From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jimmy Wilson (handyman)
Jimmy Wilson (handyman)
Jimmy Wilson born in 1903 or 1904,[1] was an African-
Wilson, Injustice", University of Southern California Law
American handyman who was convicted of robbery and School, 2007, p.5
sentenced to death by an all-White jury in a Marion, [3] Des Moines Register, August 23, 1958, quoted in
Alabama court in 1958 for stealing $1.95 from a White Bryson, Bill, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid,
American woman, Esteele Barker.[2] According to the Des 2006, ISBN 978-0-552-15546-5, p.175
Moines Register, "a court official suggested that the jury [4] Dudziak, Mary L., "The Case of ’Death for a Dollar
had been influenced by the fact that Mrs. Barker told Ninety-Five: Finding America in American
the jury that Wilson had spoken to her in a disrespectful Injustice", University of Southern California Law
tone".[3] School, 2007, pp.10-11
The case received international coverage, with criti- [5] Ibid, p.15
cal articles appearing in newspapers in Liberia, Canada, [6] Synopsis of: Dudziak, Mary L., Cold War Civil Rights:
Ghana, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Race and the Image of American Democracy, 2002, ISBN
Norway and other countries, and protest groups and pe- 9780691095134
titions from Denmark, Uruguay, Switzerland, Canada, the [7] Dudziak, Mary L., "The Case of ’Death for a Dollar
Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Ja- Ninety-Five: Finding America in American
maica and elsewhere demanding that the death sentence Injustice", University of Southern California Law
be overturned.[4] The US embassy in London received ap- School, 2007, p.18
proximately 600 protest letters a day, and the US em- [8] Ibid
bassy in Dublin 400 a day. The Governor of Alabama re-
ceived "an average of 1,000 letters a day from all over the
world" urging clemency for Wilson. The British Labour
Further reading
Party and the International Commission of Jurists like- • Mary L. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights Race and the
wise sent letters urging clemency.[5] Image of American Democracy (Berkeley, 2001).
The sentence "was overturned only after intense in- Persondata
ternational attention and the interference of an embar- Name Wilson, Jimmy
rassed John Foster Dulles".[6] It was commuted to a life
sentence by Governor Jim Folsom, on September 29, Alternative names
1958.[7] Wilson was eventually paroled in 1973.[8] Short description
Date of birth
References Place of birth
[1] He was 70 years old on or before October 1, 1973, Date of death
when he was paroled. Place of death
[2] Dudziak, Mary L., "The Case of ’Death for a Dollar
Ninety-Five: Finding America in American
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