Angela Atwood
Encyclopedia
Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood (6 Feb. 1949 – 17 May 1974) was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army
(SLA), a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.
suburb of North Haledon
near Paterson, New Jersey
. The daughter of a local Teamsters
official, DeAngelis was active in many student leadership groups and was captain of the cheerleading squad. She starred in many school musicals and quietly tutored and befriended classmates others ignored. She was voted Most School Spirit by her peers while attending Manchester Regional High School. At Indiana University she met leftwing activist and future husband Gary Atwood. While at school she befriended William and Emily Harris
, sang in the Pickers, a musical group in the Kappa Kappa Gamma
sorority, with former NBC
anchor Jane Pauley
, was involved in theater and majored in education. She graduated in 1970 and began student teaching in Indianapolis
.
(now known as Sara Jane Olson). The two women acted together in a local production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
. Angela and Gary Atwood separated in June 1973. Atwood moved in with the Harrises in early December 1973. She then joined the SLA
along with the Harrises and her new boyfriend, Joseph Remiro. She had a romantic relationship with Russ Little in July 1973. Atwood was possibly the last original SLA member to be sworn to arms.
She is described as well dressed, with a preference for hippie
attire, particularly India
n silk shirts and batik
. Atwood liked such feminine accessories as earrings, jewelry, and rings. A friend described her as "the prima donna
of the whole thing". This person likened Atwood to the woman depicted by Bob Dylan
in "Just Like A Woman
".
Atwood (speaking as "Gelina") was often the voice of the SLA, in the form of tape-recorded press releases. In Patricia Hearst's account of her time with the SLA, she writes that Gelina would spend hours, and sometimes days, perfecting communiques
SLA members believed they were forming an anti-bourgeois ideology of popular rule partly based on the idea that the most oppressed members of society, who were often blacks, must be the ones to lead a revolution against he Establishment. This partly explained their allegiance to their black leader Field Marshal Cinque , born Donald DeFreeze. Atwood, however, many times disagreed with his directives, as when she argued against his issuing a death warrant for two imprisoned S.L.A. members.
Atwood was assigned the task of surveillance in the potential kidnapping of John E. Countryman, formerly Chairman of the Board
of Del Monte Corporation. The surveillance plan gave Countryman's age as 70 years. Atwood was apparently unaware that the late Mr. Countryman had died (July 1972) at the age of 69.
Atwood used the name Anne Lindberg when she visited inmate James Harold (Doc) Holiday on 10 January 1974. This encounter alerted Holiday to the capture of Remiro and Russ Little, who were both linked through strong circumstantial evidence
to the murder of Marcus Foster
, Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, California. They were arrested following a shootout with policemen in Concord, California
. Quickly after Atwood's approach of Holiday, she fled the Oakland, California
home with the Harrises. They left behind clothes, a stereo, personal papers, and three pistol boxes.
apartment by Atwood, Donald DeFreeze
, and
William Harris
, on the night of 4 February 1974.
Hearst's insistence that she was forced by the SLA to make a series of self-incriminating statements was supported by Dr. Margaret Thaler-Singer, a UC-Berkeley clinical psychologist. As an expert on speech patterns who studied the tapes released by the SLA, Thaler-Singer stated that
the speech patterns did not fit the style of Hearst. Rather they resembled the styles of Atwood and Emily Harris
.
Atwood's voice is heard on a taped message of 9 March 1974, used in negotiations with Randolph Hearst for the return of Patty Hearst. Atwood assumed the voice of a black woman and said, "The dream - and indeed it is a dream - of [many on the Left] is that the enemy corporate state will willingly give the stolen riches of the earth back to the people and that this will be accomplished through compromising talk and empty words . . . To this, our bullets scream loudly. The enemy's bloodthirsty greed will be destroyed by the growing spirit of the people and their thirst for freedom. We call upon the people to judge for themselves whether our tactics of waging struggle are correct or incorrect in fighting the enemy by any means necessary."
Patty Hearst testified that Atwood, William Harris, and Nancy Ling Perry
were given to bemoaning their white skin and wishing they were black. SLA members also envied persons, like DeFreeze, who had served time in prison.
Prosecution witness Dr. Joel Fort, a San Francisco, California
physician and criminologist identified Atwood, Perry, and Willie Wolfe as the SLA members Hearst developed the most affectionate bonds for. Fort believed Hearst became a voluntary member of the SLA by March 1, 1974.
, on May 17, 1974, in a shootout with police. It was Atwood's death that prompted Soliah to hold a memorial service for her and other members of the SLA, which ultimately drew Soliah and a few others into the group, giving the SLA life for two more years.
grew up several blocks from Atwood between Prospect Park, New Jersey
and Haledon. In an interview the day after the mass Citro stated that "we must enable these young people to make basic changes in society or more girls like Angela will have to suffer".
Symbionese Liberation Army
The Symbionese Liberation Army was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army...
(SLA), a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.
Background
Angela DeAngelis grew up in the small New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
suburb of North Haledon
North Haledon, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,920 people, 2,626 households, and 2,077 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,300.6 people per square mile . There were 2,675 housing units at an average density of 777.0 per square mile...
near Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
. The daughter of a local Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
official, DeAngelis was active in many student leadership groups and was captain of the cheerleading squad. She starred in many school musicals and quietly tutored and befriended classmates others ignored. She was voted Most School Spirit by her peers while attending Manchester Regional High School. At Indiana University she met leftwing activist and future husband Gary Atwood. While at school she befriended William and Emily Harris
Emily Harris (SLA)
Emily Harris was, along with her husband William Harris , a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a leftist United States group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst...
, sang in the Pickers, a musical group in the Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma is a collegiate women's fraternity, founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois, USA. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted that October 13, 1870 should be recognized at the official Founders Day, because no...
sorority, with former NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
anchor Jane Pauley
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley is an American television journalist, and has been involved in news reporting since 1975...
, was involved in theater and majored in education. She graduated in 1970 and began student teaching in Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
Symbionese Liberation Army
The Atwoods moved to San Francisco, where Angela became friends with Kathleen SoliahKathleen Soliah
Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
(now known as Sara Jane Olson). The two women acted together in a local production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
. Angela and Gary Atwood separated in June 1973. Atwood moved in with the Harrises in early December 1973. She then joined the SLA
Symbionese Liberation Army
The Symbionese Liberation Army was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army...
along with the Harrises and her new boyfriend, Joseph Remiro. She had a romantic relationship with Russ Little in July 1973. Atwood was possibly the last original SLA member to be sworn to arms.
She is described as well dressed, with a preference for hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
attire, particularly India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n silk shirts and batik
Batik
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...
. Atwood liked such feminine accessories as earrings, jewelry, and rings. A friend described her as "the prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
of the whole thing". This person likened Atwood to the woman depicted by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
in "Just Like A Woman
Just Like a Woman
Just Like a Woman is a 1992 British film by Christopher Monger starring Julie Walters, Adrian Pasdar and Paul Freeman. Gerald, a finance executive , finds himself thrown out by his wife when she discovers women's underwear in their flat; in fact the clothes belong to him. He takes lodgings with...
".
Atwood (speaking as "Gelina") was often the voice of the SLA, in the form of tape-recorded press releases. In Patricia Hearst's account of her time with the SLA, she writes that Gelina would spend hours, and sometimes days, perfecting communiques
SLA members believed they were forming an anti-bourgeois ideology of popular rule partly based on the idea that the most oppressed members of society, who were often blacks, must be the ones to lead a revolution against he Establishment. This partly explained their allegiance to their black leader Field Marshal Cinque , born Donald DeFreeze. Atwood, however, many times disagreed with his directives, as when she argued against his issuing a death warrant for two imprisoned S.L.A. members.
Atwood was assigned the task of surveillance in the potential kidnapping of John E. Countryman, formerly Chairman of the Board
Chairman of the Board
The Chairman of the Board is a seat of office in an organization, especially of corporations.Chairman of the Board may also refer to:*Chairman of the Board , a 1998 film*Chairmen of the Board , a 1970s American soul music group...
of Del Monte Corporation. The surveillance plan gave Countryman's age as 70 years. Atwood was apparently unaware that the late Mr. Countryman had died (July 1972) at the age of 69.
Atwood used the name Anne Lindberg when she visited inmate James Harold (Doc) Holiday on 10 January 1974. This encounter alerted Holiday to the capture of Remiro and Russ Little, who were both linked through strong circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
to the murder of Marcus Foster
Marcus Foster
Marcus Albert Foster was a respected African-American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, and as the first black...
, Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, California. They were arrested following a shootout with policemen in Concord, California
Concord, California
Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...
. Quickly after Atwood's approach of Holiday, she fled the Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
home with the Harrises. They left behind clothes, a stereo, personal papers, and three pistol boxes.
Prominent role in Hearst kidnapping
In her trial for armed robbery Patricia Campbell Hearst testified that she was kidnapped from her Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
apartment by Atwood, Donald DeFreeze
Donald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
, and
William Harris
William Harris
William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to:*William Harris , past president of Columbia University*William Harris , NFL player...
, on the night of 4 February 1974.
Hearst's insistence that she was forced by the SLA to make a series of self-incriminating statements was supported by Dr. Margaret Thaler-Singer, a UC-Berkeley clinical psychologist. As an expert on speech patterns who studied the tapes released by the SLA, Thaler-Singer stated that
the speech patterns did not fit the style of Hearst. Rather they resembled the styles of Atwood and Emily Harris
Emily Harris
Emily Harris was, along with her husband William Harris , a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a leftist United States group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst...
.
Atwood's voice is heard on a taped message of 9 March 1974, used in negotiations with Randolph Hearst for the return of Patty Hearst. Atwood assumed the voice of a black woman and said, "The dream - and indeed it is a dream - of [many on the Left] is that the enemy corporate state will willingly give the stolen riches of the earth back to the people and that this will be accomplished through compromising talk and empty words . . . To this, our bullets scream loudly. The enemy's bloodthirsty greed will be destroyed by the growing spirit of the people and their thirst for freedom. We call upon the people to judge for themselves whether our tactics of waging struggle are correct or incorrect in fighting the enemy by any means necessary."
Patty Hearst testified that Atwood, William Harris, and Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry
Nancy Ling Perry also known as Nancy Devote, Lynn Ledworth, and Fahizah was an American member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Background:...
were given to bemoaning their white skin and wishing they were black. SLA members also envied persons, like DeFreeze, who had served time in prison.
Prosecution witness Dr. Joel Fort, a San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
physician and criminologist identified Atwood, Perry, and Willie Wolfe as the SLA members Hearst developed the most affectionate bonds for. Fort believed Hearst became a voluntary member of the SLA by March 1, 1974.
Death in Los Angeles safehouse shootout
Atwood, along with five other founding members of the SLA, including Donald DeFreeze, was killed in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, on May 17, 1974, in a shootout with police. It was Atwood's death that prompted Soliah to hold a memorial service for her and other members of the SLA, which ultimately drew Soliah and a few others into the group, giving the SLA life for two more years.
Eulogy
Atwood was eulogized by the Reverend Joseph Citro, a 25-year-old priest, in a funeral mass in Prospect Park NJ on 26 May 1974. Citrogrew up several blocks from Atwood between Prospect Park, New Jersey
Prospect Park, New Jersey
Prospect Park is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 5,779....
and Haledon. In an interview the day after the mass Citro stated that "we must enable these young people to make basic changes in society or more girls like Angela will have to suffer".