Chicago Police Department Red Squad and related records

  • Creator Names Chicago (Ill.). Police Department.
  • Title Chicago Police Department Red Squad and related records [manuscript], ca. 1930s-1986, bulk 1963-1974.
  • Physical description 205 linear ft.
  • Access and usage restrictions Beginning Sept. 25, 2012, procedures for accessing this Red Squad collection will change. For more information, please consult the attached "Introduction to the Red Squad Collection.htm" or contact the Research Center staff by email at Research@chicagohistory.org or by U.S. mail before planning your research visit.
  • Collection summary Card indexes; files containing reports and correspondence about persons and organizations investigated as possible political subversives, scattered photographs, and some materials created by the persons or organizations under investigation, such as newsletters, brochures, and correspondence; plus some administrative records of the Chicago Police Department's Security Operations Section. Collection also includes gang surveillance records. Names of police department personnel and civilian informants were deleted by the Chicago Police Department from these files. A court order states that the information contained in these files is not necessarily accurate and was not verified before it was recorded. Some information is known to be inaccurate.
  • Finding Aids Note Descriptive inventory available at Chicago History Museum for researchers who have fulfilled the court ordered requirements for access and agreed not to disclose information from the Red Squad files without the express permission of the material's subject(s)--whether individuals or organizations.
  • Location of Other Archival Materials Note Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the "Red Squad Chicago court case collection of open files"; and the Alliance to End Repression records.
  • Names
    • Chicago (Ill.). Police Department. Archives.
    • Chicago (Ill.). Police Department. Intelligence Section.
    • Getzendanner, Susan C., 1939-
    • Chicago (Ill.). Police Department. Intelligence Section.
  • Subjects
    • Civil rights Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Communism Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Criminal investigation Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Gangs Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Liberty.
    • New Left Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Police Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Police Complaints against Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Police patrol Illinois Chicago Surveillance operations 20th century.
    • Police patrol United States Surveillance operations 20th century.
    • Radicalism Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Socialism Illinois Chicago 20th century.
  • Geographic coverage Chicago (Ill.) Politics and government 20th century.
  • Genre
    • Correspondence. aat
    • Indexes. aat
    • Newsletters. aat
    • Photographic prints. aat
    • Reports. aat
  • Geographic name United States Illinois Cook County Chicago.
  • Finding aid URL