Meeting J. Edgar Hoover

In 1965, I had a wonderful opportunity to go to Washington D.C. for the National Y-Teen Conference.   I had been president of the Y-Teen club at Douglas High.    It was an incredible opportunity.   I will write more about it in another blogpost.

My Uncle Tom and his family lived in Washington D.C. and I had never met my cousins. My cousin, Ellen, and I had been "pen pals" for several years.   She is 6 months older than I am.    After the conference, we went to New York for a few days and then my mom had me fly back to  Washington D.C. to spend some time getting to know my cousins.

We had the opportunity to visit so many of the historical places.   Because my uncle Tom was Chief Clerk of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we were able to get some special tours.  

One of the highlights was a tour of the FBI building culminating with getting to meet FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in his office.   We had our picture taken and I have looked for this picture for years.   I found it over the weekend, along with this letter to my Uncle Tom.

When Tom first moved to D.C. in the early 30's, he went to college and then went to work as an FBI agent.   That was when the FBI came to be very important fighting organized crime.  I imagine that the  bureau wasn't that big in Washington, and the Director knew my uncle.   He arranged for us to meet Director Hoover.

When I flew back from New York City to Washington D.C., two FBI agents met me at the airport and "escorted" me onto the plane.  I remember them driving onto the actual runway and taking me onto the airplane.   It was really cool to be escorted by the FBI.   Obviously, something like that would probably never happen today.

Here is what is written on the back of the picture and the letter from J. Edgar to my uncle Tom:

On August 24, 1965, Miss Ann Scott and Miss Judy Scott, daughters of Mr. Thomas J. Scott of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and a former Special Agent of the FBI, were photographed with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover during their visit to FBI Headquarters.   They were accompanied by Mr. Scott's niece, Sheila Shannon of Douglas, Arizona   Shown in Mr. Hoover's Office, left to are right are Sheila, Ann, Mr. Hoover and Judy.

Letter:

Federal Bureau of Investigation

United States Department of Justice

Washington, D. C.

August 24, 1965

BY SPECIAL MESSENGER

Mr.  Thomas J. Scott

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Room F 37

The Capitol

Washington, D. C.

Dear Tommy:

         It was certainly a pleasure to see your daughters, Ann and Judy, and your niece, Sheila Shannon, in my office this morning.   I do hope they enjoyed their tour of FBI Headquarters.    As mementos of the occasion, enclosed are copies of the photograph made during their visit which I thought they might like to have.

Sincerely,

J. Edgar Hoover 

Enclosures (3)