GAVAGAN, JOSEPH A. A Bill to assure persons within the jurisdiction of every State equal protection of the laws, and to punish the crime of lynching. House of Representatives, H.R. 143. 4 pages, on single folio sheet, folded. WITH printed letter from

GAVAGAN, JOSEPH A. A Bill to assure persons within the jurisdiction of every State equal protection of the laws, and to punish the crime of lynching. House of Representatives, H.R. 143. 4 pages, on single folio sheet, folded. WITH printed letter from Gavagan, author of the bill, to his constituents, on Congressional letterhead. Washington, D. C., 1937 E250/350 1937 was a key year in the history of civil rights abuses in the South. Lynching was commonplace, rarely if ever punished Angelo Herndon was still in jail; the Scottsboro Boys case had just been resolved; it seemed time for such a bill. Gavagan urges his constituents to write to Senators Royall Copeland and Robert Wagner to support the bill in Senate.