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On February 28, 1963, Ben Lewis, the 24th Ward’s first black representative in the Chicago City Council, was found on the floor of his office, handcuffed with three bullets in his head. The case is still unsolved. Scroll down to learn more about “plantation politics” and the racial and political conflicts behind the murder.
In 1963, Alderman Ben Lewis was the 24th Ward's first black representative in the Chicago City Council, and the city's most promising black leader.
On February 26, 1963, he was re-elected with 96% of the vote.
Two days later, somebody walked into his office with a 32-caliber pistol…
…handcuffed him, made him lie down on the carpet and put three bullets into his head.
The case is still unsolved.
Lewis’ murder set back the cause of black political representation on Chicago’s West Side for twenty years.
“So I was trying to get people to run for the different offices. So every time I tried to get someone, they would back out because they were fearful about what happened to Ben Lewis.” RICHARD BARNETT Political organizer
It was clearly a professional murder, so the question is not so much who killed him, but who ordered the hit– and why?
Did Lewis get into of some kind of conflict with Lenny Patrick, the 24th ward’s crime syndicate boss?
Or was Lewis killed because he challenged Izzy Horwitz, the 24th Ward’s political boss?
Lewis rose to power in the 1950s, as the 24th ward was changing rapidly from Jewish to black.
Although Horwitz moved out of the ward, he needed to recruit reliable black precinct workers who could persuade black voters to support the white political machine.
The 24th became what was often called a "plantation ward" because blacks supplied the votes and whites got most of the political benefits.
Other West Side plantation wards were controlled by white politicians with Italian and Irish heritage.
The biggest beneficiary was Mayor Richard J. Daley, who controlled 45 of the 50 votes in the Chicago City Council.
Lewis was one of six black city councilmen. They were called "The Silent Six" because they were subservient to the political machine that had put them in office.
But shortly before his death, Lewis saw a way to break free of his white political overlords. The West Side’s U.S. Congressman, 83-year-old Thomas O’Brien was on his deathbed.
Lewis told his followers at a political meeting that he was “ready and willing” to run for O’Brien’s seat.
“The meeting was about, ‘I've got enough votes in my back pocket to take me to Congress.’ Two weeks later he was gone.” ROBERT WOODS Democratic precinct worker
“He know that he grabbed that power and somebody didn't want him to have that power. So they killed him.”
“You know the old saying it doesn't matter who pulled the trigger. It's who paid for the bullet.” DON ROSE Political strategist
“There was this long symbiotic relationship between the Jewish machine ward politicians and the mobsters there.”
“The mafia controlled the 42nd ward, the 25th ward, the 27th Ward, the 28th Ward, the 29th ward, the 24th ward... The guy who controlled them was Izzy Horwitz.” BENNETT JOHNSON Newspaper publisher
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A few days after the murder, Chicago Police Lt. Francis Flanagan said he suspected “various powers” in the ward who had “firmly established positions and lucrative means of income. “
Horwitz and Patrick were only two men Lieutenant Flanagan might be referring to. They certainly had "firmly established positions" and "lucrative means of income."
Why did the killer use handcuffs if he had a 32-caliber pistol? Many believe that the murderer left the handcuffs on Lewis’ body to send a message to black political leaders.
After Lewis died, Horwitz replaced him with a more compliant black politician named George Collins.
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Nothing changed. Horwitz and Patrick continued to run the 24th Ward with black figureheads for another two decades…
…until 1983, when Harold Washington became Chicago's first black mayor.
Was Lewis killed because of some kind of conflict with the local crime syndicate? Or was he killed because he challenged the white power structure that ran the 24th Ward?
Website: Cardinal Marketing Group (www.gocgm.com ceo@gocgm.com (980) 666-6991) Detailed photo credits: Slide 15 (Daley with map) RJD_04_01_0040_0005_012. Richard J. Daley Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago. Slide 17 (Congressman O’Brien): RJD_04_01_0001_0013_014. Richard J. Daley Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago. Slide 20 (Alderman Lewis with supporters): , Jeanne Boger Jones Papers, Box 6, Harsh Research Collection, Woodson Regional Library, Chicago Public Library. Slide 24 and 29 (Composite): Laszlo Kondor, MSLASZ13_06_02_18a. Laszlo Kondor Photograph Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago; RJD_04_01_0034_0010_006. Richard J. Daley Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago; Jeanne Boger Jones Papers, Box 6, Harsh Research Collection, Woodson Regional Library, Chicago Public Library.
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