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Fourteen scientists ask president Richard Nixon “to safeguard the life of Angela Davis and give her an opportunity of continuing her scientific work,” during her forthcoming trial.
1970 (Dec 27)
The U.S. State Department invited fourteen leading Soviet scientists to attend the forthcoming murder trial of former University of California professor and avowed communist, Angela Davis, to ensure that she would receive a fair trial. The invitation was personally sanctioned by President Richard Nixon. The offer was an apparent response to a cablegram sent by the fourteen scientists to the president asking him "to safeguard the life of Angela Davis and give her an opportunity of continuing her scientific work." According to U.S. officials, the government's quick response was due to the high regard in which the scientists were held by professional colleagues in America. Among the fourteen scientists were: Igor P. Tamm, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and Pyotr L. Kapitsa, the Dean of Soviet Physicists. This was the first time Soviet personalities were invited to observe American judicial proceedings.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.