kefauver hearings transcripts

4 0 obj Museum building location of the famed Kefauver hearings (1950-51) that exposed organized crime. Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency, (Library of Congress Name Authority File), United States. "The Senate investigation into interstate crime," it concluded, "was almost the sole subject of national conversation.". Mr. Moore admitted there were a few more shady characters than in other lines of business, and that, while it would be a desirable thing to purge some individuals from the industry, he had never given any thought to how it could be done, despite his license-issuing role on the Tax Commission. The Committees recommendations on how to clean up organized crime were largely ignored, and the crime syndicates went back to business as usual, often with the same shadowy characters from the hearings still in control. Moore broke in to blame the committee itself for killing the interstate race betting business. That led to the days final witness, builder and automobile parts store owner Robert J. Kaltenborn, who had pled no contest to tax evasion and served four months in federal prison. Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Chapter 5: Outcome. Despite the potential political cost to his party, Kefauver pledged to lead a "no stones unturned, no holds barred, right down the middle of the road, let the chips fall where they may" inquiry. endobj This is a public hearing and anyone has a right to be here, Kefauver told him. C,+VU) He was also president of the National Cartoonist Society, a group of popular comic strip creators. In 1951, Frank Costello was subpoenaed to appear before the Kefauver Committee. "Never before had the attention of the nation been riveted so completely on a single matter," explained Life magazine. The Kefauver Committee held hearings in 14 cities across the country, including one in the courtroom of this building. Mr. Charles Appel - Owner, Angus Drug Store. Staff Interface Sometimes Fantasy is spelled Phantasy. [9], Many of the Kefauver Committee's hearings were aimed at proving that a Sicilian-Italian organization based on strong family ties centrally controlled a vast organized crime conspiracy in the United States, but the committee never came close to justifying such a claim. I just got out of bed and am loaded with drugs, he told Kefauver. Crime commissions across the nation had identified Costello as a key figure in the nation's largest gambling syndicates. In 1950, freshman U.S. The hearings were held between 1957 and 1959. Halley then asked if Jones could ask Weiner to testify, to which Jones agreed. Criminals "as suave and well-mannered as their investigators," observed one journalist, "were treated with the courtesy customarily reserved for law-abiding citizens." Sometimes only the The committee's legislative achievements were modest, at best. Many times during these televised hearings they showed or described comic book covers or specific story panels, I managed to find the pictures in question in some of these instances and put them up within the testimony. The committee became popularly known as the Kefauver Committee because of its chairman, Senator Estes Kefauver. Kefauver favored the creation of a Federal Crime Commission, which the FBI and Department of Justice ardently opposed. In Kansas City, the committee confronted, in Kefauver's words, a "place that was struggling out from under the rule of the law of the jungle." Kefauver Committee Final Report Aug. 31, 1951 Kefauver Committee Final Report Aug. 31, 1951 U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce 82ND CONGRESS SENATE REPORT 1st Session No. His book Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. Executive session." This man is trying to ban Crime and Horror Comics in New Jersey. showing and was forced out traditional comic book industry as a result. The Kefauver Committee held hearings in 14 cities across the country, including one in the courtroom of this building. Afternoon Session: Kaltenborn testified that an Internal Revenue Board employee had attempted to shake him down, but couldnt offer proof. While running for U.S. Senate in 1948, Estes Kefauvers opponent accused him of being a raccoon-like Communist puppet. Kefauver adopted this cap and embraced it as his signature look. It's taken me 5 years to get this online. One of the more significant subseries may be that of the Judiciary Committee, where Kefauver did a lot of his work concerning antitrust, civil rights, and crime issues (it must be noted however that Kefauvers famous crime committee is not one of the special committees represented in this series). He is the associate vice provost for faculty affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Never mind that newsreel cameras captured Costellos entire face and body as he spokethe highlights of which were shown on newscasts later that evening. The committee initiated perjury action against him. Record Kefauver Upload Audio File Helpful. In 1956, Estes Kefauver was the running mate for presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. You will see how certain crime and horror titles got cancelled via the distributor due to these hearings. Series XI: Personal Effects (1925-1964) This series contains a variety of information that appears to have been kept in a personal file by Kefauver, but was expanded upon after his death to include correspondence and clippings related to his death and his estate. Series XXI: Posthumous material, The Modern Political Archives are housed at the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy. had representatives here. Estes Kefauver Papers, MPA-0144. Afternoon Session: Remembering Estes Kefauver, by Theodore Brown, Jr. and Robert B. Allen, The Progressive Populist, 1996, http://www.populist.com/96.10.kefauver.html. surprise that the hearings worked in getting the comic book industry to adopt a self censoring code. 1-434) Part 2 (pp. was no such thing as tie in sales and the comics can be returned. Senator Estes Kefauver (Democrat-Tennessee), held the seventh of 27 hearings in 14 cities in Las Vegas. Similarly, he denied that Frank Costello had any interest in the Thunderbird, again claiming that to his knowledge Costello had never set foot in Las Vegas. The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the United States. Kefauver had chaired a Senate committee probe centered on organized crime in interstate commerce - with many of its hearings televised live - from 1950 to 1951. [6][10] Rather, the committee uncovered extensive evidence that people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions operated locally controlled, loosely organized crime syndicates at the local level. Many, if not most artists of the day wanted to be just like him. When the committee returned, Halley asked one final question: Was it good policy to let people whose previous records had been bad to continue in the gambling business simply because theyd started before 1949? Short and sweet testimony. Kefauver arranged a compromise. There ARE tie in sales. After estimating that the Flamingo produced $400,000 after taxes per year, Sedway was excused. THE KEFAUVER DRUG HEARINGS 63 biotics. A freshman U.S. senator from Tennessee, Estes Kefauver, seized the opportunity. Cahlan, Kefauver kept the rest of the committee and witnesses waiting until 11, then held a press conference before starting the hearings a half-hour later. Marijuana is often Your ad here, right now: $0 He distributes a number of horror comic books and some get displayed for him to explain. After doing all the things called wrong, there she was on top of the world, with a beautiful home in Miami Beach and a handsome husband and baby!. Testimony of Walt Kelly, Milton Caniff and Joseph Musial - The National Cartoonist Society. It wasnt surprising, then, that on November 9 the committee announced it would visit Las Vegas as part of a West Coast tour to learn about legalized gambling and its impact on neighboring states. We present the text of the three interim reports, the fourth and final committee report and the Virgil Peterson testimony - dealing with organized crime history - to the committee. [3] Debate over the substitute resolution was bitter and partisan, and the voting on the resolution extremely close. Milton Caniff was a very influential artist. Popularly known as the Kefauver Committee after its telegenic chairman, the committee captivated the nation in 1950-1951 with its televised hearings. Email Address . for DC and Fawcett. Three years before the Army-McCarthy hearings and 22 years before Watergate, the Kefauver Committee hearings in the winter of 1951 brought a parade of gamblers, hoodlums, crooked sheriffs and organized-crime figures out from the shadows to sit and testify before the white-hot lights and television cameras. William Gaines that the Senators didn't think was very funny. The television cameras would not show his face, but focus only on his hands. Senator Estes Kefauvers role in the hearings led to a boost in popularity and national attention, including this Time magazine cover. Region/Country. Some of the correspondence in this collection is arranged chronologically; some is alphabetically arranged, or in some combination. He was similarly uninformed about the reasons for Siegels murder. He returned to Tennessee to practice law, taking an interest in finance and taxation, married a Scottish woman, Nancy Pigott, and started a family that would include four children. | Investigation As a result, many people today see comic books as kids stuff despite the industry expanding to mature The Front Page of the report, with listing of the committee members and the table of contents, Mr. Richard Cledenen - Executive Director, US Senate Subcommittee To Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. "This is a public hearing and anyone has a right to be here," Kefauver told him. - Funny one page comic book commentary by Yo*3ivo}+>3-= 8G>EjN@aXMD_ tcn/9PmcPVP\rn}\d:q@88q ,B&. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? He had heard that Dalitz was in the laundry business, but that was all. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journals A.E. "Mr. Carroll, I order you to testify!" "This whole proceeding outrages my sense of propriety," Carroll shouted. Though he was unsuccessful in his bid for the presidency, in 1956 Democrats selected Kefauver as their vice presidential candidate. The anti-comic ones are allowed to have their say and are not scrutinized. Called to testify, Wertham continued his attack on comic books, concluding "I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic book industry." After seeing Hausers appearance at the hearings, the columnist Walter Winchell contemplated the seemingly timeless paradox of reality television when he wrote, When the chic Virginia Hill unfolded her amazing life story, many a young girl must have wondered: who really knows best? Robert F. Kennedy was chief counsel of the Committee. was already established and toned down comics were coming out with the CCA stamp on them. NexisUni has some of these transcripts. When the committee reconvened, Henry Phillips, proprietor of the Last Frontier commission room, was sworn in. Questions about Senate History? Greeson admitted he had passed on to investigator Robinson when they met at a police chiefs convention in Colorado Springs the rumor that Stacher was willing to spend $250,000 to elect a group in Reno that would permit him to buy a one-third share in the Bank Club. Your ad here, right now: $0. Schools dismissed students to watch the hearings. Email a Senate historian. Henry Edward Schultz - General Counsel, Association of Comic Magazine Publishers, Inc., New York, N. Y. Many of the Kefauver Committee's hearings were aimed at proving that a Sicilian-Italian organization based on strong family ties centrally controlled a vast organized crime conspiracy in the United States, but the committee never came close to justifying such a claim. Former New York City mayor William O'Dwyer testified to allegations of corruption during his tenure. Series XVIII: Miscellaneous office materials Senator Kefauver would write the Senate Interim Report in 1955 that summarizes the hearings and offers some conclusions. Clark first put the proposition to the group in Las Vegas; they rebuffed him. This committee became known to the public as the Kefauver Hearings, as freshman Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver, a Democrat, chaired it. The twenty-one lengthy volumes of Kefauver Committee hearing transcripts are available in a variety of digital formats - including PDF, EPUB, Kindle and plain text - through the Internet Archive at Archive.org (contributed by Boston Public Library). Hearings to Recall Earlier Investigations in Same Setting: McCarthy and Kefauver, by John Chadwick, The Lewiston Daily Sun, May 13, 1973. Various private transcription companies sit in on congressional hearings and record transcripts. He gives them the 1948 Comic Book Code from the A.C.M.P. E. D. Fulton - Member of the House of Commons in Canada. Stacher had applied for a license to become a partner in Bill Graham and Jim McKays Bank Club. Television, Kefauver said calmly with a smile, is a recognized medium of public information along with radio and newspapers. About two weeks after Siegels June 20, 1947, death, Sanford Adler and his associates formed Flamingo Hotel Inc., and bought the property from Nevada Projects. Informs public on accelerated schedule for New York-New Jersey area hearings on organized crime. In 1949 the American Municipal Association, representing more than 10,000 cities nationwide, petitioned the federal government to combat the growing influence of organized crime. Viewers watched incredulously as a cadre of individuals representing the underworld of interstate bookmaking and gambling interests offered details of their sordid business arrangements. Dell Comics are Good Comics. By then the C.C.M.A. Employment & Internships | Hearings Part 1 (or Part 1) (pp. horror comics were being sold. This is Estes Kefauvers briefcase from his days as a congressman and senator representing Tennessee. They remained qualified, Moore insisted, because of a granddaddy clause that allowed those who were operating before the more stringent regulatory regime was adopted to continue to do so. Very short. Mr. William Friedman - Small comic book publisher with some horror books. KEFAUVER INVESTIGATION AND KNAPP COMMISSIONThe pervasive reach of organized crime in the United States has made it a target of investigations and legal action since the nineteenth century. Mr. Monroe Froehlich Jr. - Business Manager of Magazine Management Co. (Marvel Comics). The committee was officially known as United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, but most people knew it as the Kefauver hearings. And even though Kefauver ran as Stevensons vice presidential candidate in the Democrats losing 1956 bid, it was the crime hearings that would cement the Tennessee senators legacy. | Visit ArchivesSpace.org American News is one of, if not the biggest National Distributor of comic books at this time. During the course of the 15-month investigation, the committee met in 14 major U.S. cities and interviewed hundreds of witnesses in open and executive session. This group of politicians really respect Fulton. www.senate.gov. Series XX: Christmas greetings to Nancy Kefauver The television broadcast of the committee's hearings attracted huge public interest and educated a broad audience about the issues of municipal corruption and organized crime. continue on intimidating the comic book publishers by bringing in politicians that either have or tried to This was called tie tn sales. The committee's second chairman, Herbert O'Conor (who took over after an exhausted Kefauver stepped down as chairman), sponsored legislation aimed at controlling illegal drugs by expanding appropriations for the Narcotics Bureau, the committees sole legislative accomplishment. Below are links I made to all the testimony, going in order as they appeared. Congress. [4], The committee's work led to several significant outcomes. Gilbert King Americans were fascinated by the spectacle of a mob boss under duress. Estes Kefauver Papers, MPA-0144. Hearing locations vary. The articles also cover the hearings. Many constituents wrote to Kefauver to express their opinions or to request aid, and the Senator and his staff responded to these in increasingly programmatic ways. Hon. A series of hearings held by a special U.S. Senate committee in 1950 and 1951 changed that perception. Although Kefauver won the majority of Democratic primaries, he lost the nomination to Adlai Stevenson, who then lost the general election to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He admitted to knowing George Sadlo, an El Paso gambler who frequently visited the Thunderbird and was an intimate of Jack Lanskys but insisted that both men just liked to gamble at the casino. between DC Comics, American Comics Group, Prize Comics and more. Hon. Next, Senator Tobey grilled Moore on the moral characteristics of his fellow gambling entrepreneurs. Morning Session: Oh, and there are NO tie in sales. and against comic books, Comic Book Ratings, Are you a Red Dupe? United States. He approached them again in Reno three months later, and they accepted. While examining this issue they After a dispute with Rosen, Adler sold his 49 percent share of Flamingo Hotel (in a transaction brokered by Wiener and Jones) and departed for Northern Nevada. The Kefauver Commission Hearings In May of 1950, the U.S. Senate established a five-member Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce. Mert Wertheimer of Detroit was licensed after a testimonial from the former head of the FBI from Detroit. Moore knew of Wertheimers gambling activities in other states, but insisted that shouldnt disqualify him. On November 15, 1950, Kefauver and his colleagues arrived in Las Vegas. The tour began quietly in January of 1951, but by February, in a serene postwar America where house and apartment doors were not always locked, Kefauver Fever gripped the nation, and the perception of a ubiquitous underground crime wave added to the countrys anxieties over communism and nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Chapter 2: Process Up next was Reno Police chief Lawrence Russell Greeson, who had investigated New Jersey gambling figure Joseph Doc Stacher. In the casinos six and half months of operation, Clark had not yet been paid. In a defiant tone and her nasal voice, Hauser regaled the Committee with remarkable stories of friendships with fellas who gave her gifts and money. Superman, Tarzan, Crime and Horror books, etc.. Costello was a tough act to follow, but Kefauver found the star of the show in Virginia Hill Hauseran Alabama-born former waitress and moll to the late Bugsy Siegel. Committee on the Judiciary. Morning Session: Walt Kelly was a Disney Animator who create Pogo for comic books, it would soon become a very popular The Kefauver hearings exposed Americans to many figures in organized crime, including Frank Costello and Bugsy Siegels former girlfriend, Virginia Hill. The Committee ultimately produced an 11,000-page report and exposed millions of Americans to organized crime for the first time. Watch Gaines get grilled over his comics. city and/or state is listed with the date.Series IX: Jobs, Appointments and Patronage (1949-1963) This series includes individual recommendations and appointments by Kefauver to positions within the federal government.Series X: Office Files (1939-1963) includes files from both the Chattanooga and the Nashville offices, including case work, condolences, field office files, guestbooks and correspondence with news media and other agencies. Included is a link to the famous grotesque zombie baseball page. The Adlai Stevenson-Kefauver ticket lost the election to incumbents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. The University of Tennessee Libraries allows the reproduction of materials from its digital collections, in compliance with United States copyright law. Some of it Volume 15. , 1950, Oct. 7, I, Box: 76. United States. Television viewers were riveted, in part, by the cast of characters called to testify before the committee. Blowing the whistle on Mob-connected sports betting. There were child experts | READ MORE. The Library does not hold the copyright to most items in its collections. He gives a very negative almost panel by panel review of Panic #1. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the public understanding of organized crime's history and impact on American society. . Senator from Tennessee". Under terms of the agreement, the Cleveland group would fund the project to completion and provide its bankroll, receiving 74 percent of the casinos stock. Kefauver warned Carroll that hed be cited for contempt by the Senate, but Carroll refused to answer any questions, meandering nervously around the courtroom. The Kefauver hearings, as they beca. I dont expect to be made an object of ridicule as long as television is on.. These are the 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency, with the special focus Greenspun owned a piece of property that was included in the Desert Inns grounds, and owned 30 percent of a motel adjacent to the hotel. "Stenographic transcript of hearings before the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce. Among the most notable was an admission by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that a national organized crime syndicate did exist and that the FBI had done little about it. [11], Senator Kefauver served as the committee's first chair. made. Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Creator), United States. The committee members held, as an article of faith proven through witness testimony (and artfully interpreted silences), that there existed a national syndicate of criminal organizations, and that this syndicate was forcing its way into legitimate businesses. Kefauver had a plane to catch. Some just sat in stony silence, refusing, as one witness said, to criminate themselves. This is a 300+ page document and I used an OCR program to get it on my computer. The hearings made it clear to a lot of people that there was a national Mob, and that it had a lot of power. With his new cap (which he was later depicted wearing in a portrait on the cover of Time), Kefauver was elected to the U.S. Senate and assumed office at a time when newspapers were beginning to report on extensive political corruption and government ties to organized crime. Clark said he did not know the total cost to build the Desert Inn, but was 100 percent certain he had never approached any of a list of alleged underworld kingpins whom Halley mentioned: Frank Costello, Phil Kastel, Meyer Lansky, Jack Lansky, Jack Dragna, Mike Accone and Ben Siegel. I hope the atom bomb falls on every one of you, she shouted as she left the building. Outraged Over Video at Hearing, Carroll, Bet Expert, Defies Senators, by William M. Blair, New York Times, February 25, 1951. Intro to the Hearings, Descriptions of Crime and Horror Comic Book stories. We have put the press off here for a long while, and Mr. Jones is going to bring his partner back. With that the committee adjourned, Kefauver held a press conference and went to lunch before returning. Senate. Legislative Reference Service. Lawyers for the Committee arrived ahead of the chairman, terrifying local law enforcement as the committee drew up subpoenas and prepared for hearings to be broadcast on both television and radio. Halley asked Jones if he knew Meyer Lansky. Some of them were thoroughly grilled and William Gaines in particular had a bad The resort was completed in 1950 after he brought in Mob-connected investors from Cleveland led by Moe Dalitz. Nor did he know whether Siegel had the race wire in Los Angeles or not. You'll notice that Fulton's contribution to the hearings is labeled as a Statement and not a Testimony. Sheriffs Ex-Wife Tells Senators How He Accumulated $150,000, New York Times, January 27, 1951. The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce traveled across the country in 1950 and 1951, holding hearings in many cities to expose organized crime. Although the titles of the subseries may not indicate it, most of these are arranged in chronological order by campaign, although some materials are arranged by type (e.g., Scrapbooks).Series VI: Contacts (undated) consists of address books and card files, each arranged alphabetically by state, district, or county.Series VII: Published hearings, reports, and Congressional Records (1945-1963) contains hearings from Judiciary Committee, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy,House Committee on Veterans Affairs, amongst other government and Congressional publications.Series VIII: Travel (1948-1963) This series contains correspondence, invitations, itineraries, event programs, and like items relating to Kefauver's travels both nationally and abroad. [13][14] The first one of these was The Captive City (1952), which had the blessing of senator Kefauver himself: Director Robert Wise took a print of the film to D.C. to show the senator, who not only endorsed it but even appears in the prologue and epilogue, cautioning audiences about the evils of organized crime. Phillips was excused and Jones returned with details about the Thunderbirds race wire service. Feedback or questions? 159 Linear Feet (318.5 (boxes 1 through folder 5 318)), Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository. Researchers interested in consulting the MPA collections are advised to contact the Modern Political Archives, From the Series: mark roberts santa sale, chris buck director shaking,

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