Chicago Gaylords

The Almighty Gaylords Nation is one of Chicago's oldest street gangs[4] and was founded in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago in 1953. It originated on the intersection of Grand Avenue and Noble Street in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Most of the original members were Italian, but they took in some non-Italians, including some Mexican Americans. This ethnic makeup reflected the population of the Neighborhood at the time and was known as one of Chicago's "Little Italies". The first street corners they claimed were Huron and Throop, where they hung out at Angie's, Grand and Ogden, and Ohio and Noble. The Gaylords would soon take control of about half of the West Town area and all of Noble Square. They had their clubhouses and baseball teams. The main club for the Gaylords by the late 1950s was on the corner of Ohio and Noble Street. Some of their earliest rivals were C-Notes, Lazy Gents, and Playboys. Some original Ohio and Noble Gaylords included Anthony Johnny Boy, Anarina, and Bobby Shipbaugh. It should also be noted that there were other clubs in Chicago with the name Gaylords that had no connection to the Gaylords of West Town/Noble Square, like the Little Village Gaylords that started in 1950 and lasted until the Vietnam War, when most of their members enlisted and the Gaylords club within the Taylor Street area, which started at some point before 1954.

The Gaylords grew in the 1960s, opening up territory in the Pilsen neighborhood; at 18th and Western and, more notoriously, in Logan Square, Lawndale, Altgeld, and Kilbourn Park. More turf for the Gaylords opened up across the north side as middle-class Whites left for the suburbs, leaving poor Whites behind to fend for themselves in increasingly Puerto Rican, Mexican, and African American city slums.[5] At the height of the Gaylords reign in 1979, they were listed as the fourth most powerful gang in Chicago with about 1,500 members and were noted as "Chicago's largest White street gang...considered a violent, bigoted outfit."[6] In 1970, they were suspected for being involved in the murder of a black Chicago citizen named Joe Henson, but no charges were brought: a later feature article in the Chicago Reader alleged police and political coverup.[7] It must also be noted that the Uptown Rebels were suspected of the murder and were more likely the real perpetrators of the crime.

During their peak period, the Chicago Gaylords held sets (or sections) on the North Side, West Side, and the South Side of Chicago. By the early 1980s, Gaylords were the third most prominent gang in Chicago, with 6,000 members. The West side sections included Ohio and Noble, Ohio and Leclaire and Monticello and Augusta. Their South Side sections had Back of the Yards and West Englewood (around 55th and Ashland, Sherman Park), Pilsen (18th and Western), and Bridgeport (Throop Street). Their North Side presence included Belmont Cragin, Manor Bowl, Reinberg School, Chopin Park, Blackhawk Park, St Gens., Humboldt Park (Moffat and Campbell); Logan Square (Palmer and California, Lawndale and Altgeld); Irving Park (Albany and Byron); Kilbourn Park (Roscoe and Kilbourn); Kelvyn Park (Kilbourn and Wrightwood); Dunham Park (Montrose and Narragansett); Ravenswood (Seeley and Ainslie); and Uptown (Sunnyside and Magnolia, Lawrence and Broadway). Two of the most potent Gaylord sections existed in Logan Square: Lawndale and Altgeld (L-A section) and Palmer and California (Palmer Street).[6]

By the early 1990s, the Gaylords were in decline, as many of their leaders went to prison, and the last of the Whites were leaving the inner city for the suburbs. In 2011, police and federal agents arrested nine members of suburban Gaylord's factions on charges of drug dealing, gun trafficking, and violent intimidation.[8] However, they continue to remain active within their strongholds in Chicago and its environs.

The sets, or sections, started by Kilbourn Park wore black and light blue. Teams formed by Palmer Street wore black and grey. South Side sections began by the 18th, and Western units like 55th and Ashland, and Sherman Park wore black and brown.

• Official website Chicago Gaylords, Chicago Street Gangs, Chicago Gang Information