The Black Mafia: African-American organized crime in Chicago 1890-1960

Crime, Law and Social Change

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 33-65

  Lombardo, Robert M ^a  

^a DEPAUL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036362033     PISSN: 09254994     EISSN: 15730751     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1019885114062     Document Type: Review

References (203)

1. St. Claire Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1945] 1993); Francis A.J. Ianni, Black Mafia (New York: Simon and Schuster); Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime (New York: Garland, 1996).
2. St. Claire Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1945] 1993); Francis A.J. Ianni, Black Mafia (New York: Simon and Schuster); Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime (New York: Garland, 1996).
3. St. Claire Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1945] 1993); Francis A.J. Ianni, Black Mafia (New York: Simon and Schuster); Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime (New York: Garland, 1996).
4. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 111.
5. Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime (New York: Garland, 1996) 11.
6. Robert J. Kelly, "African-American Organized Crime," in Stanley Einstein and Menachem Amir (eds.), Organized Crime (Chicago: University of Illinois, 1999) p. 273.
7. Francis A.J. Ianni, Black Mafia (New York: Simon and Schuster 1974) p. 12.
8. Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology (New York: The Free Press, 1960); James M. O'Kane, The Crooked Ladder (New Brunswick: Transaction, 1992).
9. Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology (New York: The Free Press, 1960); James M. O'Kane, The Crooked Ladder (New Brunswick: Transaction, 1992).
10. Frederick M. Thrasher, The Gang (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927); John Landesco, Organized Crime in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929).
11. Frederick M. Thrasher, The Gang (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927); John Landesco, Organized Crime in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929).
12. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 32.
13. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 9.
14. Thomas L. Philpott, The Slum and the Ghetto (Belmont Ca: Wadsworth, 1991) p. 134.
15. E. Franklin Frazier, Negro Family in Chicago (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1932) p. 93.
16. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 62.
17. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 58.
18. Chicago Commission on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1922) p. 137.
19. Allan H. Spear, Black Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967) p. 129.
20. Ibid. Black Chicago 129.
21. James R. Grossman, "African-American Migration to Chicago," in M. Holli and P. Jones (eds.), Ethnic Chicago (Grand Rapids: W.B. Erdman, 1995) p. 307.
22. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 12.
23. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 80.
24. John Allswang, A House for All Peoples (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1971) p. 205.
25. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis 76.
26. "Mushmouth Johnson is Dead," Chicago Daily News 14 September 1907.
27. Herbert Asbury, Gem of the Prairie (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, [1940] 1986) p. 168.
28. "Mushmouth Johnson," Chicago Record Herald 24 August 1907.
29. Harold F. Gosnell, Negro Politicians (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1935] 1967) p. 127.
30. "Lid Off at Mushmouth's" Chicago Tribune 3 April 1905.
31. "May Segregate Vice," Chicago Record Herald 6 November 1903.
32. "Den License is Gone," Chicago Daily News 16 November 1903.
33. Spear, Black Chicago 76.
34. "Through the Recommendation of the Chief of Police Revokes the License of Col. 'Pony' Moore," Broad Ax 18 November 1905.
35. "Colonel Pony Moore The Ex-Lord Mayor of the Red Light District," "Pony Loses Glitter Can't Pay His Dues," Broad Ax 10 August 1907.
36. Charles Washburn, Come Into My Parlor (New York: National Library Press, 1936) p. 90.
37. "Robert T. Motts, Owner and Manager of the Pekin Theatre," Broad Ax 15 July 1911.
38. "Noted Lawmakers of Early Chicago," Chicago Defender 2 April 1933.
39. Gosnell, Negro Politicians 128.
40. "Robert T Motts," Broad Ax 28 December 1907.
41. Gosnell, Negro Politicians 128.
42. Spear, Black Chicago 77.
43. Alan Lomax, Mister Jelly Roll (New York: Pantheon Books, 1950) p. 185.
44. "Healy Admits Bribes From De Priest Aid," Chicago Tribune 5 June 1917.
45. "Capt. Healy and De Priest to be Arrested Today," Chicago Tribune 19 January 1917.
46. "Teenan Jones to Turn Against Ex-Ald. De Priest," Chicago Daily News 2 June 1917.
47. "Teenan Jones Bares Huge Graft Levies," Chicago Daily News 23 January 1917.
48. "Healy Admits Bribes From De Priest Aid," Chicago Tribune 5 June 1917.
49. "De Priest Names Harding as Boss in Black Belt," Chicago Tribune 6 June 1917.
50. "How Roe Moved in on Fabulous Jones Brothers" Chicago Defender 23 August 1952.
51. "De Priest Names Harding as Boss in Black Belt," Chicago Tribune 6 June 1917.
52. Kenneth Allsop, The Bootleggers (New York: Arlington House, 1961) p. 182.
53. Chicago Commission on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago p. 323.
54. William H. Kenny, Chicago Jazz (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) p. 13.
55. Allsop, The Bootleggers, 181.
56. Eddie Condon, We Called it Music (Westport Conn: Greenwood Press, 1947) p. 103.
57. "Patronize Worthy Race Enterprises Along the Stroll," Chicago Defender 8 May 1915.
58. Langston Hughes, The Big Sea (New York: Hill and Wang, 1940) p. 30.
59. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime, 16.
60. Kenny, Chicago Jazz 17, 5.
61. Frazier, Negro Family in Chicago, 98.
62. Grossman, "African-American Migration to Chicago," 331.
63. "Scattered City Vice Beats Segregation," Chicago Daily News 25 May 1915.
64. John Landesco, Organized Crime in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1929] 1968) p. 852.
65. "$10,000 Graft Paid Politicians Weekly by Second Ward Vice Dens" Chicago Daily News 15 August 1921.
66. "Syndicate Crosses 2D Ward Gamblers," Chicago Daily News 16 August 1921.
67. "$10,000 Graft Paid Politicians Weekly by Second Ward Vice Dens" Chicago Daily News 15 August 1921.
68. I b i d.
69. nd Ward Dems. Reopen as Graft Ring Revives," Chicago Daily News 12 October 1921.
70. nd Ward Gambling Dens," Chicago Daily News 13 October 1921.
71. "Graft Men Defiant, Order Gaming Lid Off," Chicago Daily News 21 October 1921.
72. "Fortunes Won, Lost in big Gaming House," Chicago Daily News, 5 June 1922.
73. "Jackson Ring Again Menaces South Side," Chicago Daily News 29 December 1922.
74. Douglas Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson: Chicago and the Politics of Image (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998) p. 15.
75. Spear, Black Chicago 188.
76. Allswang, A House for All Peoples 146.
77. Spear, Black Chicago 188.
78. "Vice Dens Run by Police, Jury is Told," Chicago Daily News 9 January 1923.
79. "Jackson Ring Again Menaces South Side," Chicago Daily News, 29 December 1922.
80. nd," Chicago Daily News 27 February 1923.
81. "Raid Dan Jackson Den," Chicago Daily News 30 April 1923.
82. "Official Swears Thompson Bartered Privilege for South Side Votes," Chicago Daily News 8 March 1928.
83. "Wide Open Town Seen as Scourge," Chicago Daily News" 6 March 1928.
84. Dempsey J. Travis, Black Politics (Chicago: Urban Research Press, 1987) p. 79.
85. "Official Swears Thompson Bartered Privilege for South Side Votes," Chicago Daily News 8 March 1928.
86. "Wide Open Town Seen as Scourge," Chicago Daily News 6 March 1928.
87. "Push Inquiry into South Side Slush," Chicago Daily News 18 August 1928.
88. "Gamblers Verify Vice Fund Tales," Chicago Daily News 13 September 1928.
89. Ianni, Black Mafia, 115.
90. Gosnell, Negro Politicians, 132.
91. "Second Ward Committeeman Stricken on Eve of Plot Trial," Chicago Daily News 17 May 1929.
92. Gosnell, Negro Politicians, 132.
93. "Special Jury Hunts Slush in Colored Belt," Chicago Tribune 17 August 1928.
94. "Hold De Priest, Jackson, 9 Aids," Chicago Daily News 29 September 1928.
95. "Grand Jury Indicts Politicians," New York Times 30 September 1928.
96. "Henchman Turns on Dan Jackson, Boss of 2D Ward," Chicago Tribune 24 September 1928.
97. Drake and Clayton, 351.
98. "Opens War on Policy Game," Chicago Defender 12 July 1931.
99. "Arrest Sons of Minister in Vice Raid," Chicago Defender 21 September 1931.
100. Roger Biles, Big City Boss in Depression and War (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984) p. 89.
101. "Policy Games Ready to Quit, Says Cermak," Chicago Daily News, 11 August 1931.
102. "Links Skidmore to Policy," Chicago Daily News 6 September 1938.
103. Biles, Big City Boss in Depression and War, 90.
104. Gosnell, Negro Politicians, 267.
105. Biles, Big City Boss in Depression and War, 91.
106. Mark H. Haller, "Policy Gambling, Entertainment and The Emergence of Black Politics," Journal of Social History 1991 (24), 219.
107. "15 Racket Kings Enriched by Poor," Chicago Daily News 29 August 1938.
108. "Roe Murder Spells End to Lush Racket and Men it Made Famous," Chicago Defender 16 August 1952.
109. "Policy Sam," Illinois Writers Project: Negro in Illinois Box 35 Number 18 Undated. Woodson Library, Chicago, Illinois.
110. Drake and Clayton, Black Metropolis, 945.
111. "Hard Blow to Graft," Chicago Record Herald 9 November 1903.
112. Asbury, Gem of the Prairie, 168.
113. "Policy Sam," Illinois Writers Project Box 35 Number 18.
114. "Dooms Policy Game in Chicago," Chicago Tribune 21 April 1905.
115. "Policy Sam," Illinois Writers Project, Box 35 Number 18:1.
116. "Policy Sam Young Rites Held Friday," Chicago Defender 22 May 1937.
117. "Policy Sam," Illinois Writers Project, Box 35 Number 18:5.
118. "Roe Murder Spells End to Lush Racket and Men it Made Famous," Chicago Defender 16 August 1952.
119. "Policy Sam," Illinois Writers Project, Box 35 Number 18:6.
120. "Vice Dens Run by Police, Jury is Told," Chicago Daily News 9 January 1923; "Raid Dan Jackson Den," Chicago Daily News 30 April 1923.
121. "Vice Dens Run by Police, Jury is Told," Chicago Daily News 9 January 1923; "Raid Dan Jackson Den," Chicago Daily News 30 April 1923.
122. "Wide Open Town Seen as Scourge," Chicago Daily News 6 March 1928.
123. I b i d.
124. "Bury Walter Kelly in Pomp and Splendor," Chicago Defender 14 January 1939.
125. "Inside Facts on How Gang Paid Gunmen," Chicago Defender 21 January 1939.
126. "Bury Walter Kelly in Pomp and Splendor," Chicago Defender 14 January 1939.
127. "Ily Kelly Parlayed Policy and Keno to Huge Fortune," Chicago Defender 30 August 1952.
128. I b i d.
129. "How Roe Moved in on Fabulous Jones Brothers, Chicago Defender 23 August 1952.
130. "Ily Kelly Parlayed Policy and Keno to Huge Fortune," Chicago Defender 30 August 1952.
131. "Roe Murder Spells End to Lush Racket and Men it Made Famous," Chicago Defender 16 August 1952.
132. "Arrest Sons of Minister in Vice Raid," Chicago Defender 21 September 1931.
133. "Kings of Policy in City Named," Chicago Daily News 30 August 1938.
134. "Ily Kelly Parlayed Policy and Keno to Huge Fortune," Chicago Defender 30 August 1952.
135. "Rackets Now Flourish in All Quarters," Chicago Defender 24 September 1932.
136. "Policy Swindle Nets WPA Cash," Chicago Daily News, 30 August 1938.
137. "15 Racket Kings Enriched by Poor," Chicago Daily News 29 August 1938.
138. "Policy Swindle Nets WPA Cash," Chicago Daily News 31 August 1938.
139. "Jury Indicts 26 in Policy Rings," Chicago Tribune 31 January 1942.
140. Gosnell, Negro Politicians, 125.
141. Albert N. Votaw, "Chicago: Corrupt and Contented?" The New Republic 1952 (127:8), 13.
142. "Policy" Illinois Writers Project: Negro in Illinois, Box 35 Number 11 Undated. Woodson Library, Chicago, Illinois.
143. "Policy Lid Off," Chicago Daily News 15 March 1928.
144. "Policy Racket in Chicago," Chicago Crime Commission, 3 June 1946 unpublished.
145. "Policy" Illinois Writers Project Box 35 Number 11:10.
146. "Unscrupulous Matt Bivins Was the Playboy of Policy," Chicago Defender 6 September 1952.
147. "Policy," Illinois Writers Project Box 35 Number 11:13.
148. Ibid. "Local Policy Barons," Box 35 Number 23:3.
149. "Policy Swindle Nets WPA Cash," Chicago Daily News 31 August 1938.
150. Biles, Big City Boss in Depression and War, 108.
151. "How Roe Moved in on Fabulous Jones Brothers," Chicago Defender 23 August 1952.
152. Alson J. Smith, Syndicate City (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1954) p. 200.
153. Laurence Bergreen, Capone (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994) p. 248.
154. Spear, Black Chicago, 15.
155. Ernest W. Burgess, "Residential Segregation in American Cities," The Annals 1928, 140.
156. Harvey W. Zorbaugh, The Gold Coast and the Slum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929) p. 48.
157. Ovid Demaris, Captive City (New York: Lyle Stuart, 1969) p. 6.
158. "Police Fear Policy Baron Slain in Juke Box Racket," Chicago Defender 18 May 1946.
159. Virgil F. Peterson, Barbarians in Our Midst (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1952) p. 291.
160. "Jones Kidnap Starts Drive Against Racket," Chicago Defender, 1 June 1946.
161. "Police Fear Policy Baron Slain in Juke Box Racket," Chicago Defender 18 May 1946.
162. "Policy Baron Facing Jury Quiz, Flees City," Chicago Defender 25 May 1946.
163. "Police Fear Policy Baron Slain in Juke Box Racket," Chicago Defender 18 May 1946.
164. "Policy Gambling," Chicago Crime Commission, File No. 65-50C Volumes I-X unpublished.
165. "Policy Racket Wheel Repairman Killed in Shop," Chicago Tribune 12 September 1946.
166. "Start Slow-Motion Probe in Murder of Policy Big Shot," Chicago Sun Times 11 September 1946.
167. "Police Call Vague Clues Baffling," Chicago Defender 14 September 1946.
168. "Jones Kidnap Starts Drive Against Racket," Chicago Defender 1 June 1946.
169. "The Capone Gang Muscles into Big-Time Politics," Colliers Magazine 30 September 1950, 63.
170. "Mayor Kennelly and Dawson," Chicago Tribune Editorial 2 February 1955.
171. "Policy Gambling," Chicago Crime Commission, 8.
172. "World Exposes Master Minds Behind Vicious Policy Wheels," Chicago World 29 March 1947.
173. "World Faces $100,000 Suit in Dawson Libel," 6 April 1947.
174. "Policy Probe to Have Aid of Tax Returns," Chicago Tribune 10 January 1955.
175. "Policy Gambling," Chicago Crime Commission, 20.
176. Frazier, Negro Family in Chicago, 93.
177. Peterson, Barbarians in Our Midst, 180.
178. "Policy Gambling," Chicago Crime Commission, 9.
179. "How Syndicate Grabbed Policy," Chicago Tribune 17 January 1955.
180. William F. Roemer, Accardo (New York: Fine, 1995) p. 148.
181. "A Reproach to Mayor Kennelly," Chicago Tribune Editorial 23 January 1951.
182. "Cops Guard Man Who Saw Killers," Chicago Defender 9 August 1952.
183. I b i d.
184. Roemer, Accardo, 147.
185. "How Roe Moved in on Fabulous Jones Brothers," Chicago Defender 23 August 1952.
186. "Roe Murder Spells End to Lush Racket and Men it Made Famous," Chicago Defender 16 August 1952.
187. "Big Shot Tells Who's Who in Policy Circles," Chicago Tribune 20 December 1950.
188. "Court Claims Right to Claim Policy Treasure," Chicago American 28 February 1964.
189. "Mob Takes Wheel, Spineless Owner Flees, Crying I Don't Want to Die," Crusader 29 November 1952.
190. "Policy Wheel Manager Reputed to Have Sold Out Negro Owners," Crusader 6 December 1952.
191. "Raid Hoodlum Wheels," Crusader 25 April 1953.
192. Notice, Crusader 16 May 1953.
193. "Protest Dawson Activities," Chicago Daily News 31 March 1950.
194. Votaw, The New Republic, 13.
195. "The Mob Mourns South Side Empire," Chicago Sun Times 4 February 1973.
196. "List Hoodlums Ruling Flow of Graft," Chicago Tribune 23 February 1960.
197. "The Mob Mourns South Side Empire," Chicago Sun Times 4 February 1973.
198. William J. Wilson, When Work Disappears (New York: Knopf, 1996) p. 30.
199. David Remick, "Dr Wilson's Neighborhood," The New Yorker April 1996, 102.
200. "The Mob Mourns South Side Empire," Chicago Sun Times 4 February 1973.
201. "This Lottery Makes State Big Losers," Chicago Tribune 16 June 1989.
202. Robert E. Merriam, Chicago (New York: Macmillan 1929) p. 24.
203. Schatzberg and Kelly, African-American Organized Crime, 21.