Hidden Bibliographic Details
| Notes: | The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has reviewed the materials and declared the collection as a whole open for research. However, Series V, Restricted, contains files with personal identifiable information (PII) and confidential medical information. These files are closed for 80 years from date of record creation.
The ACLU calls itself the nation's "guardian of liberty," seeking to aid in litigation, influence legislation, and educate the community. It is concerned with the protection of First Amendment rights, such as freedom of speech and religion; the right to "due process," or equality before the law and fair treatment under it; and the right to privacy, particularly freedom from state intervention in personal life. The organization was involved in most landmark civil rights trials of the 1920s through 1970s, including the Scopes trial, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade. It argued against the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War, called for Richard Nixon's impeachment, and fought the ban on James Joyce's Ulysses. Always a source of controversy, it was frequently accused of being a communist front. The ACLU of Illinois has been involved in important state and national issues, notably the drafting of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, and civil rights cases arising from police misconduct during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In 1977 it attracted attention for its defense of neo-Nazis who planned a parade in Skokie, Illinois. The Chicago office backed the group's right to free speech, and although the march never took place, they lost an estimated 30,000 members who resigned in protest. It continues to play an active role in lobbying the state legislature defending civil liberties.
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| Summary: | Consists of documents from the ACLU's founding in 1920 through 2014, including case files, finances and fundraising information, individual and institutional correspondence, minutes, newsletters and publications, film, audio cassettes, and photographs.
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| Cite as: | When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: American Civil Liberties Union. Illinois Division. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
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| Cumulative Index / Finding Aids Note: | Finding aid available in the Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, 1100 E. 57th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
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