Federal Surveillance of Afro-Americans (1917-1925)
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Revised and Updated FEDERAL SURVEILLANCE OF AFRO-AMERICANS (1917-1925): The First World War, the Red Scare, and the Garvey Movement UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES: Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections August Meier and Elliott Rudwick General Editors FEDERAL SURVEILLANCE OF AFRO-AMERICANS (1917-1925): The First World War, the Red Scare, and the Garvey Movement FEDERAL SURVEILLANCE OF AFRO-AMERICANS (1917-1925): The First World War, the Red Scare, and the Garvey Movement Edited by Theodore Kornweibel, Jr. Associate Editors Randolph Boehm and R. Dale Grinder Guide Compiled by Martin Schipper A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA, INC. 44 North Market Street • Frederick, MD 21701 NOTE ON SOURCES Materials reproduced in this microfilm publication derive from the National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Washington Federal Records Center, Suitland, Maryland; Federal Records Centers in Ft. Worth, Texas and Bayonne, New Jersey; and from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Freedom of Information Act Office. Materials from the National Archives include selections from: Record Group 28, U.S. Postal Service Record Group 32, U.S. Shipping Board Record Group 38, Office of Naval Intelligence Record Group 59, U.S. Department of State Record Group 60, U.S. Department of Justice Record Group 65, Federal Bureau of Investigation Record Group 165, War Department: General and Special Staffs- Military Intelligence Division Materials from the Washington Federal Records Center, Suitland, Maryland include selections from: Record Group 165, War Department: General and Special Staffs- Military Intelligence Division Record Group 185, U.S. Panama Canal Commission Materials from the Federal Records Centers in Ft. Worth, Texas and Bayonne, New Jersey include selections from: Record Group 21, Records of U.S. District Courts Record Group 276, Records of U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal EDITORIAL NOTE For each record group and subseries listed in the user's guide, all materials relevant to the federal surveillance of Afro-Americans have been reproduced on this film with the exception of RG 165 as noted in the Introduction. Where indications of "selections" are made, i.e., for some files in record groups 32, 59, 60, and 165, only those documents pertinent to surveillance of Afro- Americans have been extracted from files containing other extraneous materials. Copyright © 1986 by University Publications of America, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN 0-89093-741-9. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ix Note on Bureau of Investigation Casefile Numbers xxi Reel Index Reel 1 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 From Freedom of Information Act 1 Reel 2 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. From Freedom of Information Act cont 1 Reel 3 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. From Freedom of Information Act cont 2 Reel 4 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. From Freedom of Information Act cont 2 Reel 5 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. From Freedom of Information Act cont 2 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation: Mexican Files 3 Miscellaneous Files 3 Reel 6 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Miscellaneous Files cont 4 Bureau Section Files 4 Reel 7 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Bureau Section Files cont 4 Reel 8 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Bureau Section Files cont 5 Old German Files 6 Reel 9 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Old German Files cont 6 Reel 10 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Old German Files cont 10 Reel 11 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Old German Files cont 13 Reel 12 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cont.: Old German Files cont 17 Reel 13 Department of Justice-Bureau of Investigation Surveillance of Black Americans, 1916-1925 cont. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 65 Federal Bureau of Investigation cent.: Old German Files cont 19 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 28 U.S. Postal Service Records relating to the Espionage Act, World War I 22 Reel 14 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 60 Department of Justice Straight Numerical Files, 1904-1937 23 Reel 15 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 60 Department of Justice cont. Straight Numerical Files, 1904-1937 cont 23 Reel 16 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 60 Department of Justice cont. Straight Numerical Files, 1904-1937 cont 24 Glasser File 24 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 32 U.S. Shipping Board Subject Classified General Files, 1920-1936 24 Dockets of the Board, 1917-1933 24 Subject Classified General Files, 1920-1936 [Addendum] 25 Reel 17 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59 U.S. Department of State Entry 535--Office of the Counselor, Central File, 1917-1928 25 Decimal File, 1910-1929 .25 Reel 18 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59 U.S. Department of State cont. Decimal File, 1910-1929 cont 25 Entry 535-Office of the Counselor, Central File, 1917-1928 [Addendum] 26 Reel 19 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 165 War Department: General and Special Staffs-Military Intelligence Division Military Intelligence Division, Series 10218 27 Reel 20 National Archives and Records Administration, RG165 War Department: General and Special Staffs-Military Intelligence Division cont. Military Intelligence Division, Series 10218 cont 33 Reel 21 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 165 War Department: General and Special Staffs-Military Intelligence Division cont. Military Intelligence Division, Series 10218 cont 35 Reel 22 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 165 War Department: General and Special Staffs-Military Intelligence Division cont. Miscellaneous Files 38 Reel 23 Washington Federal Records Center, Suitland, Maryland, RG 165 War Department: General and Special Staffs-Military Intelligence Division cont. Military Intelligence Division PF Files 40 Washington Federal Records Center, Suitland, Maryland, RG 185 Panama Canal Commission General Records, 1914-1950 42 Alpha Files 42 National Archives and Records Administration, RG 38 Office of Naval Intelligence Confidential Correspondence, 1913-1924 42 Reel 24 Federal Records Center, Fort Worth, Texas, RG 21 Records of U.S. District Courts 42 Federal Records Center, Forth Worth, Texas, RG 276 Records of the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals 42 Federal Records Center, Bayonne, New Jersey, RG 21 Records of U.S. District Courts 43 Federal Records Center, Bayonne, New Jersey, RG 276 Records of the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals 43 Reel 25 Federal Records Center, Bayonne, New Jersey, RG 276 Records of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cont 43 Subject Index 45 INTRODUCTION by Theodore Kornweibel, Jr. Professor of Afro-American Studies San Diego State University The First World War and the subsequent Red Scare years establish two benchmarks in American civil liberties. At no other time in the nation's history, before or after, was the Bill of Rights so freely transgressed. Second, these years mark the birth of modern political surveillance in the United States. During the late teens and early twenties of the present century the Justice Department and its Bureau of Investigation (renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935), the intelligence branches of the Army and Navy, the State and Post Office Departments, and other agencies of the federal bureaucracy engaged in widespread investigation of those deemed politically suspect. Prominent among the targets of this sometimes coordinated, sometimes independent surveillance were aliens, members of various protest groups, Socialists, Communists, opponents of World War I, militant labor unionists, ethnic or racial nationalists, and outspoken opponents of the policies of the incumbent presidents. Black Americans in all of the above categories were subject to federal scrutiny, harassment, and prosecution. The era is hardly notable for scrupulous attention to the First and Fourth Amendments to the federal constitution. Blacks who opposed World War I or the selective service, those who advocated self-defense during the race riots of the "Red Summer" of 1919, or those who were involved in radical labor unions fared no better at the hands