Red lion in winter : the life and times of Claude M. Lightfoot
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"In August 1985, a 75-year-old man in South Chicago saw an eviction in progress at 8051 South Yates Boulevard. Movers carried the family's goods and possessions out to the street, as police watched nearby. For the old man watching on Yates Boulevard, this was an intolerable reminder of the cruelties of the economic system. It brought back memories of a similar experience on a long-ago afternoon, not unlike this one, fifty years and more in the past. The old man, suffering from heart trouble and emphysema, at times struggling to breathe, had come a long way since then. Then, he was a nervous, frightened young man protesting an eviction, confronted with crowds of people and a phalanx of police. There, in the depths of the Great Depression, he was awakened. The nervous, frightened young man found his courage. He stepped up boldly and ordered the crowd to take the furniture from the street and put it back in the house. He dared the police to stop them. The crowd restored the family to its home and marched away, to nearby Washington Park, singing "We'll hang Herbert Hoover to a sour apple tree, when the Revolution comes!" ... First, the autobiography provides us with Lightfoot's own perspective, always helpful when writing about a historical figure, but also reminds us that he is a political figure with an agenda of his own, and his recollection of events and people could be tinged with his own personal biases. Second, the autobiography makes little mention of Lightfoot's personal life. There is little information about his family, his parents, his first and second wives, and his adopted son. Third, the bulk of Lightfoot's papers date from after 1961, with the vast majority dating from the 1970s. There is precious little in the archive from prior to 1961 and after 1980. This lack of primary source material forces us to lean heavily on the autobiography to tell the story of Lightfoot's first fifty years. Nevertheless, there is enough in both the autobiography and the Lightfoot papers for a thorough study of his life and career." -- Introduction
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