Delco re:View Summer 2019 - 30

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A MARK IN HISTORY ...

Renowned Burglary of FBI Office
in Media Receives Historical Marker

he renowned burglary of an FBI office in Media is one of the 18
subjects that have received approval for historical markers by the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The subject was
selected from the 55 that were nominated and will be added to the 2,300
blue and gold signs already on the state's roadways.
FBI Office Burglary
Media, Delaware County
The documents obtained during this 1971 operation by the
Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, exposed the FBI's
civilian surveillance program, COINTELPRO. The program was
created to investigate and disrupt dissident political groups in the
US. Following the Washington Post's publication of some of this
material, the FBI's questionable methods were uncovered and
COINTELPRO was shut down.
Investigative reporter Betty Medsger, the first journalist to
report on files stolen from an FBI office in Media nearly a halfcentury ago, has recently donated her research to Swarthmore
College.
Medsger, who was a Washington Post reporter at the time,
was one of the five people who received copies of FBI files
stolen during the burglary, and the only recipient who made them
public.
The Peace Collection at Swarthmore's McCabe Library
received the approximate 70,000 documents Medsger used when
writing her book, The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar
Hoover's Secret FBI. These include 35,000 files the reporter
received from a Freedom of Information Act request. This

Pictured: The building that houses the County
Court Apartments in Media was the site of the
renowned burglary of an FBI office.

detailed how the FBI used illegal surveillance techniques
to suppress dissenting speech and activities by people and
organizations the agency viewed as subversive.
A number of files also detail the ways in which Swarthmore
College staff members were used by the FBI as informants in the
COINTELPRO program that ran from 1965 to 1971.
Marking History for Over a Century...The Pennsylvania
Historical Marker Program
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
administers a program of historical markers to capture the
memory of people, places, events, and innovations that have
affected the lives of Pennsylvanians over the centuries since
William Penn founded his Commonwealth. More than 2,000
cast aluminum markers tell the important and interesting stories
that are part of the history of Pennsylvania. Nominations
for historical markers may be submitted by any person or
organization; new markers are approved and dedicated each year.
https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/Historical-Markers *

'Compete, Connect, Conquer' at Delco Senior Games

ore than 700 senior athletes competed for gold, silver and bronze medals in a
variety of Olympic-style sports as they demonstrated their athletic prowess at
the 2019 Delaware County Senior Games.

"Compete, Connect, Conquer" focused on county residents 50 years and older in
swimming and in games of darts, golf, bowling, billiards, table tennis, horseshoes,
shuffleboard, pickleball, and track & field.
The mission of the Delaware County Senior Games is to engage residents over the
age of fifty in two weeks of fun events that promote a healthy, social and active lifestyle.
The Games are sponsored by Delaware County Council, the Department of Parks and
Recreation, the County Office of Services for the Aging (COSA) and the Destination
Delco Visitor's Bureau.
Check out the 2019 Medalists at http://www.delcoseniorgames.org/Medalists.html. *

30 | Summer 2019

http://www.DelcoBar.org https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/Historical-Markers http://www.delcoseniorgames.org/Medalists.html

Delco re:View Summer 2019

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