Church League of America

The research files of this collection were obtained by the right-wing Church League of America from several prominent anti-communist organizations and individuals: American Business Consultants, Inc. (publishers of Counterattack ), Karl Baarslag, and the Wackenhut Corporation. All of these organizations and individuals had connections to the intelligence agencies of the United States government, kept detailed research files on individuals and organizations as part of their organizational or professional activities, and were a part of a right-wing research and information network that monitored Communists and other perceived threats to their interpretation of the American way of life.

The Church League of America was founded in Chicago in 1937 to oppose left-wing and Social Gospel influences in Christian thought and organizations. Its first director was Frank J. Loesch, head of the Chicago Crime Commission. The nonprofit organization became an influential anti-communist research and advocacy group in the 1950s, under the direction of former United States Air Force Intelligence Officer Major Edgar C. Bundy. In 1961, the Church League moved its headquarters to Wheaton, Illinois, where it continued its research operations, and created an extensive library of materials on subversive activity. Selling reports and access to its information was a major source of revenue for the Church League, and they also sometimes provided it without charge to like-minded researchers, including members of government and law enforcement agencies. The Church League’s research files also helped it generate materials to spread its anti-communist message through public speaking, books, pamphlets, films, and its newsletter, News and Views . The Church League of America dissolved in 1984.

...