by David Garrow
11. Minutes, CCRC, 30 September 1980, “Toward a Founding Convention of the CCRC,” 30 September 1980, Minutes, CCRC, 14 October 1980, all RPP Box 20; Leo T. Mahon to Dear Sirs (Inland Steel), Richard P. Poethig to Sarah Cunningham, 17 October 1980, both RPP Box 24; Minutes, CCRC, 28 October 1980, RPP Box 20; “We Face Today a Crisis of Unprecedented Dimensions,” CCRC trifold flyer, n.d., Roberta Lynch Papers (RLP); News from Calumet Community Religious Conference, Vol. 1, #1, 9 November 1980, RLP; [Roberta Lynch], “Director’s Report,” 10 November 1980 and “Agenda,” CCRC, 11 November 1980, RPP Box 20; Richard P. Poethig, “The Church’s Response to Plant Closings,” 12 November 1980, RPP Box 19 and ICUIS Box 74 Fld. 1295; Richard P. Poethig, “A Strategy Paper for the Participation of Protestant Congregations in the CCRC,” 17 November 1980, RPP Box 19; Minutes, CCRC, 25 November 1980, News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1 #2, 28 November 1980, RLP, “Steering Committee and Who It Represents,” n.d., “1981 January–December CCRC Budget Proposal,” n.d., Minutes, CCRC, 16 December 1980, all RPP Box 20; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #3, 19 December 1980, RLP; Roberta Lynch to Dick Poethig et al., 29 December 1980, Poethig Papers; “CCRC 1981 Program,” n.d., RPP Box 20; Richard Poethig, “Crisis in Steel Industry,” A. D., January 1981.
12. Minutes, Administrative Staff Meeting, 31 October 1980, LIP Box 5; DJG interviews with Mary Gonzales, Greg Galluzzo, Tom Cima, and Ted Aranda; Lynn Emmerman, “Picketing Steelworkers Claim Byrne Broke Vow,” CT, 28 November 1980, p. B6; [Tom Joyce], “Claretian Social Development Grants for 1981,” December 1980, CSDF Papers; Wieboldt Foundation, 1980 Annual Report, p. 14; Woods Charitable Fund, Report for the Years 1979 and 1980, pp. 3, 12.
13. CCRC Research Committee Meeting, 5 January 1981, RPP Box 20; Samuel Ayyub Bilal, “Look at Steel Employee’s Crisis,” Bilalian News, 9 January 1981, pp. 7, 28; [Roberta Lynch], “Organizing in 1981,” [13 January 1981]; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 13 January 1981, both RPP Box 20; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #4, 16 January 1981, RLP; Roberta Lynch and John Beckman to CCRC Steering Committee, 19 January 1981, RPP Box 20; Leo Mahon to Jack Egan, 26 January 1981, Egan Papers Box 151 Fld. 21; News from Calumet Community Religious Council Vol. 1, #5, 6 February 1981; and Richard P. Poethig, “The Calumet Steel Economy and the Church’s Response,” 9 February 1981, both RPP Box 19; Richard P. Poethig, ed., “Plant Closings: The Church’s Response,” Justice Ministries: Resources for Urban Mission 10 (Fall 1980) [actually post–6 February 1981], 54pp., esp. p. 16; CCRC, “Training Session for Local Congregation Seminars,” [16 February 1981], 8pp., RLP and RPP Box 19; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #6, 20 February 1981, RLP; Roberta Lynch to Steering Committee, “CCRC Progress,” 26 February 1981; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #7, 6 March 1981; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 10 March 1981; [Dick Poethig Notes], 10 March 1981; Leo Mahon to Dear Pastor, 19 March 1981, all RPP Box 20; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #8, 20 March 1981, RLP; News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #9, 3 April 1981, RPP Box 20. See also Robert McClory, “Alinsky Lives,” CR, 3 April 1981, pp. 1, 28–36; and James Balanoff, “U. S. Steel Cons the Congress and Union,” ITT, 20–26 January 1982, p. 11.
14. Pam Sebastian, “U.S. Agency Buys Wisconsin Steel,” CT, 21 January 1981, p. C3; “Relief Office to Assist Idle Steelworkers,” CT, 22 January 1981, p. B1; Pam Sebastian, “No Fast Revival Seen at Wisconsin Steel Despite Role of U.S.,” CT, 25 January 1981, p. M5; Mitchell Locin, “200 March on CTA, Win Concessions,” CT, 30 January 1981, p. M6; “How to Organize Friends and Influence People—Salt Interviews Greg Galluzzo,” Salt, June 1983, pp. 21–25; Pam Sebastian, “New Cloud Clings to Wisconsin Steel,” CT, 22 February 1981, p. M5; Sebastian, “Pritzkers May Help Revive Steel Mill,” CT, 15 March 1981, pp. 1, 4; Eileen Ogintz, “Laid-Off Workers Plan Lobby Effort,” CT, 16 March 1981, p. C6; CRec, 9 April 1981, pp. HR7172–75. Unemployment benefits ended after thirty-nine weeks. Lynn Emmerman, “Lives Built on Steel Rust with Idleness,” CT, 14 September 1986, p. T1. On mini-mills, see Christopher Scherrer, “Mini-Mills: A New Growth Path for the U.S. Steel Industry?,” Journal of Economic Issues 22 (December 1988): 1179–1200, and Breandan O’Huallachain’s excellent “The Restructuring of the U.S. Steel Industry,” Environment and Planning A 25 (September 1993): 1339–59.
15. Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 14 April 1981; Roberta Lynch to CCRC Steering Committee, 24 April 1981, News from Calumet Community Religious Conference Vol. 1, #10, 1 May 1981; Roberta Lynch to File, “Illinois Presbyterians,” 1 May 1981; Roberta Lynch to File, “Other Denominations,” 5 May 1981; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 12 May 1981; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 9 June 1981; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 12 August 1981, all RPP Box 20; Calumet Reporter, September 1981, RLP; Calumet Reporter, October 1981, Poethig Papers; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 13 October 1981, RPP Box 20; Calumet Reporter, January 1982, RLP and Poethig Papers; Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 12 January 1982, RPP Box 20; “Latinos Get Child-Care Grant,” CT, 30 April 1981, p. M4; Minutes, Administrative Staff Meeting, Latino Institute, 15 May 1981, LIP Box 5; Chicago Community Trust, Annual Report Fiscal Year 1981; Wieboldt Foundation, 1981 Annual Report; Father John F. Moriarty to Cardinal Cody, 24 March 1981 and 6 May 1981, CHD Files, Cody Papers; Chicago Catholic, 20 November 1981, p. 18; Mary Gonzales Weekly Schedule, LIP Box 4 (12 November 1981 “Breakfast w/ Jean Rudd”); Minutes, UNO Convention Committee, 18 November 1981, 1 and 15 December 1981, 5 and 19 January 1982, LIP Box 101; Latino Institute, “Community-Based Advocacy Leadership: A Proposal to the Ford Foundation,” 24 December 1981, LIP Box 102; Leon M. Despres to Frank Lumpkin, 4 May 1981, FLP Box 3 Fld. 5; R. C. Longworth and Pam Sebastian, “Workers Ask Day in Court vs. IH,” CT, 6 September 1981, p. V1; Frank Lumpkin to Crossroads Fund, “Grant Proposal for Wisconsin Steelworkers Save Our Jobs Committee,” 15 February 1982, Crossroads Fund Papers (CFP), Box 38 Fld. 476; Jackie Schad to Greg Galluzzo, 8 June, 27 September, and 1 November 1982, all CFP Box 38 Fld. 476; Thomas Geoghegan, Which Side Are You On? (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991), pp. 91–121; DJG interview with Tom Geoghegan. Steve Gorecki, “CHD Funds Help Hispanics Help Themselves,” Chicago Catholic, 16 December 1983, pp. 42, 44, 45, reports that UNO of Southeast Chicago received $34,000 in 1981 and $24,000 in 1982 from national CHD funds. See also “Some Peacemakers—Working for Justice,” Chicago Catholic, 18 November 1983, p. 11, and William T. Poole and Thomas W. Pauken, The Campaign for Human Development (Capital Research Center, 1988), p. 123.
On CHD, also see Chicago Catholic, 10 July and 17 July 1981, p. 1; Robert T. Reilly, “CHD: ‘Perhaps the Best Thing the Church Has Done in Decades,’” Salt, November–December 1981, pp. 12–18; Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, “The Story of the Campaign for Human Development,” 25 August 1995 (reprinted in CRec, 11 September 1995, pp. S13174–76); Jim Castelli, “How the Church Passes the Buck to the Poor,” U.S. Catholic, October 1996, pp. 21–26; Lawrence J. Engel, “The Influence of Saul Alinsky on the Campaign for Human Development,” Theological Studies 59 (December 1998): 636–61; and Joel R. Schom, “Catholic Campaign for Human Development Faith-Based Grantmaking,” Philanthropy & Nonprofit Sector Program, Loyola University Chicago, 2007.
16. DJG interviews with Greg Galluzzo, Mary Gonzales, Jerry Kellman, and Leo Mahon; Donald C. Reitzes and Dietrich S. Reitzes, “Alinsky in the 1980s: Two Contemporary Chicago Community Organizations,” Sociological Quarterly 28 (1987): 265–83, esp. 271; Phil Davidson, “Obama’s Mentor,” II, March 2009; Don Walton, “Obama Mentor Was Here,” Lincoln Journal Star, 26 April 2010; Connie Bolt to CCRC Steering Committee Members, 1 February 1982, Minutes, CCRC Steering Committee, 9 February 1982, CCRC Financial Report, 9 March 1982, all RPP Box 20; Jerry Kellman, Mary Gonzales, and Greg Galluzzo to Leo Mahon, “Our Suggestions for a Church-Based Organization in the Calumet Region,” 13 April 1982, Poethig Papers and RPP Box 20.
17. Leo
Mahon to Dear CCRC Member, 28 May 1982, RPP Box 20; Leo T. Mahon, “From the Pastor’s Desk,” St. Victor Parish Sunday Bulletin, 18 April 1982, p. 2; R. C. Longworth, “Working to Save What’s Theirs,” CT, 30 June 1982, p. B1; Tom Cima, “From the Shadows to New Spirit,” Upturn, March–April 1983, p. 3; Monroe Anderson, “100 Jobless March in Loop, Protest Lack of Job Creation,” CT, 29 July 1982, p. 17. In the absence of any true biography of Joseph Bernardin, the best existing source is Eugene Kennedy, My Brother Joseph: The Spirit of a Cardinal and the Story of a Friendship (St. Martin’s Press, 1997). The full extent to which the economic crisis of the Calumet region did radicalize Leo Mahon’s political views is most starkly revealed in Mahon, “From the Pastor’s Desk,” St. Victor Parish Sunday Bulletin, 30 January 1983, p. 2, where he began by asking “is it possible that there is something wrong with our system?” and queried of people who live off of investment income, “do they not tend to be useless and unproductive parasites?” Questioning “the basic tenet of Capitalism that says that the one real owner of an industry is the investor and that the money invested has prior rights,” Leo declared that “we should consider changing our economic system so that the workers who manufacture the product will also be considered owners, owners with rights equal or even superior to the stockholders who do not work. . . . I am well aware that I shall be called a socialist or even a communist” on account of those comments.
18. DJG interviews with Bob Moriarty and John McKnight; McKnight, “The Medicalization of Politics,” Christian Century, 17 September 1975, pp. 785–87 (reprinted in McKnight, The Careless Society [Basic Books, 1995], pp. 55–62); McKnight, “Professionalized Service and Disabling Help,” in Ivan Illich et al., Disabling Professions (Marion Boyars, 1977), pp. 69–91 (reprinted in Careless Society, pp. 36–52); McKnight, “The Need for Oldness, St. Croix Review 10 (February 1979): 22–31 (reprinted in Careless Society, pp. 26–35), McKnight, “The Professional Problem,” Institutions 2 (September 1979) (reprinted in Careless Society, pp. 16–25), McKnight, “A Nation of Clients?,” Public Welfare 38 (Fall 1980): 15–19 (reprinted in Careless Society, pp. 91–100). See also John L. McKnight, “Service Growth Changing Society,” CT, 2 January 1981, p. B4. Powerful evidence of McKnight’s influence appears in Stanley Hallett, “The Limits of a Model Community Bank,” TNW, August 1983, pp. 10–16: “political action must be taken to transform the flows of resources from maintaining people in a welfare trap to enabling them to get the tools and techniques needed to become productive.” A harmful institution, Hallett wrote, is one that “convinces people that they should be passive recipients of its services” and thereby “inhibits the formation of strong community organizations”; “such an institution stands in the way of needed political change.”
19. DJG interviews with Bob Moriarty, Kevin Limbeck, Mary Ellen Montes, Ellen Schumer, Danny Solis, Phil Mullins, George Schopp, Alma Avalos, and Bob Ginsburg. Moriarty warmly recalled Lena and Alma: “Those two were the stars. They were real leaders. They had and they could produce a following, and they had nerve.” Also Robert Ginsburg, “The Dirt Comes Out from Under the Carpet,” CBE Environmental Review, March–April 1983, pp. 3–5ff.; Gayle Peterson, “We Are the People: The Fight Against Toxic Waste,” Health & Medicine 2 (Winter 1983–84): 13–22; Jerry Sullivan, “Of Dumps, Chicago Politics & Herons,” Audubon, March 1987, pp. 122–26; Casey Bukro, “‘Health Hazard’ Waste Heads for Chicago,” CT, 8 September 1982, pp. 1, 8; Bukro, “Toxic Waste Destroyer to Get a Trial by Fire,” CT, 12 September 1982, p. 4. On Foster Milhouse, see his 30 July 2012 CST obituary.
On the Trumbull Park riots, see Robert Gruenberg, “Chicago Fiddles While Trumbull Park Burns,” Nation, 22 May 1954, pp. 441–43, and “Trumbull Park: Act II,” Nation, 18 September 1954, pp. 230–32; Ben Joravsky and Eduardo Camacho, Race and Politics in Chicago (Community Renewal Society, 1987), pp. 21–29; Arnold R. Hirsch, “Massive Resistance in the Urban North: Trumbull Park, Chicago, 1953–1966,” Journal of American History 82 (September 1995): 522–50; Edwina Leona Jones, “From Steel Town to ‘Ghost Town’: A Qualitative Study of Community Change in Southeast Chicago” (M.A. thesis, Loyola University Chicago, May 1998), pp. 82–84; Alter, “Mexicans and Serbs in Southeast Chicago,” and D. Bradford Hunt, Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing (University of Chicago Press, 2009), pp. 102–3.
20. Hank DeZutter, “Battle Cry of the Southeast Side: Don’t Dump on Us,” CR, 11 March 1983, pp. 3, 34; Thomas J. Murphy to Harold Washington, 26 August 1983, Harold Washington Papers (HWP) Public Safety Box 12 Fld. 11. The Tribune failed to cover Washington’s visit to Bright School. See Thom Shanker and David Axelrod, “Mayoral Candidates Gain More Support,” CT, 30 March 1983, p. 9. On Washington’s election, the richest sources are Paul Kleppner, Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor (Northern Illinois University Press, 1985), esp. p. 217; Dempsey J. Travis, An Autobiography of Black Politics (Urban Research Press, 1987), pp. 489–610; Travis, Harold: The People’s Mayor (Urban Research Press, 1989), pp. 153–97; and James Hawking, “Political Education in the Harold Washington Movement,” D.Ed. dissertation, Northern Illinois University, August 1991, pp. 52–139.
21. R. C. Longworth, “Union Chief Enters Steel Saga,” CT, 18 October 1982, pp. 10–11; John Kass, “Roque Counters Save Our Jobs’ Charges,” DC, 19 October 1982, p. 1; R. C. Longworth, “System Foundered on Lies, Selfishness,” CT, 17 February 1988, p. B3; David Bensman and Roberta Lynch, “The Workers Who Wouldn’t Go Away,” Nation, 30 April 1988, p. 606; Geoghegan, Which Side Are You On? p. 96; Wisconsin Steelworkers Save Our Jobs Committee to Crossroads Fund, “Grantee Fiscal and Progress Report,” 27 January 1983, CF Box 38 Fld. 476; Thomas Hardy, “Hanging Tough in Tough Times,” CT, 10 April 1983, p. K3; Jackie Schad to Gregory Galluzzo, 20 May 1983, CFP Box 38 Fld. 475; CCRC Research Committee Meeting, 5 January 1981, RPP Box 20; Mary Schmich, “A Union Leader Who Wasn’t Made of Steel,” CT, 25 August 1985, Terry Atlas, “U.S. Steel Gives Go-Ahead to New S. Side Rail Mill,” CT, 18 September 1982, p. M1; Robert Kearns, “Steel Woes Show on South Side,” CT, 20 September 1982, p. B10; Michael Tackett, “Steelworkers Accept Contract: ‘We’re Working,’” CT, 2 March 1983, p. 5; Robert Kearns, “South Works May Close, U.S. Steel Chief Says,” CT, 3 May 1983, p. C1; Jesse Auerbach, “Jobs for Displaced Workers,” TNW, May 1983, pp. 1, 8–12; Linnet Myers, “A Saga of Hard Times Set in Cold Steel,” CT, 29 August 1983, p. T1. See also Elizabeth Balanoff’s 1977 interview with then-USW Local 65 president Alice Peurala.
22. DJG interviews with Bob Moriarty, Mary Ellen Montes, Alma Avalos, Ed Grossman, George Schopp, Bob Ginsburg, Phil Mullins, and Danny Solis; Hank Greenberg and Steve Kerch, “Protesters Rally at Meeting of Waste Company,” CT, 21 May 1983, p. 1; Jose L. Rodriguez, “17 Arrested at South Side Landfill Rally,” CT, 17 June 1983, p. B3; Kenan Heise, “Churches Battle in Behalf of Jobless,” CT, 10 June 1983, p. 3; “The Future of Calumet City,” St. Victor Parish Sunday Bulletin, 26 June 1983, p. 4; Casey Bukro, “Mayor to Block 2 Dump Projects, Pending Review,” CT, 24 August 1983, p. B1; Thomas J. Murphy to Harold Washington, 26 August 1983, HWP Public Safety Box 12 Fld. 11; Thom Shanker and David Axelrod, “Washington Invades Ald. Vrdolyak’s 10th Ward Turf,” CT, 25 August 1985, p. B1; Scott Buckner, “Mayor Vows ‘No More Dumps’—600 Pack St. Kevin’s Meeting,” DC, 25 August 1983, p. A1; John Kass and Mark Eissman, “Washington Tells Crowd Waste Management Permits ‘Wrong,’” DC, 25 August 1983, p. A1; Kass and Eissman, “Washington Promises a Zoning Board Revamp,” DC, 25 August 1983, p. A2; Dennis Geaney, “From the Editor’s Notebook,” Upturn, October–November 1983, p. 7; DeZutter, “Battle Cry of the Southeast Side”; Lee Botts, “Women Form Backbone of City Environmental Groups,” TNW, July 1984, p. 17; Sullivan, “Of Dumps, Chicago Politics & Herons”; Jerry Sullivan, “Field & Street,” CR, 1 March 1990; Jim Schwab, Deeper Shades of Green (Sierra Club Books, 1994), p. 176. Benny Scheid’s 1981 letter is quoted in John Conroy, “Cardinal Sins,” CR, 4 June 1987, and Scheid�
�s brief obituary appears in CST, 2 May 1987 and CT, 3 May 1997; also see Steve Gorecki, “Through Good Times and Bad St. Kevin Still ‘Family,’” Chicago Catholic, 30 October 1981, p. 23, and George Schopp, “Tying Together the Telephone Lines,” Upturn, March–April 1983, p. 2. Harold Washington indeed had served thirty-six days in the Cook County jail in 1972 for failure to file tax returns for at least four years. See James L. Merriner, Grafters and Goo Goos (Southern Illinois University Press, 2004), pp. 219–20. The most thorough review of WMI’s history is Edwin L. Miller Jr., “Waste Management, Inc.,” Final Report, March 1992, San Diego (CA) County District Attorney.
23. DJG interview with George Schopp; Benny [Scheid], “An Open Letter to Dennis Geaney,” Upturn, January–February 1984, p. 14; Joravsky, “Dumpers Swamp City’s Southeast Side”; Steve Kerch and Monroe Anderson, “Dumping Ban Called Threat to Business,” CT, 21 September 1983, pp. B1, B4; Michael Arndt, “Firm Permitted to Burn PCBs on Southeast Side,” CT, 5 October 1983, p. 1.
24. William T. Hogan, Steel in the United States: Restructuring to Compete (D. C. Heath & Co., 1984), esp. pp. 25–26, Hogan, “The Steel Industry Today,” Iron and Steel Engineer, April 1987, pp. 50–52, John P. Hoerr, And the Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the American Steel Industry (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988), esp. pp. 100, 425–26, and Gordon L. Clark, “Corporate Restructuring in the Steel Industry: Adjustment Strategies and Local Labor Relations,” in George Sternlieb and James W. Hughes, eds., America’s New Market Geography (Rutgers Center for Urban Policy Research, 1988), pp. 179–214, primarily inform the initial summary of the steel industry’s decline; Robert Kearns, “Plan Offered for New South Works,” CT, 12 August 1983, p. D1; Kearns, “U.S. Steel Puts Off Decision on Rail Mill,” CT, 13 August 1983, p. B6; Linnet Myers, “Hopes Vanish Along with Steel Mills,” CT, 23 October 1983, p. C1; Steven Greenhouse, “U.S. Steel May Keep Plant Open,” NYT, 9 November 1983, p. D1; Robert Kearns, “South Works Talks ‘At a Standstill,’” CT, 10 November 1983, p. 1; Kearns, “U.S. Steel Plan Irks Union,” CT, 11 November 1983, p. 1; Kearns, “The South Works Political Football,” CT, 14 November 1983, p. C1; Kearns, “U.S. Steel Irks Workers with New Demands,” CT, 8 December 1983, p. 1; Linnet Myers, “South Works Concessions Rejected,” CT, 22 December 1983, p. 1; Myers, “Unions at Mills No Longer Strong as Steel,” CT, 25 December 1983, p. C1; Myers, “South Works Dream Dies,” CT, 28 December 1983; Sam Smith, “U.S. Steel Reneged, Rostenkowski Says,” CT, 30 December 1983, p. 1; Linnet Myers, “Steelworkers Find Unity in Defeat,” CT, 1 January 1984, p. 1; Editorial, “South Works Fate Heads Things to Watch For as 1984 Rolls In,” DC, 1 January 1984, p. A4; Larry Galica, “U.S. Sues for Rail Mill,” DC, 11 January 1984, p. A1; R. C. Longworth, “A Betrayal on South Works,” CT, 11 January 1984, p. P19; Larry Galica, “USS to Demolish 2 Blast Furnaces,” DC, 26 January 1984, p. A1; “Keep South Works Open, Bernardin Asks U.S. Steel,” CST, 31 January 1984, p. 6; Fr. Dennis J. Geaney, “Loss of Steel Plant Jobs,” CT, 3 February 1984, p. 18; Larry Galica, “So. Works Story Is Tale of Woe,” DC, 6 February 1984, p. A2; Linda Wolohan (UPI), “South Works Employees Are Struggling in the Face of a Very Uncertain Future,” DC, 6 February 1984, p. B2; Larry Galica, “Reaction Mixed to USS Decision,” DC, 13 March 1984, p. A2; Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, “The Need for Collaboration,” CT, 21 March 1984, p. 15; Larry Galica, “Local 65 May Sell Its Union Hall,” DC, 29 March 1984, p. A2; Galica, “Rumors of South Works Closing Denied by Firm,” DC, 10 May 1984, p. B3; Galica, “Unemployment Rate Drops,” DC, 2 June 1984, p. A1; Galica, “U.S. District Court to Hear South Works Demolition Suit,” DC, 28 June 1984, p. A1; Galica, “U.S. Court Rejects Suit,” DC, 30 June 1984, p. A1; Galica, “City May Join Suit to Stop Dismantling at South Works,” DC, 17 July 1984, p. A2.
