Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty records, 1963-1986, bulk 1976-1980

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This collection is open for research use.

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Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty records (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

Correspondence, research about individuals facing the death penalty, pamphlets, flyers, booklets, newspaper clippings, and other records of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, an association of non-profit organizations that educated the public about and lobbied against capital punishment. Present are records of member and allied organizations such as the Alliance to End Repression, the Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, and the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Includes materials pertaining to the Death Penalty Study Project, the Illinois Defender Project, and other related projects. Also included is correspondence of the Illinois Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment, an associated organization led by Willard J. Lassers.

The Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty (later known as the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty) was founded in 1976 as an association of non-profit organizations that lobbied against laws that allowed for capital punishment to be imposed in Illinois and against its use in specific cases, as well as educating the public about problems with the death penalty. Mary Alice Rankin was founder and first director of the coalition. As of 2011, the coalition remained active.

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include records of member and allied organizations, including the Alliance to End Repression, as well as publications of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, cataloged separately.

• Names
  • Alliance to End Repression
  • Illinois Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment
  • Illinois Defender Project
  • Illinois Law Enforcement Commission
  • Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty--Archives
  • Pontiac Correctional Center (Ill.)
  • National Coalition Against the Death Penalty
• Subject
  • Actions and defenses--Illinois--20th Century
  • Capital punishment--Illinois--20th Century
  • Capital punishment--United States--20th Century
  • Criminal justice, Administration of--Illinois--20th century
  • Death row inmates--Illinois--20th century
  • Death row inmates--United States--20th century
  • Judicial error--Illinois--20th century
  • Police--Complaints against--Illinois
  • Prison riots--Illinois--Pontiac--20th century
  • Prosecutorial misconduct--Illinois--20th century
  • Race and crime--Illinois--20th century
• Geographic CoverageIllinois--Politics and government--20th century

The collection is arranged in seven series.

Series 1. Correspondence, 1973-1982 (box 1-2)

Series 1 contains internal correspondence among coalition members and external correspondence to allied organizations. The majority of the correspondence is to and from Mary Alice Rankin, founder and first director of the coalition. The correspondence includes financial information, names of volunteers, and petitions against the death penalty.

Series 2. Individuals facing the death penalty, 1965-1981 (box 3-6)

Series 2 contains research about individuals, from Illinois and other states, who faced the death penalty. Sources include court cases, an ACLU Capital Punishment Study, and other studies. Most records focus on the crime, trial, and appeals, rather than whether or not the individual was executed. Also present are a few letters from death row inmates.

Series 3. Illinois Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment, 1965-1978 (box 7-8)

Series 3 consists of internal and external correspondence, notes, press releases, legal documents, and news clippings of the Illinois Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment, an organization led by Willard J. Lassers. The committee's mission was similar to that of the coalition; the committee was active earlier and ceased to exist a few years after the coalition was formed.

Series 4. Other projects, 1973-1981 (box 8-9)

Series 4 contains correspondence, agendas, reports, grant applications, legal documents, and news clippings about associated and allied projects, including workshops and meetings on the issue of search and seizure (1975-1976), the Death Penalty Study Project, and the Illinois Defender Project (1973-1978). Also present are materials pertaining to the Pontiac Prison riots and ensuing capital punishment trials of the group known as the Pontiac Prisoners (1976-1981).

Series 5. Allied organizations, 1964-1982 (box 10-11)

Series 5 contains correspondence, agendas, pamphlets, newsletters, and news clippings of and about organizations that were either members of the coalition or closely allied. Organizations include the Alliance to End Repression, American Civil Liberties Union (1964-78), Amnesty International (1976-82), Citizens Against Legalized Murder (1967-71), Citizens Conference on Justice, Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (also known as the Legal Defense Fund; 1967-81), National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, To Reshape Urban Systems Together (TRUST), and some churches.

Series 6. Newspaper clippings, 1965-1979 (box 11-12)

Series 6 contains newspaper clippings about the coalition and its work, individuals facing the death penalty, and member and allied organizations.

Series 7. Pamphlets, booklets, and other printed materials, 1963-1986 (box 12-14)

Series 7 consists of pamphlets, flyers, booklets, and other printed materials on topics on interest to the coalition. A front-page article about Mary Alice Rankin published in the Chicago Reader (13 June 1986) is included.