FOIA The Dead is a long-term transparency project using the Freedom of Information Act. It releases FBI records on recently deceased public figures.
Vic Gold was a writer and Republican operative who worked as a speechwriter and spokesman for a number of GOP presidents and candidates, including Barry Goldwater, Spiro Agnew, and George H.W. Bush. His file, simultaneously released in the FBI Records Vault , consists primarily of background checks for those positions.
Lois Wheeler Snow was an actress and writer who, through her marriage to journalist Edgar Snow, became a prominent figure in China. His 1937 book was considered a "sympathetic portrayal" of the young Communist revolutionaries in China, and was the first popular depiction of several future leaders of the People's Republic of China, including Mao Zedong and Zhao Enlai. That connection led to the…
Philip George was a designer responsible for both the celebrated interiors of several prominent Manhattan restaurants and for project managing the construction of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, the site of the 1959 "Kitchen Debate" between Nixon and Kruschev. His FBI file consists of a 1948 background check preceding his work with the Marshall Plan producing a display to promote…
Elbert Howard, widely known as "Big Man," was a founder of and spokesman for the Black Panther Party through the late 1960s and early 1970s. The portion of his FBI file covered in this release documents his international travel and public speaking events, focusing on a trip to Japan. Muckrock has published an extensive write-up of these pages .
Jacqueline Berrien chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Obama. Her FBI file consists of a background check related to that appointment.
Concepción Picciotto was a peace activist who held a continuous vigil across the street from the White House from 1981 until ten days before her death in 2016. Her FBI file includes documentation of several complaints to the FBI, including self-published pamphlets.
Fred Thompson was an actor, a Tennessee senator from 1994 to 2003, and a 2008 presidential candidate. His FBI file involves investigations of threatening calls and letters received by Thompson's Senate office, and a background check for clearance to classified information as special counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Robert Parry was an investigative journalist best known for his groundbreaking coverage of the Iran–Contra Affair while at the Associated Press. His short FBI file documents an investigation into a Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter he founded at his alma mater. The Colby College chapter he led was not apparently successful. According to the FBI report, it attracted only two freshmen,…
Cathleen Morawetz was a mathematician and NYU professor whose research on the motion of fluids and waves was relevant to supersonic aircraft wing design. Her file describes a monthlong visit to the Soviet Union in 1963 as part of an Exchange Agreement, as well as FBI efforts to interview her (and apparently share technical information with her) without alerting her to the identity of a particular…
Drue Heinz was a patron of the arts, publisher of The Paris Review , and—for a brief stretch in 1950—an actress. Her FBI file, which mostly refers to her as Doreen Mary Maher, consists of a background check conducted in 1948, apparently in connection to employment with the Voice of America.
Fats Domino was a pianist, singer, and songwriter who made a name as one of the biggest stars of the early rock-and-roll era. His file consists of a 1965 inquiry into one of his Cadillacs, apparently spotted during an FBI stakeout of a Philadelphia hotel that Martin Luther King was believed to be staying at. The document in Domino's file is labeled "SUBJECT: MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR." and refers to…
Judge C. Weston Houck presided over a lawsuit brought by Shannon Faulkner against South Carolina's public military college, The Citadel. His ruling in that case ended the Citadel's 152-year-old male-only admissions policy. His FBI file primarily addresses an incident wherein a man upset by that case engaged in behavior that could have been construed as a threat.
Pat Summitt was a University of Tennessee coach who is credited for the rise in prominence of women's college basketball. Her FBI file documents a series of letters intended to threaten and possibly extort her, apparently written by an unhinged fan.
Andrzej Wajda was a Polish film and theater director who worked during the height of the Cold War. His FBI file primarily addresses a trip to Los Angeles in 1976 (probably for the Academy Awards, where his The Promised Land was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film) in which one member of his group was a subject of FBI monitoring.
Harry Hongda Wu was an activist and naturalized American citizen who traveled to China repeatedly to document human rights abuses, including the sale of organs, in the prison system there. His file primarily consists of his documenting those abuses.
Robert Allen was the chief executive and chairman of AT&T for nearly a decade beginning in 1988—a transitional period for the U.S. telecommunications industry. His FBI file consists of background checks conducted during his AT&T leadership, as he was considered for various federal government jobs.
Although he was a notable oil industry magnate and received widespread coverage when he married the Denver Post heiress 40 years his senior (after previously working as her chauffeur), Mike Davis was best known at the time of his death as the "World's Grumpiest Boss," after his 1970s-era office memos banning "levity" and even unsolicited greetings circulated online. His FBI file captures yet…
Father Edward Daly was a Roman Catholic bishop from Northern Ireland who achieved prominence for his role at the forefront of the protest march on what became known as "Bloody Sunday." In 1972 he visited New York, where the FBI recorded plans to monitor him and describes an interview the Bureau conducted with him at the Roosevelt Hotel.
Warren J. Hinckle, III was a well-known columnist and provocateur best known as the editor of Ramparts magazine and a vocal (and at times gonzo) proponent of left politics. His FBI file pertains chiefly to an investigation into an advertisement placed in 1981 seeking to recruit volunteers for an American brigade of the IRA, and also contains excerpts of his writing on Cuba. Muckrock has posted a…
Trinh Thi Ngo broadcast as "Hanoi Hannah" from North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Her show aimed to damage the morale of American troops. Her short FBI file mentions her only in passing, in a report about a similar show that was believed to be recorded within the U.S.—the show hosts claimed to be in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles—and shipped to Vietnam for broadcast there.
David Bunnell was one of the founding figures of the computer trade publication industry, involved in founding PC Magazine, Macworld and others. Before that, though, he was involved in New Left politics at the University of Nebraska, where as a student in 1968 he served as the president of the Students for a Democratic Society chapter. His FBI file tracks that group's activities during his tenure…
Hugh O'Brian was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Wyatt Earp during the height of the popularity of Western TV shows. His fame led to an invitation from Nobel Prize winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer to a hospital in Gabon, which inspired O'Brian to start a non-profit foundation for youth leadership. His FBI file consists of correspondence between the Bureau and his foundation, which…
Elaine Lustig Cohen was a painter and graphic designer responsible for the signage on the Seagram's Building, among many other clients. In the late 1960s, the FBI maintained a short file on her—including monitoring her international travel—and her husband, Arthur A. Cohen. The file includes some sensitive personal details about their marriage.
Nina Ponomoreva was an Olympic discus thrower from the Soviet Union. In 1956 she was involved in a minor diplomatic crisis, when she was accused (and found guilty) of shoplifting hats in the United Kingdom. Her short FBI file consists of newspaper reports of that incident and its fallout.
Sammy Lee was the first Asian-American man to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States. He subsequently worked as a doctor and coach, and was honored by six U.S. presidents. In 1990, he was appointed to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, and his FBI file mostly pertains to the background check required for that position.
Ahmed Zewail was a chemist and Nobel Prize winner who worked in the Obama White House as a science adviser. His file consists of background checks conducted for that position, conducted between 2008 and 2012.
Coca Crystal was a counterculture activist and TV personality associated with New York City. Her file covers meetings she planned, attended, or led in the early 1970s, including one to protest Nixon's inauguration.
Gus Savage worked as a civil rights activist and spokesman for the Progressive Party before he was elected to Congress to represent the South Side of Chicago. His lengthy FBI file covers that earlier activism, an (unsuccessful) loyalty check during an application for a federal government job, and investigations into threats against him during his time in office.
Years before Robert Foster Bennett served as Senator from Utah, he ran a public relations company that counted Howard Hughes as a client and once employed Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt. His FBI file pertains to a $50,000 political donation from Hughes to the Nixon re-election effort — a payment that Bennett coordinated with Gordon Liddy.
Before reporter Ben Bagdikian covered the Pentagon Papers for the Washington Post , he was the author of a series of critical articles about official secrecy and "loyalty checks" in federal law enforcement. These writings landed him on the bad side of J. Edgar Hoover, which resulted in decades of scrutiny. The Bureau subsequently collected and summarized his major writing, including a series of 12…
Sam Iacobellis is the engineer credited with developing the B-1 bomber, an American stealth long-range aircraft that affected the course of the Cold War. His short file contains a report of contact with an official—possibly one from the USSR—and an FBI decision not to interview him afterward.
Norma McCorvey was the plaintiff, under the pseudonym Jane Roe, of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case ruling state anti-abortion laws unconstitutional. Her FBI file is focused on a 1989 incident, days before she was to participate in an abortion rights rally, in which unknown suspects fired a shotgun at her home and car.
Madeline Sherwood was an actress most notable for her role in the 1960s television series "The Flying Nun." She had previously been married to the playwright Robert Sherwood, whom the FBI believed to be involved with Communism. This file describes an effort to locate her, to interview her, and the decision not to approach her directly.
Fundamentalist Christian cartoonist Jack Chick wrote to J. Edgar Hoover in 1971 seeking the FBI's help with his bizarre religious comics. His file consists of that letter and Hoover's response declining to participate. A longer write-up of this file has been published at Boing Boing.
Nobel laureate Walter Kohn left Austria as a child refugee in 1940, coming to Canada and eventually to the United States to study and teach physics. He was the founding director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara, helped establish a program for Judaic studies at UC San Diego, and taught at Harvard and Carnegie Mellon. His FBI file consists of an extensive background check…
Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor who served as a translator in the Nuremberg trials before emigrating to the U.S., worked as an activist for various causes over a span of more than five decades. Her FBI file covers those five decades, and the overwhelming majority concerns housing discrimination cases she helped prepare in the 1970s.
Daniel Aaron was a literary critic and historian credited with pioneering the field of "American studies." His short FBI file is chiefly concerned with his contribution to a study on the role of Communism in the United States, announced in 1955.
Joseph Medicine Crow was a widely renowned Native American historian and anthropologist and the last living person to have heard spoken testimony from people at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His FBI file consists only of a single-page interview he gave to special agents about a friend, a Jeep accident, and an angry mob weilding two-by-fours.
Haskell Wexler was the award-winning filmmaker known for "Medium Cool" (1969) and others. The FBI monitored him before and after his 1976 documentary "Underground," about the radical Weathermen, and attempted to subpoena his raw footage.
Bhumibol Aduljadej was king of Thailand for 70 years. In 2000, Thai law enforcement requested the FBI’s help in locating a "disrespectful" online impersonator.
Michael Mariotte was a prominent anti-nuclear activist throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Before that, in 1973, he’d gotten the FBI’s attention as a member of the Youth International Party and a potential protestor at Richard Nixon’s inauguration.
Morley Safer was a Canadian journalist who came to prominence offering unvarnished coverage of the Vietnam War. After receiving a viewer complain that Safer’s reporting would be "destructive to morale," FBI prepared a report but declined to investigate further.
Mark Lane was a leading proponent of the theory that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was a conspiracy. His FBI file concerns travel in 1980 to Lebanon, but concedes that he "has been known to the Bureau since the early 1960s."
Bill Campbell was an executive and advisor for large tech companies such as Apple and Google. His file consists primarily of an FBI interview conducted in 2007 about an options backdating scandal at Apple, where he served on the board.
William O’Neill wrote a dozen books about history and radicalism through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. His participation in activism was monitored by the FBI — particularly his involvement in an Fair Play for Cuba event, where he served as master of ceremonies.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as the U.N. Secretary General in the post-Cold War era after decades as an Egyptian diplomat. His FBI file mostly dates to the beginning of that era, and remains heavily redacted.
FOIA The Dead has obtained the FBI file for Dr. Herbert L. Abrams.
FOIA The Dead has obtained the FBI file for Lois Weisberg.
Robert Stigwood was an Australian music and movie producer and executive who achieved international success with acts such as the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton, and films such as "Saturday Night Fever," "Grease," and "Evita." Before his death in January 2016 , he was frequently ranked among the wealthiest people in Britain. In May and June of 1991, around the time that Disney aborted plans to fund a…
Representative Mike Oxley, best known for his co-authorship of the anti-fraud law to emerge from the Enron scandal, was one of the FBI's staunchest defenders in the halls of Congress throughout his tenure—and especially during the 1990s "Crypto Wars," in which the Bureau tried and failed to require law enforcement backdoors in all U.S. encryption software . Oxley was one of two former FBI agents…