I heard Ray Long, an active, seasoned Chicago Tribune reporter, speak last year at the Ethical Humanist Society (in suburban Skokie). Mr. Long has covered political corruption in Chicago, Crook County, and the state of Illinois for over 30 years; thus, he basically has a guaranteed job. During his presentation he mentioned that anyone with more interest in the subject should visit the “Red Squad” files at the Chicago History Museum (CHM). CHM is located at 1601 North Clark Street, situated across the street from the significant Moody Bible Church and just south of Lincoln Park Zoo. As my archival research with the Congo/Zaire files at North Park University nee College neared completion, I started to visit CHM…specifically the Red Squad files https://libguides.chicagohistory.org/research/redsquad.
Red Squad refers to a division within the Chicago Police Department’s Bureau of Investigative Services and its Intelligence Section’s Surveillance Unit. Red Squad activities commenced in the 1930s and 40s and are not well documented, but focused on persons suspected of Communist Party ties or labor union activity. As time passed, surveillance expanded. The scope of Red Squad operations evolved with political and social trends. Red Squad tentacles expanded, presumably due to the influence the House of Unamerican Activities (HUAC) and the FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover. “Sources” prompted background investigations, which, in turn, meant that people with connections of any degree to those being targeted were also investigated. Background investigations were typically extensive, including doctors, hospitals, schools, DMV, banks, and other organizations. Red Squad surveillance included infiltration, interception of mail, tapping phones, gathering print material, attending meetings and public protests/rallies, background checks, and interviewing people. See Frank Donner’s book, Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America.
The development of the civil rights movement during the 1950s increased the number of persons and organizations subject to surveillance. The expansion continued in the 1960s with the growth of groups dedicated to the peace movement, Vietnam war, nuclear nonproliferation, housing integration and school desegregation and other civil rights’ issues, alliances, and Chicago’s 1968 Democratic convention, among other major issues. CPD’s Red Squad reputedly became an eye for Mayor Richard J. Daley. In addition, Red Squad investigated applicants for city and county employment applicants, including and especially teachers. Red Squad continued its surveillance of the aforementioned types of individuals and organizations while continuing to expand activities regarding various ethnicities (and their organizations) such as Latinos, people from the Middle East, “Croats”, Iranians, and Blacks. The expansion of surveillance, especially toward persons and organizations that did not pose a threat to public safety nor were suspected of having committed a crime, needed to end.
Finally, two entities endeavored to cease the massive surveillance shenanigans. Red Squad records were involved in two federal lawsuits (Alliance to End Repression v. City of Chicago, No. 74 C 3268, and American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois v. City of Chicago, No. 75 C 3295). After these lawsuits settled, Judge Susan Getzendanner of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued an order on September 22, 1987, that deposited Red Squad records at the CHM and imposed certain restrictions on access to and disclosure of the records. In this connection, the three-ring binder (nothing is digitized!) located at the research center’s front desk used to guide oneself explains that, “Access to and use of this collection is governed by a court order. Written permission is required in order to consult this collection. Researchers are prohibited from divulging information obtained from this collection about any person or organization without the express consent of that person or organization.” One cannot take pictures of Red Squad documents nor will CHM make copies of any material, per court order.
Red Squad files are organized into 13 series. For example, Series 2, which is dedicated to records associated with organizations over a 35-year period, has 70 linear feet! Series 5 concerns “subversive” individuals, and contains nine feet of records. Series 10 contains Hollinger archival boxes of black and white, 5”x7” photos of people, rallies, residences, cars, etc. I am amazed and appalled at the depth and breadth of Red Squad files. During my review of records for personal entertainment, I noticed Red Squad subscribed to newsletters and mailings produced by entities being surveilled. Upon receipt, certain names would be underlined, such as a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, a civil rights leader/organizer, educators, poets, musicians, gang members, activists, or budding politician. One file contained one page – a letter from a police chief located in suburban Minneapolis who wanted CPD to alert him of any spillover from Chicago to Minnesota. Also, a file exists regarding a south side pastor who had been deemed “subversive” due to his goals to reduce gang violence and increase civil rights and employment opportunities. (Records of gangs and gang leaders are extensive.) A Chicagoan residing at Irving Park and Bernard Avenues and member of a national organization opposed to civil rights wrote to The Man due to a belief that a leading national politician would be assassinated in Chicago on September 4, 1968, by “stooges and subverters.” So Red Squad interviewed the white man.
I can, obviously, identify people who were not ensnared by the Red Squad. That is, I spoke to Chester Slome about my CHM visits in the context of the peace movement on the campus of North Park College in Chicago. He recalled that professors Zenos Hawkinson (a Covenanter) and Robert Byrd (a Quaker and pacifist) organized and led candlelight vigils during the Vietnam War. During this period of significant unrest, Reverend Douglas Cedarleaf, employed at a church two blocks from North Park, advocated for civil rights during sermons. https://www.northpark.edu/stories/north-park-archivists-to-digitize-civil-rights-era-sermons-via-3k-grant/ Red Squad did not investigate these three Chicagoans nor activities at North Park, unlike other local postsecondary institutions. I plan to continue visiting the CHM, no doubt!
Skipping ahead to the present, we know tech companies gather as much information about us as possible. Like those targeted by the Red Squad, “we” do not pose a threat to public safety nor are we suspected of committing a crime. Maybe I have already been ensnared by Palantir and Patel due to my EPB posts concerning peace, politics and/or “subversive” System of a Down. Bring it, Kash…I’ll be sending a donation to the ACLU…and you should too!
