ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the careers, the life histories, of some of the major participants in the West Side Organization (WSO). William Darden's career until he joined WSO had periods of steady employment and stability, but its greater themes were of the violence and deprivation of the streets. He first comes to WSO in August 1964 to seek an adjustment of his other than honorable Air Force discharge because it was keeping him from getting a good job. An old friend of Chester Robinson's, William Clark was born on Chicago's West Side in 1932. Like many others, he wandered into WSO headquarters off the street in 1965 to visit friends, in this case Robinson, whom he had known for twenty years. Like Clark, John Crawford has held his job at WSO longer than any other job he has had. In addition to working long hours each day handling welfare complaints, he runs weekly open community meetings.
