by Josh Levin
U.S. Senate, Hearings on H.R. 12276 before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, District of Columbia Appropriations for 1963, 87th Congress, 2nd Session, 1962.
U.S. Senate, Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency, Committee on the Judiciary, 96th Congress, 5th session, Chicago, IL—May 27, 1977; and Washington, DC—June 16, 1977.
Volanto, Keith J. “The AAA Cotton Plow-Up Campaign in Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 59, no. 4 (Winter 2000).
Walker, Daniel, et al. Rights in Conflict: The violent confrontation of demonstrators and police in the parks and streets of Chicago during the week of the Democratic National Convention of 1968. Chicago: Bantam Books, 1968.
Weisberg, Jacob. Ronald Reagan. The American Presidents Series: The 40th President, 1981–1989. New York: Henry Holt, 2016.
Wendt, Lloyd. Chicago Tribune: The Rise of a Great American Newspaper. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1979.
Whayne, Jeannie. Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2011.
Whayne, Jeannie. “The Power of the Plantation Model: The Sunk Lands Controversy.” Forest & Conservation History 37, no. 2 (April 1993).
White, Walter Francis. A Man Called White: The Autobiography of Walter White. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1995.
“Widner-Magers Farm Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places registration form, U.S. Department of the Interior, January 29, 2007.
Wiedrich. Bob. Windy City Watchdog: A Chicago Reporter’s War on Organized Crime. Xlibris, 2009.
Williams, Lucy A. “Decades of Distortion: The Right’s 30-year Assault on Welfare.” Political Research Associates, December 1997.
Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.
Wilson, William Julius. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Witcover, Jules. Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972-1976. New York: Viking Press, 1977.
Woodruff, Nan E. “The Failure of Relief During the Arkansas Drought of 1930–1931,” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 39, no. 4 (1980)
X, Malcolm with Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Random House, 1992.
Courts
CCCC, People of the State of Illinois v. Linda Taylor AKA Connie Walker AKA Linda Bennett AKA Sandra Brownlee AKA Linda Jones AKA Connie Jarvis, case no. 75-6049.
CCCC, People of the State of Illinois v. Linda Taylor, case no. 76-1170 [Linda Taylor burglary case].
CCCC, People of the State of Illinois v. Sandra Brownlee, case no. 75–6048.
CCCVB, The People of the State of Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination, February 25, 1972, file no. 1691.
CCCC, Probate Division. In the Matter of the Estate of Lawrence Wakefield, Deceased, file no. 64-P-1834, docket no. 664 [Wakefield estate].
CCCC, Probate Division. In the Matter of the Estate of Patricia Parks AKA Patricia M. Parks, Deceased, file no. 75-P-5014, docket no. 807 [Estate of Patricia Parks].
CCCC, Chancery Division. Willie E. Butler, and Rose Butler, his wife v. Sherman F. Ray, and Linda C. Ray, his wife; Willtrue Loyd AKA William Willtrue Loyd and unknown others, case no. 78-5514.
CCCC, Chancery Division. National Homes Acceptance Corporation v. Sherman F. Ray, et al., case no. 77-8131
CCCC, Chancery – Divorce Division. Patricia Marva Parks v. John E. Parks, John G. Parks and Emma Parks, case no. 73-D-21775.
Circuit Court of Peoria County (IL). Paul Harbaugh and Sandra Harbaugh, Minors, by Their Mother and Next Friend, Connie Harbaugh v. Peoria Board of Education and Central Illinois Light Company, case no. 54495, 1960–1967.
12th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in and for Sarasota County. Linda C. Ray v. Veterans Life Insurance Company, case no. 85-4046.
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. United States of America v. Linda Springer, case no. 94-59-CR-T-21 (B).
Archival collections
American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Chicago History Museum
Chicago Tribune Oral History Archive
HistoryMakers digital archive
Hoover Institution Archives
Illinois General Assembly digital archive
Illinois State Archives
Marshall County, Alabama Archives
National Archives/National Personnel Records Center
Ronald Reagan Oral History Project, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
Seattle Municipal Archives
U.S. Navy/National Archives Catalog
Washington State Archives, Puget Sound
Notes
Chapter 1
Author interviews with Jack Sherwin, Susan Sherwin, Jerry Kush, Jim Mott, Lamar Jones.
1 a $1,000 haul: “Fifth Jewel store robbed here in a week,” Chicago Tribune, February 6, 1974.
2 A month earlier: “Woman shot; dies in arms of priest,” Chicago Tribune, July 17, 1974.
3 970 murders: CPD, annual statistical summary.
4 There were nearly: CPD, annual statistical summaries.
5 Four days earlier: Supplemental answer and offer of proof to defendant’s pretrial motion, People of the State of Illinois v. Linda Taylor AKA Connie Walker AKA Linda Bennett AKA Sandra Brownlee AKA Linda Jones AKA Connie Jarvis (henceforth Illinois v. Linda Taylor), CCCC.
6 Taylor appeared to be: Mug shots, CPD/FOIA.
7 A large green refrigerator: A list of allegedly stolen items appears in Sherwin’s communication with the Michigan State Police, complaint report, August 25, 1974, MSP/FOIA.
8 a window in her kitchen: “Queen of welfare cheats—who is she?,” Dow Jones–Ottaway News/Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA), February 13, 1975.
9 “every person having”: Standard form, Chicago restrictive covenant, 1927.
10 Mahalia Jackson moved: “2 Homes Fired; Guard Chatham,” Chicago Defender (Chicago, IL), April 26, 1956.
11 But between 1967 and 1977: Levine and Callaghan, The Economic State of Milwaukee, Chapter 5.
12 White flight: “Work,” Encyclopedia of Chicago online.
13 “pent-up aggressions”: Chicago Riot Study Committee, Report to the Hon. Richard J. Daley, p. 72.
14 “unrestrained and indiscriminate police violence”: Walker, et al., Rights in Conflict, p. vii.
15 The dental clinic at Great Lakes: “Dentistry is Becoming a New Health Science,” AP/News Journal (Mansfield, OH), June 25, 1967.
16 prime recruiting ground…violent confrontations: “New Gang Wars Disrupt City,” Chicago Defender, September 16, 1968.
17 On Saturday, August 17: Lamar Jones testimony, November 12, 1974, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
18 four different names: Interview with a postman at the USPS South Chicago station, October 1974, FBI/VA/FOIA.
19 given her age as twenty-seven: Marriage license, August 17, 1974, FBI/FOIA.
Chapter 2
Author interviews with Jack Sherwin, Ruth Hedlund, William Buhl, Charles Bailey, Robert Rank, Erma Williams, Charles Reavy, Bob Dell, Major Schutt.
20 In March 1972: Sherwin testimony, February 24, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
21 lost more than $8,000 worth: Supplemental answer and offer of proof to defendant’s pretrial motion, January 13, 1976, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
22 He’d also gone: Complaint report, April 2, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
23 He’d asked the troopers: Ibid.
24 the state troopers had sent him: Complaint report, March 19, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
25 Ed Hedlund advertised on the front cover: South Haven, Michigan: city directory, special residential edition, 1972.
26 In the early twentieth century: Appleyard, Photographic Memories: South Haven.
27 at first Hedlund: “S
outh Haven turns upscale,” Ludington Daily News (Ludington, MI), September 24, 1987.
28 She also showed off: “Medical ‘practice’ just that for Welfare Queen,” Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1975.
29 blacks had won elected office: Cox, A Stronger Kinship, Chapter 2.
30 Between 1940 and 1970: U.S. census data for Van Buren County, Michigan.
31 She put down $400: Interview with Ed Hedlund, additional complaint report, February 13, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
32 Bailey had met Taylor in Chicago: Interview with Bailey, additional complaint report, February 13, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
33 daughter of a spiritual adviser: April 16, 1970.
34 She charged $100 per session: “Medical ‘practice’ just that for Welfare Queen.”
35 Taylor called the teenager: Bailey testimony, People of the State of Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination, February 25, 1972, circuit court for the county of Van Buren.
36 Dr. Shfolia…Dr. Whoyon: Interview with Bailey, additional complaint report, February 13, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
37 Around Christmastime: Ibid.
38 The nanny, Virginia Griffin: Griffin testimony, Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination.
39 “little black baby”: Jessie Dinkins testimony, Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination.
40 “was a disgrace”: Ibid.
41 $236 every two weeks: Payment of $472 per month in biweekly increments per Erma Williams testimony, Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination.
42 An authorization form listed: “Welfare fraud—an easy game: 5 fictitious children go undetected for 3 months,” Detroit News, February 10, 1975.
43 so many small children: Williams testimony, Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination.
44 just five months apart: “Welfare fraud—an easy game,” Detroit News, February 10, 1975.
45 buy sixty-seven acres of land: Progress report, November 1974, LAC/ISA.
46 Hale called the police: Complaint report, February 12, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
47 The state troopers knocked: Ibid.
48 Inside the glove box: Additional complaint report, February 12, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
49 he found Charles Bailey: Interview with Bailey, complaint report, MSP/FOIA.
50 Griffin would later confess: Interview with Griffin, additional complaint report, February 21, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
51 “spilled the beans”: Interview with Bailey, additional complaint report, February 18, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
52 On February 19, 1972: Additional complaint report, February 19, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
53 Taylor was a flight risk: Michigan v. Connie Green, preliminary examination.
54 “going to Florida”: Interview with Griffin, additional complaint report, February 21, 1972, MSP/FOIA.
55 sent Sherwin a fingerprint card: Sherwin testimony, February 24, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
56 less than 10 percent of the time: CPD, annual statistical summary.
57 in February 1967: Criminal history, CPD/FOIA.
Chapter 3
Author interviews with Jack Sherwin, Jerry Kush, Etta Tomczyk, Walter McWilliams, Bill Bliss, Larry Bliss, J. Terrence Brunner, William Crawford, Jerry Crimmins, William Gaines, Bernard Judge, Charles Mount, Bill Mullen, Chuck Neubauer, Bill Recktenwald, James Strong, Pam Zekman, George Groble.
58 Sherwin walked into the front room: Sherwin testimony, February 24, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
59 short-sleeved brocade dress: Mug shot, August 25, 1974, CPD/FOIA.
60 slammed the cardboard suitcase shut: Sherwin and James McEnroe testimonies, February 24, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
61 driver’s license that said Linda Bennett: Michael Golden testimony, February 24, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
62 six police department inventory forms: Inventory forms, August 25, 1975, CPD/FOIA.
63 “I know you by the name”: Sherwin court testimony quoted in “Multiple identification cards led to ‘Welfare Queen’ arrest,” AP/Reno Evening Gazette, March 8, 1977.
64 He typed the name: Arrest report, August 25, 1974, CPD/FOIA.
65 fifty-four aliases: Chicago office memo, November 26, 1974, FBI/FOIA.
66 the pointed chin: Martha Gordon mug shot and booking card, October 24, 1944, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office/Washington State Archives, Puget Sound.
67 incapacitated by heart disease: Eligibility questionnaire, Illinois Department of Public Aid, FBI/FOIA.
68 sent her $416.70 each month: Check images, FBI/FOIA.
69 By the following January: Certification of the comptroller of the State of Illinois, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
70 “Flordia”: Application for assistance, October 23, 1973, FBI/FOIA.
71 a check for $306: Memra Taylor testimony, March 8, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
72 A day after that: Image of check issued November 1, 1973, FBI/FOIA.
73 Three days after Sherwin: Certification of the comptroller, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
74 She scrawled the words: Application for assistance, Illinois Department of Public Aid, April 29, 1974, FBI/FOIA.
75 This time, her request: Etta Tomczyk testimony, grand jury indictment, February 6, 1975; and summary of Tomczyk’s testimony by assistant state’s attorney James Sternik, March 17, 1977, Illinois v. Linda Taylor.
76 Maybe they’d have better: George Bliss, “Her welfare, other frauds safe under wraps of U.S., Illinois bureaucracy,” Chicago Tribune/Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA), October 10, 1974.
77 “doctor collected $50”: “Four accused of falsified charges for services,” August 26, 1974.
78 Bliss blew out: “$2.14 million in welfare paid to 20 doctors,” August 27, 1974.
79 “A nurse at Bethany Brethren”: “Reports used in fraud probe,” August 28, 1974.
80 eleven articles on page one: Chicago Tribune digital archive/newspapers.com.
81 more than one hundred people: Dygert, The Investigative Journalist, p. 130.
82 “should not have been allowed”: Harry Kariher quoted in “So What If He’s a Little Messy?,” Phoenix New Times, February 20–26, 1985.
83 He hung out with them: George Bliss, interview by Judy Pasternak of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, February 26, 1976, Chicago History Museum.
84 He’d flash a badge: Ibid.
85 abuses at Cook County’s juvenile home: “Orders juvenile home quiz: Judge probes girls’ stories of indignities,” September 12, 1950; “Juvenile home evidence given to prosecutor,” September 13, 1950; “New juvenile home evidence given in quiz,” September 16, 1950.
86 On June 20, 1959: “Obituary: Mrs. George Bliss,” Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1959.
87 forging their time sheets: “Scandal hits sanitary unit,” Chicago Tribune, May 17, 1961.
88 He would build: “BGA’s George Bliss Rejoining Tribune,” AP, October 15, 1971.
89 188 phony jobs…$1 million: “Pulitzer Prize Won By Bliss of the Tribune,” May 8, 1962.
90 more than eight hundred thousand readers: “Dave Felts Column,” Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL), January 22, 1959; “Times Sets New Sales, Ad, Circulation Records,” Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1964.
91 1.2 million on Sundays: advertisement in Chicago Tribune, February 11, 1963.
92 Chicago newspaper columnist: “OK, uncle, Mike’s jingling the bell,” Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1991.
93 Bliss wanted to dig up: Bliss, interview by Pasternak, 1976.
94 found $750,000 in cash: “Demands Probe of Closet Story,” Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1971.
95 heart attack victim: “Heart Victim Is Left in Flat; Had Only $2,” June 9, 1970.
96 “gun battle”: “Exclusive: Hanrahan, Police Tell Panther Story,” December 11, 1969.
97 “not a single black vote”: “Miscarriage of justice,” October 28, 1972.
98 Clayton Kirkpatrick: Bernie Judge, Tribune oral history interview: Klatt, Chicago Journalism: A History, p
. 238.
99 won journalism’s top prize: “Chicago vote fraud disclosures earn top local reporting award,” Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1973.
100 In 1974, [Bliss’s] byline: Chicago Tribune digital archive/ProQuest.
101 “word has spread among”: “State blames county for welfare cheats,” Chicago Tribune, August 6, 1974.
102 Linda Taylor received: “Cops find deceit—but no one cares,” September 29, 1974.
103 “Miss Taylor may be involved”: “Panel probes welfare cheating charges,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 1974.
104 “at least 16”: “Probe Welfare Fraud Ring: Link County Workers to $160,000 Loss,” July 15, 1971.
105 more than eleven hundred newspapers: “Says UPI President Beaton: Subscribers’ advice will help the future,” UPI/Daily Journal (Franklin, IN), April 18, 1974.
106 “well-organized scheme”: “Welfare Checks Help Cheater’s Lifestyle,” UPI/Sarasota Herald–Tribune, October 2, 1974.
107 In many newspapers: “Welfare bonanza keeps woman in big cars—cops,” UPI/Morning Herald (Hagerstown, MD), October 1, 1974.
108 “Welfare queen arrested”: Democrat and Chronicle, October 1, 1974.
109 “Madame X”: “Woman in Mink with $60,000 Lived on Relief in a Hotel, Inquiry by State Discloses,” October 30, 1947.
110 “theme of the undeserving poor”: New Yorker, November 22, 1947.
111 “unscrupulous parasites”: “Relief and its abuses,” June 6, 1933.
112 By November: “Special Court set up to try relief families,” November 3, 1933.
113 That same month: “Jails mother 30 days for relief fraud,” Chicago Tribune, November 11, 1933.
114 “women relief cheaters”: “Women relief cheaters: How they operate,” January 22, 1951.
115 “feed steaks”…“$61,500 relief jackpot”: “Children Without Fathers: The Shocking Truth About the Aid to Dependent Children Welfare Program,” Reader’s Digest, November 1961.
116 “1958 air-conditioned Cadillac”: “Welfare: has it become a scandal?,” Look, November 7, 1961.
