Faculty Sponsor
Peter Acsay
Final Abstract for URS Program
In the 20th century, the United States government used deportation as a tool to circumvent certain Constitutional protections in order to crack down on radicalism. This tactic was used in both the first and second “Red Scares.” In the 1940 and 1950s, a St. Louis deportation case rose to national prominence as it progressed through the federal court system. Antonia Sentner was the wife of Communist Party U.S.A. member and local labor leader, William Sentner. Her requests for naturalization were denied, even though her husband and children were born in the United States and she had lived here since she was 8 years old. This denial was on the basis of a short time in the early 1930s when Antonia had briefly been a member of CPUSA. This case reached the Supreme Court where the decision to deport her was struck down. This study is based on previously uncited primary sources.
Document Type
Poster
Included in
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