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Title
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John Lazia
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Description
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Information on John Lazia (1896-1934), called a "North Side political chieftain and power in the underworld" connected to the Union Station Massacre and "boss Tom Pendergast's lieutenant in the Kansas City Democratic organization."
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Object Type
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Vertical File
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Title
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T. J. and W. T.
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Description
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Biographical article about patching up of differences between William Kemper, Sr. ("Democratic national committeeman for Missouri") and Tom Pendergast (Democratic No. 1 man in Missouri"), "concerning an outgrowth of the Lazia case here."
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Date
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1935-07-12
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Object Type
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Magazine Article
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Title
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SC205 Organized Crime Files Finding Aid
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Description
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This collection contains files relating to organized crime in Kansas City from the 1930s to the 1970s. Contents include records from the Kansas City Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, reporter’s notes, newspaper clippings, and photographs of local mafia members.
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Date
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1934~/1972~
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Object Type
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Finding Aid
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Title
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Future: The Newsweekly for Today
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Description
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Issue of the anti-corruption, Kansas City-based newspaper, Future: The Newsweekly for Today. The front page includes an article, continued on page 8, about the escape from federal police in Kansas City of Sam Randazzo, "a St. Louis gangster" being released from Leavenworth, with the help of police officials Otto Higgins and Jeff Rayen. Other featured articles include: “Patriots Go to Riverside” (p. 2), about the gambling on horse racing in Riverside, Missouri, "(owned by Pendergast associates)" and its effects on gambling salons or saloons in Kansas City such as "the Bowery and the King Kong"; “The Eagle Hovers” (p. 2), about the meeting of the Fraternal Order of Eagles (led by Conrad Mann) in honor of Thomas J. Pendergast to initiate 1,000 new members affiliated with the local Democratic Party including Charles Carrollo ("companion of John Lazia when the North End Democratic leader was machine-gunned to death"), Dominick Binaggio ("political gambling king here"), et al.; “New Pussys” (p. 3), about the "Pusateris" operating gambling machines, prostitutes, bootleg liquors, and "juicy steak dinners" "about a block east of police headquarters" during the Prohibition era, moving in 1935 to a new building near 79th and Holmes Streets "outside the city limits" and projected to be "one of the swankiest night clubs and casinos in the Middle West"; “Pathetic Case of Leonard Claiborne” (p. 3), photo and article about Leonard Claiborne, "for fifteen years a city detective" for the Kansas City Police Department and sentenced to "a four-year term for a lie he told to save the neck of Charles Gargotta, North Side gangster" under John Lazia in 1933; and “May We Present Mrs. George H. Hoxie” (p. 5), photo and profile of Ida S. Hoxie, who worked with the Consumers’ League to ensure that local dairies were hygienic and was also active with the Red Cross and League of Women Voters; also included in the newspaper are advertisements for local businesses and articles on fashion, finance, cooking, music, art, and national and international news.
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Date
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1935-05-24
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Object Type
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Newspaper
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Title
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Future: The Newsweekly for Today
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Description
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Issue of the anti-corruption, Kansas City-based newspaper, Future: The Newsweekly for Today. The front page includes an article, continued on page 8, with a photo and brief history of the Kansas City Municipal Airport (later called the Downtown Airport) "between North Kansas City and Kansas City proper," dedicated in 1927 and opened in 1929 with four airlines and reorganization after "cancellation of government mail contracts" in 1934. Other featured articles include: “Snapshots of the Week” (p. 1), with quips including “An iron box in old Convention Hall contains letters written by locally prominent people of 1899 to their successors of 2001. Let's see, that ought to be along about the tail-end of the reign of Pendergast the Third”; “First Ward to Ward Parkway” (pp. 3 & 4), photo and description of the new Jackson County Courthouse and plans for two more "Pendergast Pyramids"--a municipal auditorium and city hall, all constructed with Tom Pendergast's Ready Mixed Concrete company--in an article about the Pendergast machine's rule starting in the First Ward in the late 1800s and running to the present with Boss Tom's mansion on Ward Parkway; and “May We Present Isaac Katz” (p. 5), photo and biographical article about Isaac Katz, "owner of a newly purchased cigar and confectionery store at the corner of 12th and McGee" in 1917, changing it to the Katz Drug Store that year due to a business law of the Herbert Hoover administration and including a description of his life and career, emigrating to Kansas City from Poland and called "the David Belasco of the retail drug business"; also included in the newspaper are advertisements for local businesses and articles on fashion, finance, cooking, music, art, letters to the editor, and national and international news.
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Date
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1935-03-15
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Object Type
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Newspaper
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Title
-
Future: The Newsweekly for Today
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Description
-
Issue of the anti-corruption, Kansas City-based newspaper, Future: The Newsweekly for Today. The front page includes an article, continued on page 8, about the crime rate for auto theft and parts stripping in Kansas City compared to Saint Louis and description of its inaccurate measurements by the Kansas City Police Department not accepted by the FBI, with photo of a stripped car and a portrait of J. Edgar Hoover. Other featured articles include: “One Year Ago This Week” (p. 2), with descriptions of incidents in Kansas City on March 12-13, 1934, involving the blockage of registered voters from the polls and bringing in of paid voters by the Pendergast machine for "[t]wo bits a vote," and mention of mistreated and beaten Fusion voters Mrs Mary Brown (1208 East 14th Street), Miss Bessie Morgan (3030 McGee Street), and Tommy Jackson (a black man) and police officer Tom Farley and "Eddie Collins, Pendergast precinct captain"; “Is Your Insurance Costing Too Much?” (p. 3), an article and portrait of Cliff Jones, "Chairman of the Committee Against Fake Claim Racket" in an article about fraudulent insurance claims in Kansas City; and “May We Present Otto P. Higgins” (p. 5), photo and biographical article about Otto Higgins, the 45-year-old director of the police department (replacing Eugene Reppert) and former "police reporter of the Kansas City Star," with description of his life and career as a native of Illinois coming to Kansas City before World War I and becoming a lawyer; also included in the newspaper are advertisements for local businesses and articles on fashion, finance, cooking, music, art, letters to the editor, and national and international news.
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Date
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1935-03-08
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Object Type
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Newspaper
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Title
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Future: The Newsweekly for Today
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Description
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First issue of the anti-corruption, Kansas City-based newspaper, Future: The Newsweekly for Today. The front page includes a statement on the newspaper's objective, maintaining that the newspaper is not against any certain political party or vice, but that it is simply for "good government." Featured articles include: “Council Passes Cab Ordinance” (pp. 2 & 4) discussing councilman Frank H. Backstrom’s reaction to the ordinance and detailing other ordinances appropriating bond funds.; "Adult Education--A Fine Work" (pp. 2 & 6) concerning "the program of adult education going forward under the FERA, with the hearty co-operation of the city's Board of Education" and supervised by Roy Gallemore. It describes courses offered at Lincoln High School and its "sixty-three colored teachers employed, a goodly number as compared with the hundred and sixteen white teachers."; “Trivia” (pp. 2 & 6) and "Borderline Businesses Pay Most Sugar" (pp. 3 & 8) on the bombing of the Harlem Nightclub as an example of the vulnerability of semi-legitimate ("borderline") nightclubs and other businesses in Kansas City to its strong-arm tactics of organized crime through the police department. A photo of the Harlem Nightclub bombing is included.; "What, Precisely, Is a Machine?" (pp. 3 & 5) on the definition of political machines and the Pendergast machine in Kansas City fitting this definition through unofficial financing, voting fraud, etc.; "A New Administration for the County" (pp. 3-5) detailing the new administrative officials, new budget laws, and efforts to reduce the city deficit. A picture of J. W. Hostetter, Eugene I. Purcell, and Battle McCardle is included.; “NYM” (p. 4) on the National Youth Movement began in Kansas City in May 1932 with a portrait of Joseph C. Fennelly.; "May We Present Mrs. Charles N. Seidlitz" (p. 5) on Alice Richards Seidlitz "one of the founders of the Junior League of Kansas City," wife of Charles Seidlitz ("president of the Seidlitz Paint and Varnish Company"), and daughter of George Richards ("son of the founder of Richards and Conover Hardware Company"). A photo of Alice is included.; "Be Proud, Citizens!" (pp. 5 & 8) on the ironic description of Kansas City by Judge Brown Harris "as 'probably the most law-abiding city in the United States.'" Irony due to the judge's association with the Pendergast machine and "federal indictments" in relation to the Union Station massacre of Eugene Reppert ("former director of police"), Thomas Higgins ("chief of detectives"), George Rayen ("of the police motor theft bureau"), Tom Bash (sheriff), etc.; Book review (p. 7) of "Heaven's My Destination" by Thornton Wilder (author of "Our Town" and "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"), describing a scene in the book with the main character (a devoutly religious man) unknowingly eating at one of Kansas City's "bawdy houses" and experiencing other misadventures.; Also included in the newspaper are advertisements for local businesses and articles on sports, fashion, finance, cooking, music, and national and international news.
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Date
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1935-01-11
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Object Type
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Newspaper
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Title
-
Future: The Newsweekly for Today
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Description
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Issue of the anti-corruption, Kansas City-based newspaper, Future: The Newsweekly for Today. The front page includes an article, continued on pages 3 and 8, about the election frauds in Kansas City government, with a photo of fraudulent signatures in a precinct book and a photo of Gil Bourk, promoter of "permanent registration." Other featured articles include: “Missouri Valley Authority” (p. 2), about a proposed Missouri analog of the New Deal Tennessee Valley Authority; “Better Driving” (p. 2), a notice about the decrease in automobile-related deaths in Kansas City from 14 in 1934 to 5 in 1935; “Harlem Afternoon” (pp. 2 & 5), about the village of Harlem, Missouri, on the north side of the Missouri River across from Kansas City, including an interview of "Captain Kade," former pilot of the Annie Cade ferryboat during the 1903 flood; and “May We Present Mrs. Herbert V. Jones” (p. 5), a portrait and biographical article about Mrs. Herbert Jones, or Eleanor Jones, president of the Women's City Club at the Gate City Bank Building in 1921, president of the Consumers' League in 1922, president of the League of Women Voters in 1932, and general chairman of the Jackson County women's work committee in 1933; also included in the newspaper are advertisements for local businesses and articles on sports, fashion, finance, cooking, music, letters to the editor, and national and international news.
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Date
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1935-02-01
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Object Type
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Newspaper
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Title
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Dictionary of Missouri Biography
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Description
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Biographical information about John Lazia (1896-1934), an organized crime figure in the "Little Italy" section of Kansas City and an occasional liaison between the Kansas City Police Department and the "underworld."
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Date
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1999
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Object Type
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Book
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Title
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Chronicle of an American Crusader: Alumni Lectures Delivered at the Hebrew Union College
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Description
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Description of a "Walkathon" Depression-era dance craze (pages 117-118) and other activities dealing with organized crime figure "John Lazia [1896-1934], gangster and thug" in Kansas City from 1928 until his death by machine gun fire in 1934. Description of Rabbi Samuel Mayerberg's efforts to expose and oust the Kansas City political machine of Tom Pendergast, Henry McElroy, et al.
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Date
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1944
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Object Type
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Book
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Title
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Open City: True Story of the KC Crime Family 1900-1950
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Description
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Open City is an historical work detailing and analyzing the birth and growth of an organized crime family in Kansas City during the first 50 yars of the 20th Century. It includes names as Charles Binaggio, Nick Civella, Joe DiGiovanni, Charles Gargotta, John Lazia, and Tom Pendergast. Covers topics like prohibition, gambling, political machines, labor rackets, etc. The author was supervisor of the Organized Crime Squad, Kansas City Field Division after a long career with the FBI when he retired.
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Date
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2008
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Object Type
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Book
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Title
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The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob
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Description
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Book jacket reads: The alliance between organized crime and politics was never stronger than it was in Kansas City, where the local Mob boss controlled the police department and terrorized elections...From the streets and strip clubs to the nation's capitol, events unfolding in Kansas City would shape the history of the entire underworld. Book covers the Pendergast era, Johnny Lazia, the Binaggio era, the River Quay saga, connections to Las Vegas, and much more. Back of the book includes a cast of characters arranged alphabetically by last name as well as a selected bibliography.
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Date
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2007
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Object Type
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Book
