Greenwood, Thomas J., 1908-1988.

Illinois Indian and activist in Indian affairs.

Thomas J. Greenwood, of Scottish and Cherokee Indian descent, was born in 1908. He came to Chicago in 1923, and worked as a blacksmith and boilermaker until his retirement in 1980. Greenwood became involved in Chicago politics and Indian affairs and during his lifetime was active in various Indian causes, issues and organizations. Unable to join the military in World War II because of the loss of an eye, Greenwood worked in shipyards. At one point he was the chairman of a management and labor committee, recruiting 200 Oklahoma Indians, and hiring women for the first time. In 1948 he helped organize the Indian Service League of Chicago, which created the Indian Center to provide social and recreational activities. In 1953 Greenwood represented Illinois Indians at the National Convention of American Indians in Phoenix, and in 1959 he attended the National Convention of American Indians in Omaha. In 1961, when President Kennedy requested a policy on the American Indian, five Chicago Indians met with Dr. Sol Tax, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, to help plan a convention. Greenwood was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for what had been named the American Indian Chicago Conference, to be held in June, 1961. At the conference, over 500 Indians, representing 90 tribes and bands, assembled to exchange information and to discuss major issues, making information available to Indians on a nationwide basis. Greenwood continued his activities as a citizen working on social and political causes, such as helping to prevent the Illinois-Michigan Canal from becoming a landfill. In 1972, he was chairman of the Tri-Centennial of the Marquette and Joliet Re-enactment, which included a powwow with representatives from nine tribes. In 1982, he participated in the ceremony to dedicate the re-locating of sacred stones in the area of Healing Waters in southwest Illinois. Tom Greenwood died in 1988.