37

Otto Hagel

1909-1973

Portrait of Tom Mooney. 1936.

Silver print
With the "photo by Hagel" stamp, the "Hansel and Otto Hagel" stamp, a copyright in ink, and the sitter's name and date in pencil on mount verso.
The image 12 7/8 x 10 1/8 in. (32.7 x 25.7 cm.), flush mounted

  • Provenance:
    The photographer Hansel Mieth, Hagel's wife; to A Country Called California: The Collection of Stephen White
  • Literature:
    Stephen White, foreword by Lynell George, A Country Called California, Photographs 1850s to 1960s (Angel City Press, 2022), p. 92
  • Notes:
    Thomas Joseph Mooney was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that Mooney and Billings had been convicted based on falsified evidence and perjured testimony and the Mooney case and campaigns to free him became an international cause célèbre for two decades.

    Woody Guthrie, whose portrait is offered in this sale as lot 38, wrote a song to celebrate Mooney's release in 1939 titled "Tom Mooney is Free:"
    Well the Truth caint be tied with a chain.
    Well the Truth caint be tied with a chain.
    From the cold clammy halls of the San Quentin walls,
    Mister Tom Mooney is Free.
  • Condition: For condition reports, email Deborah Rogal at [email protected]

    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

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February 12, 2026 12:00 PM EST
New York, NY, US

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