A
BYTE OUT OF HISTORY
One African-American Special Agent's Story
02/28/05
His name was
James E. Amos, and he served the Bureau as a Special Agent
for 32 years…over some of the most turbulent history of the United
States.
When? From 1921 to
1953.
He didn’t
start out in the FBI, though. He’d served in the Interior
Department and the Customs Office. He’d worked as an investigator
for the Burns International Detective Agency. He’d served President
Teddy Roosevelt for 12 years as a personal attendant, confidant, and
bodyguard. He was a crack marksman; in fact Roosevelt, an avid hunter,
called him "the best shot that I have ever seen."
When William J. Burns
(of the Burns International Detective Agency) became the Bureau’s fourth
Director in 1921, Amos submitted his application for employment.
His references? Talk about impressive: President Roosevelt, former Secretary
of State Elihu Root, Senator Hiram Johnson, General Leonard Wood, and
former Interior Secretary Gifford Pinchot.
On
August 24, 1921, Amos was sworn in as a Special Agent. Like
all new agents, he earned $6. a day, and worked hard for it. In fact,
over
the next three decades, he worked some of our toughest, most important
espionage, organized crime, and white-collar crime cases nationwide.
Among
those he helped bring to justice:
- The Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
gang, a notorious band of professional hit-men
known as "Murder, Inc."
- The Duquesne
Nazi spy ring. Because of his knowledge of New York,
Amos was asked to shadow Duquesne and locate his home. At the trial,
Amos refuted the spy's claim of being a close personal friend of
the late President Roosevelt.
- Marcus
Garvey and his Black Star Steamship Company, which defrauded
African Americans by falsely promising paid passages to Africa.
- The notorious "Tri-State
Gang," which brutally murdered a postal truck
driver, a police officer, and others.
Professor Theodore
Kornweibel, Jr., sums up Special Agent Amos’s career in Seeing
Red: Amos “’proved’ what should never have needed
proving: that African Americans could serve the federal government in
sensitive positions with objectivity, intelligence, and professionalism.” We
can sum it up too: Amos was a superb agent who served with fidelity,
bravery, and integrity.
Today, more
than 4,200 African Americans serve the FBI and their country,
making important contributions not only as Special Agents, but as analysts,
scientists, linguists, information technology experts, executives,
and more.
Want to put
your talents to work, too? Apply
today!
