◆ SpookStack

a: wv. iViine’. AWUy nO Welcome Wagon Lady Was Snooper in it CHICAGO —- A Chicago woman recent- ly wrote to the FBI and asked what they ° had on her. A fot of people are doing this, especially - those who were involved ‘in the peace and civil rights movements during the 1960s. They are curious about who was spying on ~~ them. The FBI sent the woman copies of some of the reports that had been shipped from Chicago to Washington about her peace activities. She got a terrible shock. And ! don't blame her. It turns out that she was spied on by the Welcome Wagon lady. Yes, it is true. I’ve seen the FBI report. That nice lady who shows up when you move into a new neighborhood, especially in the suburbs, and gives you coupons for free dry cleaning, bakery rolls, shoe re- pairs and so on. She tells you where you can find different services and asks for a litle information about you and the . family. (Actually, it is a commercial enterprise, something like an advertising agency. The company gets the free samples from the merchant, who also pays a fee to have it displayed this way.) _band moved to Glencoe, Ii, This is what the FBI report sald. (I've changed the woman's name and address.) “U.S. Government Memorandum “To: Director, FBI “From: Special Chicago “Date: 11-30-70 “Subject: Jane Doe. “The records of the ‘Welcome Wagon’ determined that the subject and her hus- on Oct. 3, 1968, and formerly resided at 5689 South Harper, Chicago. In Glencoe, they resided at 663 Fernwood, a home purchased by husband Joe Doe. The records disclosed at the time that they had two children, ages S and 9. The husband is employed as a sales executive for...” There were all kinds of snoops and finks during that turbulent period. Law- suits have brought out that you couldn't trust anybody. That clench-fist, slogan- shouting, bushy-haired young man you met in a tree in Grant Park was really Agent 68291. In his beard was a tape recorder, taking down all of your slogans. But the Welcome Wagon lady? The warm-hearted person who gave you the Agent in Charge, free ticket to the laundromat, when you rv. — Jat- F- felt so alone in the new community? The person you suddenly felt so comfortable with that you disclosed that your husband worked at Lefty's Bowling Alley? A gov- ernment snoop? The woman named in the report said: “T vaguely remember when she came around. She dropped off the usual coupons for merchandise, asked a few questions about wwhere we used to live, what my hus- band did, and things like that. “But it never occurred to me that I was really talking to J. Edgar Hoover. I would have told her to shove the tickets from the laundromat.” I called the FBI to ask if they had really used the Welcome Wagon to do their snooping for them. ] never saw Efrem Zimbalist Jr. resort to such unmanly methods. An FBI spokesman said: “If it is in the memo, then there was probably some dealing with the group.” » Are you still doing that? “We can't address that question one way or the other.” So I called Welcome Wagon at its na- tional office in Memphis. KO- 77 ( ro OT wet ‘ The president, Mrs. Barbare Marshall, emphatically denied that her company gives information to the FBI, At least not now. “I wasn’t here in 1970," she said, “but let's talk about the present. " “We want to cooperate with government agencics, but we couldn't give them infor- mation without consent (of the person being snooped.) We would require a subpena. We would require some legal compulsion. “If the FBI came to us and said: ‘Did you call on Mrs. Whoever?’ 1 would tell them they needed a subpena.” Mrs. Marhsall, who has been presidzat since 1972, said she doesn't know what the policy of the company was before shez was hired. But now, she says, you do not have to hesitate telling your Welcome Wagen lady anything. Their lips are sealed. She sounded sincere and I believe her, and so if you want to tell the Weicane Wagon lady how many children you have, go ahead. But I'm suspicious of tcc kid with the elt Gir 1 Scour ¢: cookies, iCeGs Cally News Service