 1981, which marked the founding of the organization, and of a January 9, 1982 steering committee meeting. At the latter, it was decided that a Solidarity Day march protesting the new right and budget cuts would be held later that year and that the federation would support an action by Triad Citizens Concerned for Central America. Rev. Henry Atkins, of St. Mary's House at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, was a member of both groups. The steering committee also considered how the group would be involved in state elections. The letter was written by Lewis Brandon III on behalf of the organization.
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- Letter to Greensboro Justice Fund donors
- This undated fundraising letter from the Greensboro Justice Fund's Executive Director Neil S. Prose contains news of the first murder trial of Ku Klux Klan members and Nazis for the November 3, 1979 shootings of five members of the Communist Workers Party (CWP). The letter requests financial support for legal assistance and bail for protesters at the trial and at city council meetings. The letters seems to date from the summer of 1980.
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- Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 1, Legal Alliance for Greensboro Justice Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 1
- This first issue of the Legal Alliance for Greensboro Justice Newsletter, dating from circa June, 1980, includes news of the grand jury investigation and trial on the November 3, 1979 "Greensboro Massacre" where five protestors were killed at a "Death to the Klan" march. Reported from the viewpoint of the Communist Workers Party (CWP), articles focus on the CWP's rejection of the proceedings, their refusal to participate or cooperate, the possibility of a government conspiracy, and on organizing activities in Greensboro. It is argued that the victims themselves, as well as the CWP, are being placed on trial, and that this justifies the CWP's lack of cooperation with the government. A cover-up is alleged, and specific points against the Greensboro police department and district attorney's office are outlined. <br><br>Included in this newsletter are photographs of Wilena Cannon being arrested, as well as Nelson Johnson, Roslyn Pelles, Dale Sampson, Wilena Cannon, Paul Bermanzohn and Tom Clark at a press conference. Note that the document may be missing several pages (only ten are present, but a "page 14" is referenced), however all articles included are intact.
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- Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 2, Legal Alliance for Greensboro Justice
- This undated newsletter, published by the Greensboro Justice Fund in late 1980, discusses recent developments in the trial of Nazis and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members accused of shooting five Communist Workers Party (CWP) members on November 3, 1979 at a Death to the Klan march in Greensboro. Articles discuss contempt charges filed against CWP protesters who spoke out at the trial, a CWP protest in New York City, the personal statement of a CWP supporter who was arrested at the trial, and the possibility of US Government involvement in the shootings. Included are photographs of Tom Clark being arrested, and Floris Cauce and Marty Nathan, both wives of slain CWP protesters.
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- Non-violent Silent Vigil to Protest the Killings in Greensboro
- This flyer announces a silent vigil to be held November 7, 1979 in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham, to protest the murder of five Communist Workers Party members at a Death to the Klan march in Greensboro on November 3, 1979. The vigil was organized by an organization calling itself "a group of concerned Triangle area citizens." [The Triangle area refers to Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, NC.]
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- Rebuild the Movement for Black Power!
- This flyer, created by Concerned Citizens Against the Klan of Greensboro, urges a return to the Black Power movement of the 1960s, stating that the movement stalled in the 1970s as black leaders were "bought off, killed off, or jailed and the communities were pacified with numerous poverty programs." The flyer invokes the memory of the early civil rights movement and mass protests, and also places the wealthy and the government alongside the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis as the ones the movement should be fighting. The flyer was most like produced in the aftermath of the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march at which five protesters were killed in Greensboro.
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- Statement on the shootings
- This undated statement expresses "outrage and sorrow" over the deaths of the five Communist Workers Party members killed in Greensboro at the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march. The statement criticizes the Greensboro police, the media characterization of the event as a "shoot-out," and the "increasing violence of the political right." The statement is signed by "a group of concerned triangle citizens." [The triangle refers to the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, NC area.]
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- Turn Grief Into Strength! Avenge the CWP 5!
- This flyer, issued by the Communist Workers Party (CWP), and dating from early November, 1979, urges attendance at a protest march to be held November 11 in Greensboro. The flyer includes accusations of a conspiracy involving the FBI and the US Government and demands vengeance for the deaths of five CWP members killed in Greensboro on November 3, 1979 at the Death to the Klan march. Also included are instructions for marchers coming from Durham and Chapel Hill.
