The collected files of the authors alone comprise 14,289 pages, or the rough equivalent of forty-seven substantial PhD theses. government documents, these once-secret files are arranged on this site as they were at FBI national headquarters, under the names of individual authors and institutions. Now part of the public domain as unrestricted U.S. Maxwell's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Eyes Digital Archive makes available for the first time a collection of 51 FBI files on prominent African American authors and literary institutions, many of them unearthed through William J. Eyes reveals, FBI surveillance came to influence the creation and public reception of African American literature in the heart of the twentieth century. The official aim behind the Bureau's close reading was to anticipate political unrest. By the time of Hoover's death in 1972, these ghostreaders knew enough to simulate a sinister black literature of their own. Starting in 1919, year one of Harlem's renaissance and Hoover's career at the Bureau, secretive FBI "ghostreaders" monitored the latest developments in African American letters. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature exposes the Bureau's intimate policing of five decades of African American poems, plays, essays, and novels. Drawing on thousands of pages of recently released FBI files, William J. But behind the scenes the FBI's hostility to black protest was energized by fear of and respect for black writing. Edgar Hoover's white-bread Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI FOIA website contains valuable resources on FOIA and Privacy Act requests, including descriptions of request procedures and programs for making electronic requests.įor more information about the ACLU’s investigation of domestic surveillance since 9/11, go to institutions seem more opposed than African American literature and J. and to the FBI Field Office for Oregon, which is located in Portland: Sign the request and have it notarized.Ĭlick here for a sample Privacy Act Request letter.įOIA and Privacy Act Requests from Oregon should be sent both to the FBI in Washington, D.C. State how much you are willing to pay for duplication costs.ĥ. Describe any particular incidents or events in which you were involved that you think may have come under FBI surveillance.Ĥ. Include any identifying data that could help the government identify records related to you, such as date and place of birth, former addresses, or social security number.ģ. Privacy Act requests should contain the following information:Ģ. The government may have private information about you, and the government can only disclose that information if you provide the proper waiver. Information about you can be obtained under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. The maximum amount requestor is willing to pay for copying fees.Ĭlick here for a sample FOIA Request Letter. Whether requestor is a representative of the news media.ĥ.
Requestor’s address/where to send results.Ĥ. FOIA Requests should contain the following information:Ģ. Information about organizations, historical events, investigations, and government policies can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. Your right to inspect your own FBI file is guaranteed under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. In addition to legitimate, law-enforcement activity, the FBI has, throughout its history, engaged in surveillance of people who have simply had the courage to speak out against government policies. Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Cesar Chavez-the list of targets of domestic FBI surveillance is long and distinguished. You have a right to know if the government has investigated you, and you have a right to see the contents of your FBI file. In response to the ACLU of Oregon’s investigation of FBI surveillance of activists and organizers from around Oregon, the ACLU-OR has received numerous requests for assistance from people who are curious about their own FBI records.
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