Photograph was edited for publication purposes. In 1949 the American Municipal Association, representing more than 10,000 cities, petitioned the federal government to combat the growing influence of organized crime. Newspapers and magazines at the time were reporting that organized crime was extensive, with labor racketeering threatening the American economy. Federal law provided few tools for the government to act. The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was established in 1950. The committee, led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver, of Tennessee, became known as the Kefauver Committee. It investigated organized crime that crossed state borders in the United States from 1950-1951. Kefauver was the committe's first chairman, from May 1950 until April 1951. Senator Herbert O'Conor of Maryland assumed the chairmanship until the committee ended on September 1, 1951. Photograph dated February 27, 1951 reads "'Wasn't it the Big five that was active behind this movement to take over the city?' Senator Estes Kefauver (arrow) asks Mayor Fletcher Bowron (right) during opening session of Senate crime investigating committee here. Answered Bowron: 'The terminology is new to me, Senator. I don't known [sic] how many were behind the movement.' The 'Big five' were not identified."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Kefauver, Estes,--1903-1963 Bowron, Fletcher,--1887-1968 United States.--Congress.--Senate.--Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce ABC Television Network Mayors--California--Los Angeles Legislators--United States Legislative hearings--California--Los Angeles Organized crime--United States Committees--United States Microphones Criminal investigation--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Evening Herald Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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