The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson



Overview of the Item

Repository: The HistoryMakers
1900 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60616
(312) 674-1900
info@thehistorymakers.com
http://www.thehistorymakers.com
Interviewer: Larry Crowe
Videographer: Scott Stearns
Title:Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson
Dates:July 03, 2002
Abstract: (ABSTRACT)
Quantity: 5 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials.
Identification: A2002.107
Language: The interviews and records are in English

Biographical Note

Renault A. Robinson was born on September 8, 1942, in Chicago to Mabel and Robert Robinson. He performed a leading role in founding the African American Patrolman's League. Robinson is known for successfully bringing a civil rights lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department for discrimination against African Americans and Latinos. His work was instrumental in increasing the numbers of minority Chicago police officers.

After graduating from Hyde Park High School in 1960, Robinson joined Chicago's police force in 1964. His superiors recognized him as bright and respectful. However, this attitude changed in the wake of the riots that followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968. The brutality of the Chicago police caused Robinson and other black officers to form the Afro-American Patrolman's League. Although he felt persecuted by senior officers, Robinson continued to work for the Chicago police. During this time he served the National Black Police Association as a national information officer. In 1983, he left the police force to become chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority under the administration of Mayor Harold Washington.

Robinson pursued a business career in 1989 when he went to work as the vice president of ASI Personnel Service. In 2000, he founded his own temporary staffing agency, Renault Robinson Staffing. Robinson holds a bachelor's degree from Chicago's Roosevelt University. He and his wife, Annette, have four children, Renault, Jr.; Brian; Kivu; and Kobie.

Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®

Scope and Contents

This life oral history interview with Renault Robinson was conducted by Larry Crowe on 2002-07-03 in Chicago, Illinois and is recorded on 5 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include Renault Robinson's correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.

Restrictions on Use

All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.

Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms.
Contributors:
Crowe, Larry
Robinson, Renault, 1942-
Stearns, Scott
Persons:
(PERSONS)
Corporate Bodies:
(CORPORATE BODIES)
Family Names:
Robinson
Places:
(PLACES)
Subjects:
(SUBJECTS)
Document Types:
Video oral history interview
Titles:
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson

Related Material

Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.

Administrative Information

Location of Originals

Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.

Preferred Citation

The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, July 03, 2002. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.

Detailed Description/Tape Listings

Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, Tape 1, July 03, 2002, TRT: 00:30:45.

Community activist Renault Robinson begins by describing his family background and explaining how his parents came to live in Chicago. He summarizes his youth, sharing memories of his neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, and describing his early educational and job experiences, including his time at Hyde Park High School. He concludes by detailing how he became a policeman in Chicago's Vice Control Division.


Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, Tape 2, July 03, 2002, TRT: 00:29:44.

Renault Robinson recalls his early years with the Chicago Police Department, first as a policeman and later as a detective with the Vice Control Division. He then recounts the founding of the Afro-American Policeman's League. Robinson describes the corruption and intimidation central to police culture in Chicago, and details the threats and harassment he endured for participating in the League. He discusses black police officers' and political representatives' fear of confronting the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Richard J. Daley, and tells about helping to convince the African American politician Ralph Metcalfe to break with the Daley machine on the subject of police brutality.


Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, Tape 3, July 03, 2002, TRT: 00:30:22.

Community activist Renault Robinson discusses in detail his employment discrimination lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department and its implications for both the city of Chicago and his own life. He recalls in particular the surveillance and harassment he endured from the FBI's notorious Red Squad. Robinson explains how his lawsuit helped to increase opportunities for minorities in the Chicago Police Department.


Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, Tape 4, July 03, 2002, TRT: 00:29:07.

Community activist Renault Robinson recalls the effect of his employment discrimination lawsuit against the city of Chicago, including the exposure of the Chicago Police Department "Red Squad's" surveillance files. He also briefly describes the scene of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark's assassination. He then details his efforts to rid Chicago politics of corruption from his position at the Chicago Housing Authority. He concludes by reflecting on his life and career, as well as assessing the future prospects of black police organizations.


Video Oral History Interview with Renault Robinson, Tape 5, July 03, 2002, TRT: 00:22:39.

Community activist Renault Robinson reflects on his life and career, and talks about the effects of his struggle against corruption on his children. He then narrates his personal photographs as they are recorded on videotape.