Ebenezer weighs in on the trial of Bruno Hauptmann, the man sentenced to death in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. My father, having been a court reporter before he was a columnist, was apparently fascinated by the trial. He also had a few things to say about the racial implications of the story. William Allen, the truck driver who found the corpse in the woods, was apparently a “Negro” who got little recognition. He also drew parallels with this case and the trial of the Scottsboro boys. In both cases, suspects were tried in the media, as well as in the courts, but Hauptmann got a fair trial, my dad says, the Scottsboro boys did not. Of course, questions still remain as to whether the Hauptmann was framed, but we get his point.
I like the final item about the white girl who defied her parents by marrying a “mulatto” man. But my favorite is closer to the top when he talks about his hobbies: eating, catching a good show and drinking good gin occasionally.” Hear, hear! I’m headed to a show at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco tonight and am looking forward to a great dinner with friends. And, yes, I’ve been known to enjoy a Bombay martini and a Tanqueray and tonic more than occasionally. Once again, the apple does not fall far from the tree!
The New York Age, January 19, 1935
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