Committee of Fifteen (Chicago, Ill.)

The Chicago Committee of Fifteen was initially formed in 1908 as a private organization that sought to combat pandering in Chicago. Its original directive was to investigate and publicize the venues typically associated with vice. The Committee sent investigators (typically in pairs) to designated "sin districts" to gather first-hand observations such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and observed illegal activity at the end of which the task force members would contact the police and swear out affidavits. In 1911 the Committee was re-vamped to increasingly target prostitution, primarily because city officials such as Mayor Fred Busse were interested in exploring the question of whether prostitution should remain a regulated business in segregated vice districts (such as the Levee at 22nd and Dearborn) or should the districts be outlawed, thereby scattering prostitution throughout the city and making it more difficult to keep in check. There were a number of social concerns that the investigators took note of including, but not limited to, crime, vice, military personnel attendance, interracial contact, and potential illegal sexual activities (such as prostitution, miscegenation, and homosexuality).

The related Chicago Vice Commission members initially favored segregation, but eventually shifted their attitude and concluded that segregation and regulation had failed and that the vice districts should be abolished. They published a report in 1911 entitled The Social Evil in Chicago, which asserted that prostitutes had few other economic or educational opportunities for improvement.

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