Claude Lightfoot

CTL-E-4271 · Person · activist · 20th century

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Prominent Black communist for almost 60 years. The FBI's Chicago field office held 24 volumes (almost 5,000 pages) on him; they were destroyed in the 2013 Alexandria archives flood.

Notes

RELP98 identity check: no Lightfoot in entities.json or prior aliases; unique in graph.

Relationships

Lost Organizational Records — related to
Claude Lightfoot's 24-volume FBI Chicago file — nearly 5,000 pages — was destroyed in the 2013 Alexandria flood; his records exemplify the pattern.

Sources

Gizmodo - 'Thousands Of FBI Documents About Civil Rights Era Destroyed By Flooding' (2014-08-06)

Record CTL-E-4271 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 1 source · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: RELP-001, PRESERVE-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Claude Lightfoot (CTL-E-4271),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4271/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Claude Lightfoot (CTL-E-4271).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4271/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Claude Lightfoot (CTL-E-4271) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4271/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Claude Lightfoot (CTL-E-4271).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-4271/

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Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, Bronzeville, ChicagoPhoto: Legimet, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Door of the historic Chicago Defender Building, ChicagoPhoto: TonyTheTiger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The 35th Street Bronzeville CTA station, ChicagoPhoto: vxla (Eric Pancer), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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