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Gus Ringolsky papers, 1901-1948.
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Collection Overview
Title:
Gus Ringolsky papers, 1901-1948Creator/Contributor:
Ringolsky, Gus, 1883-1962, creatorCreator/Contributor:
B'nai B'rithCreator/Contributor:
Western Jewish History Center, 236.Creator/Contributor:
Judah L. Magnes Museum, WJHC 1969.016.Creator/Contributor:
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and LifeCreator/Contributor:
Online Archive of CaliforniaAbstract:
The collection consists of correspondence between attorney Gus Ringolsky and convict Jacob Oppenheimer; legal documents, clippings
and scrapbook pages relating to the Oppenheimer case; a letter (1913) to Ringolsky from Willis Van Devanter, Associate Justice
of the United States Supreme Court, regarding Ringolsky's request for an appeal. Also contains a file of materials on the
case of James W. Finley vs. The People of the State of California (1908-1911); a program for the 1912 Yom Kippur services
held at San Quentin Prison; a program of the Second Western Assembly of the Jewish Chautauqua Society (1912); a program for
a 1901 debate between the debate teams of Oakland High School and Berkeley High School (with Ringolsky debating for Oakland).
The scrapbook pages in the collection (stored in the oversize folder) provide a sense of the public reaction to the trial
of the Oppenheimer, known popularly as the "Human Tiger."
Date:
1901 (issued)Subject:
n-us-caCapital punishment -- California
Jews -- California
Murderers -- California
Prisoners -- California
Prisons -- California
Yom Kippur
Peine de mort -- Californie
Juifs -- Californie
Meurtriers -- Californie
Prisonniers -- Californie
Prisons -- Californie
Yom Kippour
Yom Kippur
Capital punishment
Jews
Murderers
Prisoners
Prisons
Yom Kippur
California
California State Prison at San Quentin.
Folsom Prison.
California State Prison at San Quentin
Folsom Prison
Ringolsky, Gus -- 1883-1962 -- Archives
Oppenheimer, Jacob -- -1913
Oppenheimer, Jacob -- -1913
Jewish lawyers
Note:
Formerly: Western Jewish History Center Collection Number 236.
Formerly: Judah L. Magnes Museum Collection Number WJHC 1969.016.
UNARRANGED COLLECTION. UNAVAILABLE FOR USE. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Curator
of Collections, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library, using the Online Research Request form.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.
Transfer; Judah L. Magnes Museum; 2010.
Gus Ringolsky was an Oakland-born attorney whose first case involved the defense of notorious murderer Jacob Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer, jailed since 1889 in Folsom and San Quentin prisons, was executed in 1913 for a murder he committed while a prisoner
in San Quentin. Ringolsky appealed to California courts and the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to revoke a California law
passed in 1901 making it a capital offense for a prisoner serving a life sentence to commit assault. The law was passed by
the California legislature specifically in response to Oppenheimer's repeated violent attacks on other prisoners and guards.
Ringolsky, who defended Oppenheimer without receiving any financial compensation, also conducted Jewish holiday services at
San Quentin prison for several years. In 1947, he defended Chinese U.S. Army veterans who were being held incommunicado by
the Immigration Service. A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, Ringolsky was elected a vice-president of the Reserve Officers'
Association, and was also elected a president of the San Francisco chapter of National Sojourners. He also served as a Grand
Orator for B'nai B'rith District Grand Lodge No. 4 and was a fifty-year member of B'nai B'rith's Oakland Lodge, No. 252. He
was also a Freemason; a member of the Scottish Rite; the American Legion; the Civic League Improvement Clubs; and the Judge
Advocates Association of the United States.
Preferred citation: Gus Ringolsky papers, BANC MSS 2010/694, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Materials in English.
Type:
certificates.correspondence.
legal documents.
photographs.
Programs.
Photographs
Archives
Photographs.
Photographies.
Physical Description:
print
1 box and 1 oversize folder (.2 linear ft.)
Language:
English
Identifier:
2006585220
http://magnes.org/scholars/research-information/research-request-form
http://magnesalm.org/notebook_fext.asp?site=magnes&book=156610
Origin:
CaliforniaCopyright Note:
UNARRANGED COLLECTION. UNAVAILABLE FOR USE. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Curator
of Collections, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library, using the Online Research Request form.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.