True Crime

Founded in 1968 by Black Chicago police officers the AAPL's stated purpose was establishing a greater degree of professionalism in law enforcement, to elevate the image of the African American police person in the African American community, and to eliminate police brutality in law enforcement. It was the first African American police organization of its kind.

Correspondence, meetings minutes, and other materials of the Chicago-based Alliance to End Repression, a fifty-member consortium of churches, labor unions, human relations, and community groups, concerned with issues such as opposition to the death penalty, protection of prisoners' rights, and opposition to police surveillance for political purposes.

Descriptions of various robberies and crimes committed in and around Chicago (Ill.) and later clippings of detective stories written by B.C. Yates and published in the Geneva Republican. Yates was a detective and later Chief of Police in the early 1860s.

Charlotte E. Senechalle was active in several Chicago social service and social justice organizations. Materials include research and notes on criminal justice, penal systems, and prison conditions in Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois.

Archival records of the Chicago Area Project, a community oriented program established in the 1930s for delinquency prevention and research, administered by Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay; plus related files of the Institute for Juvenile Research; and files of the Illinois Youth Commission, particularly files of Anthony M. Sorrentino. Topics include treatment and prevention of juvenile delinquency through neighborhood programs, primarily on the Near North Side, South Side, and West Side of Chicago (Ill.).

Office files of the Chicago Law Enforcement Study Group, an organization which conducted research on criminal law and the court system in the 1970s and 1980s.

Correspondence, reports, and other files of Hans W. Mattick, a Chicago sociologist; topical files on criminal justice; and records of studies he directed, especially the Illinois Selective Service Felon Project (1950-53, re. World War II era), the Chicago Youth Development Project (1958-1966), and the Illinois Jails Survey (1967-68).

IJR records include written life histories, compiled from interviews with teenagers and young adults, most of whom were confined in Illinois detention facilities. Note, in order to consult this portion of the collection, researchers must sign the Chicago History Museum's "Request for Research Access to Confidential Materials" form.

The records of the John Howard Association (JHA), a Chicago-based penal reform organization focusing on jail and prison conditions within Illinois. Topics include services to prisoners, ex-convicts, and their families; women prisoners; juvenile offenders; and reforms in penal legislation; prison inspections and jail and prison conditions; and fundraising.

Papers of Luis Kutner, a lawyer who became involved in public-interest lawsuits and other high-profile cases in Chicago, and in national and international affairs; and an author whose writings ranged from philosophy and legal theory to poetry, fictionalized accounts of his love life, and reminiscences of playing piano in a mob hangout during his youth.

A sociologist and employee of Stateville penitentiary, Kantrowitz wrote about his time at this high profile prison. The ARC has his book, as well as the associated research papers and a collection of photographs.

Rob Warden is a legal affairs journalist and co-founder of the Center for Wrongful Convictions. Most of the collection relates to Warden's research on injustice in murder investigations and trials that resulted in death sentences, as well as research on judges and on prosecutorial misconduct in the state of Illinois. Includes materials and correspondence relating to death row inmates, including John Wayne Gacy.

Papers of Virgil W. Peterson, who was operating director of the Chicago Crime Commission (1942-1969), primarily concerning organized crime in Chicago.