[PROTEST] [BLACK AMERICANA]. Photo- collage poster in defense of convicted serial killer Lemuel Smith; first convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer by Anonymous: With three variants of a smaller photocopied poster.
by Anonymous
[PROTEST] [BLACK AMERICANA]. Photo- collage poster in defense of convicted serial killer Lemuel Smith; first convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer: With three variants of a smaller photocopied poster.
by Anonymous
- Used
[BLACK AMERICANA]. [Joseph Ben-David]. Unique photo-montage poster created in defense of convicted serial killer Lemuel Smith, thefirst convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer in America.
[Xerography] With three variants of smaller photocopied poster-fliers.
Appropriation Art/ Protest:
Photography: A striking folk art Poster created to protest the trial, treatment and sentencing of convicted multiple murderer Lemuel Smith, c. 1984, being a collage of photographs reprinting a detail from a grainy newspaper image of Smith being led in handcuffs.
Collage is made-up of glossy photographic prints, most approx. 9 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches, held together by office tape and edged with a type of binder's tape. This was likely created as a camera-ready maquette for a poster, with seams and some touch ups inked by hand.
Together with three photocopies in various sizes of a drawing based on this image, the larger one (22 x 15.5 inches) being two photocopied sheets pasted together.
Lot also includes a photocopied letter to Lemuel W. Smith from Gov. Cuomo's office, April 1, 1985, denying his request to reinvestigate "several criminal cases."
The photo-collage and smaller images are artifacts from the divisive murder trial of convicted serial killer Lemuel Smith, an African American man found guilty of multiple murders. While in prison, in 1981, Smith brutally murdered Donna Payant, the first female U.S. corrections officer to be killed on the job. He was sentenced to death and sat on death row until his attorneys— William Kunstler and C. Vernon Mason —successfully petitioned to have the sentence commuted to life in prison. For most of the time since his conviction Smith, now in his 80's, has been confined to solitary detention, by some measures a record length of time.
The case was a media sensation, with many convinced that Smith was not only guilty but something of a monster deserving to be put to death. These ephemeral pieces are rare examples of protest material sympathetic to Smith's cause, produced by NYC's Church of Humanism, where Joseph Ben-David, a lifelong social activist, became a vocal supporter of Smith, co-founding a defense committee, and even visiting him in prison. Smith was the subject of his sermon on December 29, 1984, The Case of Lemuel Smith - Justice and Truth. The crux of Smith's defense was that he suffered from mental illness and believed an unborn brother took possession of his body and committed the murders. As a Humanist, Ben-David was likely drawn to Smith's case at least in part through a heightened awareness of racial injustice, having been active in Civil Rights protests, and also a core belief that all life has value.
Condition is good with expected wear from the materials used, such as toning, tape burns, etc., creases from being stored folded. Decades later, after the Black Lives Matter protests and the murder of George Floyd, with the details of the case largely forgotten, the image of a handcuffed Black man seems newly relevant and impactful, & Ben-David's claims of systemic injustice and racial bias prescient.
- Seller The John Bale Books LLC (US)
- Book Condition Used
- Quantity Available 1
- Keywords ABAA-BIB-WEEK, Protest, Black Americana, African American, Crime, Photography, Art,, Archive, ephemera, Texas, Newspapers, Rhode Island, Boston
We have 38 copies available starting at $25.00.
Recollections of the Court Room or, Narratives, Scenes and Anecdotes from Courts of Justice by Burke, Peter
by Burke, Peter
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Binghamton, New York, United States
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Le Court Leete et Court Baron
by KITCHIN, John
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FORMULARIUM LEGALE PRACTICUM FORI ECCLESIASTICI IN QUO FORMULAE EXPEDITIONUM USUFREQUENTIUM DE HIS, QUAE PERTINENT AD OFFICIUM JUDICIS NOBILE, CONTINENTUR
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Foligno (PG), Italy
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Ein Neues Lied Von der Mord-Geschichte des Joseph Miller, Welcher..
by Broadside; Murder-Suicide; Pennsylvania
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OPERA CANONICA QUAE HACTENUS IN LUCEM PRODIERUNT
by Zeger Bernard Van Espen
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Recollections of the Court Room or, Narratives, Scenes and Anecdotes from Courts of Justice by Burke, Peter
by Burke, Peter
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Le Court Leete et Court Baron
by KITCHIN, John
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London, United Kingdom
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FORMULARIUM LEGALE PRACTICUM FORI ECCLESIASTICI IN QUO FORMULAE EXPEDITIONUM USUFREQUENTIUM DE HIS, QUAE PERTINENT AD OFFICIUM JUDICIS NOBILE, CONTINENTUR
by Francesco Monacelli
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Foligno (PG), Italy
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Ein Neues Lied Von der Mord-Geschichte des Joseph Miller, Welcher..
by Broadside; Murder-Suicide; Pennsylvania
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OPERA CANONICA QUAE HACTENUS IN LUCEM PRODIERUNT
by Zeger Bernard Van Espen
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[Regional Cookbook from Idaho; no author, title, or date.]
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Portland, Oregon, United States
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Moiva i Terpug (Fish Recipes - Capelin and Rasp)
by Anonymous
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Fremont, California, United States
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[Snake]
by anonymous
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Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines
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[Snake with monkey]
by anonymous
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The Story Book in Verse
by Anonymous
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A Pair of Ornate, Mid-19th-century Textile Labels
by Anonymous
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Fremont, California, United States
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"Conundrum Social" Menu
by Anonymous
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Fremont, California, United States
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Menu for Christmas Eve, 1889, for Van Ness and American Hotels
by Anonymous
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Coos and Essex Agricultural Fair. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 14th, 15th and 16th, 1886 (Horse Racing)
by Anonymous
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Order of Exercises at the Annual Meeting of the Essex Agricultural Society, At the Unitarian Meeting House, Danvers, Sept. 30, 1835, at Three O'Clock, P. M.
by Anonymous
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Fremont, California, United States
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The Sky and the Forest
by Forester, C.S
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Samuel The Seeker
by Sinclair, Upton
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Salem, Oregon, United States
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Shoot to Kill?
by Asmal, Kader
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Remembered Death (aka Sparkling Cyanide) G&D Hardcover w/DJ 1945
by Christie, Agatha
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Three Blind Mice (Agatha Christie Mystery Collection)
by Christie, Agatha
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Rumpole and the Angel of Death
by John Mortimer
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The Man In The Brown Suit
by Christie, Agatha
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Dead-Eye Dick
by Vonnegut, Kurt
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Jailbird
by Vonnegut, Kurt
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Histoire du Procès de la France par Auguste Johanet
by Johanet, Auguste
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