Box 20

Scope and Contents

The subseries consists of FBI files on organized crime figures Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Santo Trafficante, Jr.

Scope and Contents

Each bound set of files is arranged according to the original FBI file numbers 87-66742 and 92-278118, divided into eighteen sections. Sections 1 and 13 are unbound and Section 14 is missing.

Box 21 includes loose FBI serials dated 1959 and one undated typewritten letter by Forman recounting a story in the Miami Herald about Lansky and Trafficante, Jr., referencing the true-crime book Lansky.

Abstract

James Forman was an important figure in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, serving as Executive Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) between 1961-1966, and a life-long intellectual and activist. This collection includes copies of Forman's published works, FBI files Forman obtained through FOIA requests, and A/V materials documenting Forman's activism in the 1980s-1990s.

Scope and Contents In the summer of 1961, when Forman joined SNCC, the FBI opened an investigation of Forman which continued through the 1970s. Forman was able to obtain copies of FBI files kept on him and other subjects through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. There are files on Forman, SNCC, the “Black Manifesto,” and Black Nationalism. Forman also collected files on 20th century organized crime leaders and right wing Zionist organizations and figures for his own research. All files were redacted...