Harrison Gents
Harrison Gents

Harrison Gents

Founded Founded in 1959 in or near Near West Side Noble Square (West Town)
Founding story

Founded Near West Side – Tri Taylor, Harrison and Western.

Formerly known as

Harrison Gents Beginning to 1992; Insane Harrison Gents 1992-1995

Affiliations Folk Nation — 1980 – 2000 or later;
Almighty — c. 1995 – 2000 or later;
Insane (North Side) — c. 1992 – c. 1995;
SGD / La Tabla — 1989 – c. 1995;
Colors Black and Purple
Primary ethnicities Latino (Puerto Rican), White, and African American
Symbols Goatee Face, Eyeglass, Top Hat, Cane, Gloves, Lion, and Crest
Symbol usage

Face with wearing a goatee, eyeglass and top hat, top hat, cane, gloves, 187, two lions by a crest (before 1980); Pitchfork 1980-1992

Status Active

The story of the Harrison Gents begins in the year 1957 when a group of Puerto Rican, Irish and African American boys from Harrison and Western in the Near West Side neighborhood were forced to protect their neighborhood from invading gang like the Egyptian Cobras, Taylor Street Dukes, Clovers and Imperial Chaplains.  The gangs were hungry for dominance and wanted to take over this main intersection.  These kids at this intersection were good kids that were well-mannered and especially were respectful to women of all ages, basically they were well-behaved gentlemen.  The problem was they were also bullied and attacked by gangs which drove them to fight almost everyday.

In the year 1959, the boys decided it was time to organize into a gang and they had no choice due to constant invasions.  They decided on the name “Harrison Gents” because they were from Harrison Street and the “Gents” part came from the fact they were gentlemen to women.  They chose the color purple because it was a popular zoot suit color back then.

 

The HGs began congregating just down the block at Claremont Playlot located at 2334 W. Flournoy St (Flournoy and Western), this is where they congregated and swelled in numbers in the 1960s.  The HGs eventually advanced east down to Damen Ave and encompassed Damen Ave to Western Ave and Harrison Street to Flournoy.  This was all just about 2 blocks away from the Taylor Street gangs and not far from the Vice Lords of North Lawndale.

In the year 1964, some Puerto Rican members of the Harrison Gents migrated to the East Village neighborhood  at Ashland and Thomas.  This section was started by JV and this put them into direct conflict with the Latin Kings that were arriving at the same time at Ashland and Cortez during the great Puerto Rican migration to West Town area. The Gents that arrived here also slugged it out viciously with the P.V.P.s that became one of their arch enemies.  Ashland and Thomas was the first section that came right after Harrison and Western.  Harrison Gents in this section also fought against the Gaylords from near Eckhart Park.  After a very short time the Harrison Gents of Ashland and Thomas moved to Ashland and Beach which enhanced the war with the P.V.Ps from Blackhawk and Bosworth but the Gents held strong against this group of elite P.V.Ps.

In 1964 the Gents also arrived in the Wicker Park neighborhood at Lemoyne and Paulina where they battled Gaylords, Latin Kings and P.V.Ps.  These Gents also hung near Humboldt Park at Lemoyne and California, here they would protect Puerto Rican youths attacked by Gaylords.  This section would only survive into the 1970s.

In the year 1964, the Harrison Gents arrived in the Uptown neighborhood at the intersection of Kenmore and Ainslie when Puerto Ricans and African American were first migrating there.  This was also the first time the Gents recruited white members into the gang.  Another gang that settled one block away was the Latin Kings. Right away the Gents and Kings were met by the Young Lords and Latin Eagles Street gangs from the nearby Lake View neighborhood, immediate gang brawls were breaking out between the 4 gangs.  Latin Eagles and Young Lords were allies and teamed up on Kings and Gents; therefore Latin Kings and Harrison Gents became very close allies.  In the midst of the war between Harrison Gents and Latin Eagles, the Latin Eagles killed the leader of the Gents which angered the Gents; however, they did not get revenge until 1975 when they burned down the house of a Latin Eagle gang member near the intersection of Fremont and Addison in the Wrigleyville section of the Lake View neighborhood, a 13 year old girl was killed in the fire while members of the Harrison Gents were arrested (Chicago Tribune P 39, December 7, 1975).

In the year 1966 Puerto Rican members of the Gents from Harrison and Western migrated to the Little Village community onto the 26th Street area.  This group of Gents arrived alongside a Puerto Rican and Mexican migration wave to Little Village that took place in 1966.  This brought several new gangs to the area from other parts of the city.  The newly arrived Gents found conflict with the Latin Kings as the Gents befriended the Latin Counts from 25th and California.  This section would last until 1977 when the Two Six gang began and members of the Gents flipped to Two Six.

In the year 1968, the Harrison Gents found common ground with the Ashland Vikings because of their mutual hatred for Latin Kings and P.V.Ps, this was the beginning of a very close alliance between the two gangs.

The Harrison Gents would soon gain more popularity because of their ruthless ways and making the newspaper.  On June 24, 1969 several members of the Harrison Gents paid a visit to the Lathrop Projects on Clybourn Ave to start problems with the Young Lords that were living there.  The exact address this was happening was at 2852 Clybourn Ave which is near the intersection of Clybourn and George in the North Center neighborhood.  The Young Lords were an activist group by 1969 and were no longer all about the gang banging but the Harrison Gents had ticked them off and got them to fight.  The fight was nasty and heated and the Gents were likely getting the better of the Young Lords because when the police arrived and tried to stop it a few officers were accidentally struck by HGs that had tunnel vision in bashing anyone in sight.  The Gents tried to play nice and help the officers after hitting them but the cops still turned around and arrested them.

In 1969, the Harrison Gents expanded to the intersection of Sheridan and Leland in the Uptown neighborhood.  HG numbers swelled into the hundreds between the Harrison and Western section, Wicker Park and Uptown sections.

In 1971, the Harrison Gents ended up taking Ashland and Cortez from the Latin Kings and flipped several Latin Kings into Gents which allowed the Harrison Gents to massively expand through East Village.

In the year 1971, the Harrison Gents were advancing into the Noble Square area as they began to take over Blackhawk and Bosworth as the P.V.Ps were slowly moving out alongside white flight. This sparked a major gang war between the two gangs. Bosworth was the border between PVPs and Gents.  This was the beginning of the “Bosworth Gents” Harrison Gents in Noble Square.

October 9, 1972 article. I had to clip this one fast because the image was about to close. The article reads “1 Killed, 4 shot in Gang Warfare.” This is from the Chicago Tribune. You can see the ones shot at were the Playboys from Hermitage and Wabansia area likely coming here to hang out with the P.V.Ps of Blackhawkk and Bosworth. Now the Gents had arrived and were aggressively taking over this area as Pulaski Park gang member numbers began to decline. This is the original Bosworth Gents

In the year 1975, the PVPs left Blackhawk and Bosworth and the Harrison Gents took over their territory in Noble Square.

In the year 1975 the Harrison Gents moved to the southern part of the West Town neighborhood below Chicago Ave.  As Insane Popes left Chicago and Wood the Gents moved in and would open Ashland and Grand.  In this neighborhood Gents befriended the Lazy Gents and began converting them into Harrison Gents.  This section of Gents would last until 1994.  In this neighborhood Gents developed an even stronger rivalry with C-Notes and before the Gents left the area they fought heavily with Satan Disciples.

In the year 1979, the Insane family was first created by the Spanish Cobras.  This is when Harrison Gents joined the Insane group.

In the year 1979, bad blood developed between the Harrison Gents and Latin Kings in Uptown.  Conflicts led to the Latin Kings killing a Harrison Gent that year and full fledged war began.  Now the Gents from Uptown were joining their fellow Gents from West Town in a war against the Latin Kings.  One of the main reasons the Gents didn’t join Folks in 1978 was because of the Uptown alliance with the Latin Kings but after this incident they were open to joining Folks and in 1980 when the Folk alliance opened to new gangs the Gents got in right away.  Many Harrison Gents were incarcerated by 1980 so they were approached to joined the Spanish Gangster Disciple alliance behind bars which earned them a Folk alliance offering.  In the year 1981, the Harrison Gents were now Folks on the streets after it was now spread to the streets that year.

Also, in 1980 the older H.G.’s out of Cortez and Ashland under David and an independent group of Cobras were actively hanging out with the Vikings. In that same year the V’s hooked up with Erie House at 1347 W. Erie Street who were trying to form a graffiti cleanup campaign with the West Town gangs. From there Puncher and C.M. an old school L.D. running a section out of the Huron and Ada territories established a Gang Truce that would include the A.V.’s, the L.D.’s, La Familia and the T.B.’s. Upset with an article where the Y.L.O.’s tried to claim the alliance under their flag the V’s and the D’s pull in the H.G.’s and start running under their own banner (U.P.C.I.) United Patriots Creating Identity and also wanted to run the truce alliance under its own flag.  But Erie House wanted a name better suited to the community so that they could open lines into the Department of Neighborhoods.  So as a compromise they kept the initials U.P.C.I. and added the name United People for Community Improvement.  Keeping the initials U.P.C.I. allowed the older leaders to keep United Patriots Creating Identity in the streets as the true umbrella over the gang truce coalition, hence the a.k.a. in the U.P.C.I. cards.  Over the next couple of months the U.P.C.I. would also include the Satan Disciples, a young section of H.G.’s out of Bosworth and Blackhawk, a group out of Eckhart Park going under The Neutrals who although refused to be labeled a gang could hold their own when they had to and periodically the involvement of some Cobras and B.G.D.’s who were affiliated with the Vikings and L.D.’s.  Erie House started dealing directly with C.M. and Puncher and allowed them meetings in Erie House with the other gangs when needed.  The anti-graffiti campaign was successful and led to a celebration event on the Eckhart Park field grounds in Noble Square.  But it was the V.’s who continued to launch other projects for the communities such as replacing vaulted sidewalks, cleaning vacant lots, coordinating food and clothes drives for the shelters and helping Peabody School (1444 W. Augusta) on closed campus for the kids. As a result, the Vikings got mentioned on the nightly news twice and appeared alongside Erie House on a talk show called Common Ground.

In the year 1980, the Harrison Gents solidified themselves in the Du Page County area as one of the first Du Page County Chicago based gangs settling in the suburb of Bensenville.  By the end of 1982 Bensenville police and local media became aware of the Harrison Gents in the suburb.

In the early 1980s, the Harrison Gents took over the 412 W. Chicago Ave (41-Deuce) building in the Cabrini Green public housing projects.  The HGs were close allies with the Black Gangster Disciples, therefore, they only had to fight it out with Mickey Cobras and the Vice Lords; Vice Lords didn’t have much territory in Cabrini Green.

In the year 1986, feuds began between Harrison Gents and Ashland Vikings as a young group of Harrison Gents from Blackhawk and Paulina area were mixing it up with Vikings, this resulted in war between Vikings and these Gents.  The war was not backed by the older Gents from all other sections of the city, however, it was the start of later conflicts between Gents and Vikings.  A short time later, the Harrison Gents left the Blackhawk and Bosworth area.

 

It was just a matter of time before the Harrison Gents and the Ashland Vikings were going to explode on each other and in 1995 war erupted once again which prompted the Harrison Gents to withdraw from the Insane family and join the Almighty family, becoming the “Almighty Harrison Gents.”  The conflicts that began in 1986 worsened after the familias were formed and now the older Gents were backing up the Blackhawk and Paulina area Gents and permanent bloody war was settled between Gents and Vikings.  The war got really bad when the Harrison Gents gunned down “Cisco” of the Vikings then Vikings got revenge by gunning down “Benji G” from the Harrison Gents.

In 1995, The Harrison Gents advanced into Ashland Viking territory in Noble Square and took over most of it after the founding leadership of the Vikings retired or was imprisoned.

The Harrison Gents would remain at Harrison and Western until the area was dramatically changed due to gentrification in the 2000s decade.

Please send in old school pics.   1950s or 1960s pics would be especially appreciated!

Questions:

  1. Who was the founder of the Harrison Gents and what happened to him?
  2. What exact year did the Gents arrive in Cicero?

Sections of the Harrison Gents past and present

Albany Park neighborhood 1990s and 2000s

Sections of Albany Park

Argyle & Drake

East Humboldt Park neighborhood Established 1964

Sections of East Humboldt Park

Augusta & Fairfield

Lemoyne & California (Humboldt Park) Established 1964

East Village neighborhood Established 1964-present years

Sections of East Village

Division to Augusta, Ashland to Wood Established 1971-present years  (Ashland Vikings were also within this area in the 1980s until 1995, this is a general area of operation)

Ashland & Thomas Established 1964-1964

Ashland &  Cortez Established 1971-present years

Pearson to Chicago Ave, Wood to Hermitage (Homicide, Commercial Park) 90s (Ashland Vikings were also within this area in the 1980s until 1995, this is a general area of operation)

Little Village neighborhood Established 1966-1977

Sections of Little Village

26th Street somewhere 1966-1977

Logan Square neighborhood 2010s-present years

Sections of Logan Square

Palmer & Campbell 2010s-present years

Near North Side neighborhood 1980s

Sections of Near North Side

Chicago Ave & Sedgewick (412 W. Chicago Ave, Cabrini Green projects, 41-Deuce)

Near West Side neighborhood Established 1959-1980s

Sections of Near West Side

Damen to Western, Harrison to Flournoy (Headquarters) Established 1959-1980s

Noble Square neighborhood Established 1971-present years

Sections of Noble Square

Blackhawk to Division, Ashland to Bosworth Established 1971-1995

Cortez to Walton, Ashland to Noble Established 1995-present years

Southern West Town Established 1975-1994

Sections of Southern West Town

Ashland & Grand

Chicago & Wood

Uptown neighborhood Established 1964-1990s

Sections of Uptown

Sheridan & Leland 70s, 80s, 90s

Lawrence & Winthrop 80s, 90s

Argyle to Ainslie, Sheridan to Winthrop Established 1964-1990s

Wicker Park neighborhood Established 1964-1993

Sections of Wicker Park

Blackhawk & Ashland

Lemoyne to Blackhawk, Ashland to Paulina Established 1964-1993

 

Suburbs

Bensenville Established 1980

Berwyn

Cicero 24th Place & 54th Street, 25th & Central

Kankakee Harrison from Bourbonnais to Hickory (Purple City)