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Virgil W. Peterson
VIRGIL W. PETERSON (1904-1989) was an executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission and for many years one of the nation’s leading authorities on organized crime.
Born on November 16, 1904 in...view moreVIRGIL W. PETERSON (1904-1989) was an executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission and for many years one of the nation’s leading authorities on organized crime.
Born on November 16, 1904 in Olds, Iowa to Edward A. Peterson and Ida Sandall, he graduated from Parson College, Fairfield, Iowa, in 1927 and received a law degree from Northwestern University in 1930. After graduation, Peterson joined the FBI in Chicago. During his 12-year career as an FBI agent he also served in Milwaukee, St. Louis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
After being hired to head the Chicago Crime Commission in 1942, he helped set up similar organizations in other cities and founded the National Association of Citizens Crime Commissions, of which he was honorary president.
In 1951, Peterson was a star witness at the televised hearings of the Senate Organized Crime Committee headed by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN). During two days of testimony Peterson described how the syndicate evolved into a nationwide organization of hoodlums operating from major cities across the country, influencing and sometimes controlling politicians, labor unions and business firms.
Peterson published three books on crime: Gambling: Should It be Legalized? (1951), Barbarians in Our Midst: A History of Chicago Crime and Politics (1952), The Mob (1983). He also lectured on crime at the University of Illinois and was an expert witness before congressional and state legislative committee hearings on the crime syndicate.
Peterson died in Berwyn, Illinois on February 20, 1989, aged 84.
ESTES KEFAUVER (1903-1963) was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939-1949 and in the Senate from 1949 until his death in 1963. He led a much-publicized investigation into organized crime in the early 1950s and was named chair of the U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee in 1957, serving as its chairman until his death.view less
Books by Virgil W. Peterson
Barbarians in Our Midst: A History of Chicago Crime and Politics