TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Correspondence, 1938-2002
Subseries 1: Clippings, 1941-2003
Subseries 2: Subject Files, 1937-2003
 |
Inventory of the Jack Mabley Papers, 1937-2003
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2007. ©2007. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
|
| Creator | Mabley, Jack |
| Title | Jack Mabley Papers |
| Dates | 1937-2003 |
| Extent | 7.5 linear feet (17 boxes and 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Correspondence with colleagues, congratulatory letters, inter-office memos; works including newspaper clippings, subject files dealing with important stories including the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Richard Cain case, racketeering, police corruption, and vice in Chicago, miscellaneous articles and columns; biographical clippings, publicity, and interviews, and photographs of Mabley himself and with public figures such as Hugh Hefner and Richard Nixon. Mabley was a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Daily News. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Mabley |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 57 3 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Jack Mabley Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Frances and Patricia Mabley, 2007.
Processed by
Lisa Janssen, Kelly Kress, & Shannon Yule, 2007.
Acknowledgements
This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Access
The Jack Mabley Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Jack Mabley Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Jack Mabley
Chicago reporter and columnist.
Jack Mabley was born in Binghamton, New York, but grew up in Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where his first foray into investigative reporting took place at the Daily Illini. In 1937 he began an anti-prostitution crusade at the paper which resulted in the closings of several brothels. After graduation Mabley worked at the City News Bureau, and briefly at the Associated Press before becoming a general assignment reporter for the Chicago Daily News.
Mabley spent four years in the Navy as a lieutenant during World War II. Following the war he returned to the Daily News as a reporter and rewrite man, later a sports reporter, and in 1957 began writing a general interest column. In 1961 he left the News for Chicago's American (later Chicago Today) taking an estimated 29,000 of his loyal readers with him. During the 1950s and 1960s he wrote exposés on police corruption, racketeering, and vice on the streets of Chicago, complete with undercover reporters and surveillence teams. In 1968 he assigned a young reporter to infiltrate both the SDS and the National Mobilization Committe in the months leading up to the Democratic convention. He defended convicted police and mob figure Richard Cain, and caused the now notorious shut-down of the Winter '58 issue of the Chicago Review which contained exceprts of William Burroughs Naked Lunch. When Chicago Today ceased, he continued as a columnist at the Chicago Tribune until his retirement in 1982. Contract stipulations with the Tribune prevented him from writing in the Chicago area for five years, after which he joined the Arlington Heights Daily Herald where he continued to write a column until 2003.
Mabley lived in Glenview where he was village president from 1957 to 1961. He also created the Forgotten Children's Fund, which raised money for the Dixon State School for mentally disabled children. He met wife Frances Habeck on a blind date and married her in 1937. They had four children, daughters Pat, Jill, and Anne, and a son Bob. Mabley died of complications from a hip fracture on January 7, 2006.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Correspondence with colleagues, congratulatory letters, inter-office memos; works including newspaper clippings, subject files dealing with important stories including the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Richard Cain case, racketeering, police corruption, and vice in Chicago, miscellaneous articles and columns; biographical clippings, publicity, and interviews, and photographs of Mabley himself and with public figures such as Hugh Hefner and Richard Nixon.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
Papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1938-2002. Box(es) 1
- Series 2: Works, 1937-2003
- Subseries 1: Clippings, 1941-2003
- Subseries 2: Subject Files, 1937-2003
- Subseries 3: Miscellaneous, 1950-1999
- Series 3: Personal & Photographs, 1937-2000. Box(es) 17
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Cain, Richard, d. 1973
- Chicago daily news
- Chicago today
- Chicago's american
- Daily herald (Arlington Heights, Ill)
- Mabley, Jack
- National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
- Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)
Subjects
- Police corruption -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Chicago (Ill.) -- Newspapers
- Clippings -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 1901-1950
- Clippings -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 1951-2000
- Correspondence -- 1901-1950
- Correspondence -- 1951-2000
- Investigative reporting
- Journalists -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Photographs -- 1901-1950
- Photographs -- 1951-2000
- Racketeering -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Reporters and reporting
- Vice control -- Illinois -- Chicago
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Container List
Series 1: Correspondence, 1938-2002 |
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| Mostly incoming letters from colleagues and fellow journalists as well as congratulatory letters from notable figures such as Mike Royko, Paul Simon, Paul Douglas, and Otto Kerner. Also includes one folder of inter-office memos between Mabley and fellow staff members at Chicago Today, interesting for its insight into the policy making and office dynamics of the paper. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically with outgoing and subject-related correspondence at the end. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Adamowski, Benjamin S., 1950 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Becker, Russ - Glenview Community Church, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Bodfish, Morton, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Burkov, Boris (includes editorial written by Burkov), 1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Carroll, Paul - Big Table, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Chicago Historical Society, 1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Chicago Journalism Review (also outgoing), 1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Chicago Today (mostly outgoing), 1968-1970 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Clark, Sen. Dick, 1973 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Collins, Tom, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Conti, Karen - Adamski & Conti, 2002 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Cousins, Norman - Saturday Review, 1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Cowles, James P., 1973 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Criley, Richard, 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Daley, Richard J., 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Donohue, Phil, 1979 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Douglas, Paul H., 1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Field, Marshall Jr., 1959-1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Flynn, Chuck - University of Illinois, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Gibson, Marvin, 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Grant, Charles, 1955 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Harris, Sydney J., n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Hunt, Luke, 1950 | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Hutchins, Robert M. - University of Chicago, 1949 | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | Kerner, Otto, 1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | Kirkpatrick, Clayton, 1973 | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | Lahey, Edwin A., 1961-1969, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | Lambdin, James T. III, 1974 | |||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Landers, Ann, 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | Lane, Clem, 1947 | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Lennon, William F., 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | MacDowell, Sally - Daily Herald, ca. 1988 | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Maurer, Albert V., 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 34 | McCall, James C., 1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 35 | McNamara, H. V. - National Tea Co., 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 36 | Murray, Tom, 1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 37 | Odell, Charles Irvin, 1975 | |||||||||
| 1 | 38 | O'Keefe, A. A. - Harper High School, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 39 | Oklepek, Dwayne (see also 1968 Democratic Convention folder), 1968 | |||||||||
| 1 | 40 | Percy, C. H., 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 41 | Pettijon, Fred, 1972 | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Polk, Sol, 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Royko, Mike, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 44 | Scott, Frank W., 1938 | |||||||||
| 1 | 45 | Simon, Paul, 1971-2001 | |||||||||
| 1 | 46 | Spicer, James E. - Glenview Community Church, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 47 | Weese, Harry, 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 48 | Wilson, O. W., 1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 49 | Outgoing, 1980-1981, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 50 | Readers Letters, 1950-1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 51 | Regarding charity work, 1959-1979 | |||||||||
Series 2: Works, 1937-2003 |
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| Primarily newspaper clippings of Mabley's columns written over his career at the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Today, the Chicago's American, and the Daily Herald. The subject files include Mabley's earliest journalistic efforts from the Daily Illini where he contributed to the exposure of gambling and prositution around the University of Illinois. Also of interest are subject files that Mabley kept on the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Richard Cain case, racketeering, police corruption, and vice in Chicago. These files contain clippings, research materials and often correspondence offering anonymous, inside information into situations Mabley was investigating. The Richard Cain file contains several detailed letters written to Mabley from Cain in jail. The 1968 Democratic Convention folders contain memos from a reporter who infiltrated both the SDS and the National Mobililzing Committee in the months leading up to the convention. There are also sports and Television columns from Mabley's early career, speeches, and other miscellaneous articles. | |||||||||||
| Organized in the following subseries: Clippings, 1941-2003; Subject Files, 1937-2003; Miscellaneous, 1950-1999. | |||||||||||
Sub-Series 1: Clippings, 1941-2003 |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 52 | Chicago Daily News, 1941-1949 | |||||||||
| 2 | 53 | Chicago Daily News, 1951-1952 | |||||||||
| 2 | 54 | Chicago Daily News, 1953-1954 | |||||||||
| 2 | 55 | Chicago Daily News, 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 2 | 56-57 | Chicago Daily News, 1957 | |||||||||
| 2 | 58-61 | Chicago Daily News, 1958 | |||||||||
| 2 | 62 | Chicago Daily News, 1959 | |||||||||
| 3 | 63-65 | Chicago Daily News, 1959 | |||||||||
| 3 | 66-69 | Chicago Daily News, 1960 | |||||||||
| 3 | 70 | Chicago Daily News, 1961 | |||||||||
| 4 | 71-73 | Chicago Daily News, ca. 1950-1960 | |||||||||
| 4 | 74-78 | Chicago Daily News - TV Columns, ca. 1950s | |||||||||
| 5 | 79-80 | Chicago's American, 1961 | |||||||||
| 5 | 81-83 | Chicago's American, 1962 | |||||||||
| 5 | 84 | Chicago's American, 1962 | |||||||||
| 6 | 85-86 | Chicago's American, 1963 | |||||||||
| 6 | 87-89 | Chicago's American, 1964 | |||||||||
| 6 | 90 | Chicago's American, 1965 | |||||||||
| 7 | 91-92 | Chicago's American, 1965 | |||||||||
| 7 | 93-95 | Chicago's American, 1966 | |||||||||
| 7 | 96 | Chicago's American, 1967 | |||||||||
| 8 | 97-98 | Chicago's American, 1967 | |||||||||
| 8 | 99-101 | Chicago's American, 1968 | |||||||||
| 8 | 102 | Chicago's American, 1969 | |||||||||
| 9 | 103-104 | Chicago Today, 1969 | |||||||||
| 9 | 105-107 | Chicago Today, 1970 | |||||||||
| 9 | 108 | Chicago Today, 1971 | |||||||||
| 10 | 109-110 | Chicago Today, 1971 | |||||||||
| 10 | 111-113 | Chicago Today, 1972 | |||||||||
| 10 | 114-116 | Chicago Today, 1973 | |||||||||
| 11 | 117 | Chicago Tribune, 1973 | |||||||||
| 11 | 118-119 | Chicago Today, 1974 | |||||||||
| 11 | 120 | Chicago Tribune, 1974 | |||||||||
| 11 | 121-123 | Chicago Tribune, 1975 | |||||||||
| 11 | 124 | Chicago Tribune, 1976 | |||||||||
| 12 | 125-126 | Chicago Tribune, 1976 | |||||||||
| 12 | 127-130 | Chicago Tribune, 1977 | |||||||||
| 12 | 131-134 | Chicago Tribune, 1978 | |||||||||
| 12 | 135-137 | Chicago Tribune, 1979 | |||||||||
| 13 | 138-140 | Chicago Tribune, 1980 | |||||||||
| 13 | 141-142 | Chicago Tribune, 1981 | |||||||||
| 13 | 143 | Chicago Tribune, 1982 | |||||||||
| 13 | 144 | Chicago Tribune, ca. 1970s-1980s | |||||||||
| 13 | 145 | Daily Herald, 1988 | |||||||||
| 13 | 146 | Daily Herald - "The Good Old Days" column, 1988-1989 | |||||||||
| 13 | 147 | Daily Herald, 1989 | |||||||||
| 14 | 148 | Daily Herald, 1990 | |||||||||
| 14 | 149 | Daily Herald, 1991 | |||||||||
| 14 | 150 | Daily Herald, 1992 | |||||||||
| 14 | 151 | Daily Herald, 1993 | |||||||||
| 14 | 152 | Daily Herald, 1994 | |||||||||
| 14 | 153 | Daily Herald, 1995 | |||||||||
| 15 | 154 | Daily Herald, 1996 | |||||||||
| 15 | 155 | Daily Herald, 1997 | |||||||||
| 15 | 156 | Daily Herald, 1998 | |||||||||
| 15 | 157 | Daily Herald, 1999 | |||||||||
| 15 | 158 | Daily Herald, 2000 | |||||||||
| 15 | 159 | Daily Herald, 2001 | |||||||||
| 15 | 160 | Daily Herald, 2002 | |||||||||
| 15 | 161 | Daily Herald, 2003 | |||||||||
Sub-Series 2: Subject Files, 1937-2003 |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 16 | 162 | 1968 Democratic Convention - clippings, research, 1968, 2004 | |||||||||
| 16 | 163 | 1968 Democratic Convention - correspondence (including Jerry Rubin and Rennie Davis), 1968 | |||||||||
| 16 | 164 | 1968 Democratic Convention - inter-office memos, 1968 | |||||||||
| 16 | 165 | Arlington Race Track Scandal - correspondence, clippings, 1949-1954 | |||||||||
| 16 | 166 | Arlington Race Track Scandal - memos, notes, 1948-1954 | |||||||||
| 16 | 167 | Baby Richard case & Justice James Heiple, 1996-1998 | |||||||||
| 16 | 168 | Cain, Richard, 1964-2003 | |||||||||
| 16 | 169 | Chicago Review - censorship of Winter 1958 issue, 1995 | |||||||||
| 16 | 170 | Heirens Murder Case, 1990-2002, n.d. | |||||||||
| 16 | 171 | Illinois State Tax Scandal, 1961-1964 | |||||||||
| 16 | 172 | John Birch Society, 1961 | |||||||||
| 16 | 173 | Marketing to Seniors, 1985-1986 | |||||||||
| 16 | 174 | Pottie, Rev. David Henry - controversial sermon, 1960 | |||||||||
| 16 | 175 | Racketeering / Police Corruption (includes surveillence photos), 1961-1966, n.d. | |||||||||
| 16 | 176 | Vice in Chicago (includes note from Mike Royko), 1959-1960 | |||||||||
| 16 | 176a | Vice in Urbana-Champaign - Daily Illini columns and other clippings, 1937-1938 | |||||||||
Sub-Series 3: Miscellaneous, 1950-1999 |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 17 | 177 | Articles and Manuscripts - miscellaneous, 1950-1999 | |||||||||
| 17 | 178 | Book - Halas, Hef, The Beatles and Me - column proofs with notation, ca. 1980s | |||||||||
| 17 | 179 | Columns - "Radio & TV" in Downbeat, 1954-1956 | |||||||||
| 17 | 180 | Columns - "TV Horizons" & "TV & Radio Horizons" in American Family Magazine, 1951-1953 | |||||||||
| 17 | 181 | Columns - "Voice from the Bleachers" in Enterprise magazine, 1956, ca. 1950s | |||||||||
| 17 | 182 | Speeches, 1970, ca. 1970s | |||||||||
Series 3: Personal & Photographs, 1937-2000 |
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| Biographical clippings and interviews, as well as portraits of Mabley individually and with various public figures such as Hugh Hefner and Richard Nixon. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 17 | 183 | Personal - contract with Chicago's American, 1966 | |||||||||
| 17 | 184 | Personal - publicity materials, biographical clippings, interviews (see also oversize), 1939-2000 | |||||||||
| 17 | 185 | Photograph - Mabley and Buchholz, Butch, 1966 | |||||||||
| 17 | 186 | Photograph - Mabley and Hefner, Hugh, ca. 1960s | |||||||||
| 17 | 187 | Photograph - Mabley and Kerner, Otto, 1963 | |||||||||
| 17 | 188 | Photograph - Mabley and Kissinger, Henry, ca. 1970s | |||||||||
| 17 | 189 | Photograph - Mabley and Nixon, Richard, ca. 1970s | |||||||||
| 17 | 190 | Photograph - Mabley in press area at 1968 Democratic Convention (see oversize), 1968 | |||||||||
| 17 | 191 | Photograph - Group shots, Mabley and unidentified (see also oversize), 1943-ca. 1980s | |||||||||
| 17 | 192 | Photograph - Mabley -portraits, 1937-ca. 1980s | |||||||||