WOODSTOCK'S INFAMOUS MURDER TRIAL: Early Racial Injustice in Upstate New York

When a white man from a prominent local family in Woodstock was murdered in 1905, authorities quickly identified a local African American man as the prime suspect. Amid racist animus in the press, he fled across two counties before being apprehended and charged. This is the story of how politician Augustus H. Van Buren stood up to community pressure and defended the man, pro bono. Illus.