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James Smitten arrested
At 8.45PM a doctor from Harlem Hospital attended Smitten in the 28th Precinct station house to treat lacerations of scalp “which he received in some unknown manner,” according to the hospital records. Those injuries could have come in a struggle with Kitlitz, or at the hands of police, as was the case with a number of those arrested during the course of the disorder. Smitten remained at the precinct after treatment. Other than that hospital record, there is no other evidence of Smitten's injury; he does not appear in any newspaper's list of the injured.
Smitten’s arrest occurred early enough on March 19 that he was arraigned that evening, in the Night Court, one of only three of those arrested who appeared in court prior to March 20 (the two others were Claude Jones and Leo Smith). The New York Herald Tribune reported Magistrate Capshaw remanded him for investigation until Saturday, but there is no record of the outcome of his legal proceedings.
Only two sources connect Smitten and Kitlitz. The hospital record identifies Smitten as having been arrested for assaulting Kitlitz. Only the story in the New York Herald Tribune describes the assault, but mistakenly identifies Smitten as Smith. In addition, Smitten appears in lists of those arrested for assault in the Afro-American, Atlanta World, Norfolk Journal and Gazette, New York Evening Journal, and New York Daily News (Another man named James Smith was arrested during the disorder, for robbery. Smith lived at a different address than Smitten, and is younger, but is confused with Smitten and given Smitten’s address in reports in the New York American and New York Daily News)
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This page references:
- "Harlem Riot Damage is Figured at Half Million," Afro-American, March 30, 1935, 1, 2.
- "1 Dead, 7 shot, 100 Hurt as Harlem Crowds Riot over Boy, 16, and Hearse," New York Herald Tribune, March 20, 1935, 1.
- "List of Dead And Injured In Riot In New York City," Norfolk Journal and Gazette, March 30, 1935, 18.
- "Says Economic Conditions in Harlem Are Bad," Atlanta World, March 27, 1935, 1, 2.
- "List of Those under Arrest in Harlem Riot and the Charges They Face," New York Evening Journal, March 20, 1935, 3.
- "Medical Attendances, 19-20 March 1935," Harlem: Mayor's Commission on Conditions (1), Subject Files, Box 167, Folder 5 (Roll 76), Records of Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, 1934-1945 (New York City Municipal Archives).
- "Jailed for Rioting," New York Daily News, March 20, 1935, 4.