Eliot
Ness 1902 -1957
Eliot
Ness was born in Chicago, on April 19,1902, to Peter and Emma Ness.
Eliot attended Chicago's Fenger High School. He later entered the University
of Chicago where he graduated in 1925 after studying Business Administration and Political Science.
After graduation
he worked as an investigator for the Retail Credit Co., of Atlanta.
He was assigned to the Chicago territory where he conducted background
investigations for the purpose of credit information.
In 1926, his sister's
husband, Alexander Jamie, an FBI agent, influenced him to enter law
enforcement. He later accepted an appointment as an agent with the U.S.
Treasury Department's Prohibition Bureau during a time when bootlegging
was rampant throughout the nation. He headed a Federal enforcement unit
which covered Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. This unit was very successful
in developing cases and obtaining prosecutions against those engaged
in illegal activities, including the notorious mobster Al Capone. Many
years later this unit's exploits became a household word through the
novel, "The Untouchables," by Oscar Fraley, and the subsequent
TV series and movies by the same name. In 1933, after the Prohibition
Act had been repealed, this unit of special agents was disbanded, with
many returning to their previous assignments or remaining in Chicago.
Ness was transferred to Cincinnati in 1934, becoming Investigator in
Charge and was later transferred to Cleveland in 1935.
In 1935, Mayor Harold
H. Burton of Cleveland, Ohio, asked Ness to become Cleveland's Director
of Public Safety over the Police and Fire Departments and the city's
Building Division. He did a commendable job until 1942, when he resigned
to re-enter government service.
The United States was in a state of national mobilization and World
War II was in full swing. Ness applied for and was appointed the director
of the Social Protection section under the Federal government's Defense,
Health and Welfare Service. Responsibilities of this position were immense,
combating social problems which existed on military bases throughout
the nation and establishing a rehabilitation program to deal with these
problems. For his outstanding leadership in this field he received the
Navy's Meritorious Service Citation.
In 1944, Ness resigned
to return to private business as the chairman of the board of the Diebold
Safe Co., in Ohio. From this time until his death in 1957, he led a
quiet life as a successful businessman, participating in several business
activities.