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For those interested, we've located an FBI memorandum that discusses the origin of the class training photos which we now know to be 1934. You can obtain a copy at this link...
(Photo courtesy FBI; names not immediately available)
Eighty years ago, on July 29, 1935, the FBI opened its training facilities and expertise to law enforcement officers across the U.S., and the FBI's National Academy was born. The FBI's historian, Dr. John Fox tells us:
The idea of a national training academy was first raised in late 1934 as part of U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings’ “war on crime.” FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover then fleshed out an idea for professional education for law enforcement officers at the annual meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) held in early July 1935. An IACP committee on police training had urged Director Hoover, who spoke at the conference on the value of professional police training, to consider offering such training under FBI auspices.
FBI Assistant Director Hugh Clegg, sometimes referred to as the founder of the National Academy, was tasked with a monumental job. A manuscript we found in his personnel file supports the above and gives us some insight into a remarkable achievement within just a one month period. Clegg's papers read, in part,
"Mr. Hoover returned to Washington, [called for Clegg], discussed the request briefly and asked for a quick call to several SACs for their opinion due to their close relationships with local agencies. They were requested to contact some local police executives for their views. [Clegg] was instructed to organize the police school, prepare a detailed curriculum, select an assign a faculty from the supervisor staff of the FBI, and select and recruit an outstanding group to serve as a visiting faculty from the ranks of universities, police agencies and other sources. All of this planning was to be accomplished including the selection and investigation of, and invitation to, students and Mr. Hoover's final approval of all phases --within that same month: July 1935."
1935 In Service Training Photo - SA Robert A. Guerin
SA Robert A. Guerin (later an SAC) is shown (above) with other agents from around the country at a 1935 FBI In-Service Training. From the presence of legendary instructor, Frank Baughman, in this photo ( standing far left with "Trooper" hat), and the visual handguns, no doubt they were attending firearms training as part of the In-Service curriculum. SA Guerin is shown in the second row, last man on the far right. Others shown cannot be immediately identified. (Photo courtesy of his son, retired SA Rudy Guerin)
From his father's memoirs, ret. SA Guerin also shared this account his father wrote during retirement. It reflects a 1937 raid he participated in at Atlantic City, NJ involving an organized prostitution ring and violations of the White Slave Traffic Act, commonly known as the Mann Act. The Bureau had been involved in these type investigations since its early founding and involved transporting women over state lines for illicit purposes. The social impact - real or imagined - of these organized prostitution rings by organized crime and others can be further researched by readers if interested.
Courtesy of retired SA Rudy Guerin, the above photo has appeared in numerous books and other media accounts over the decades, however no names were known at the time. Mr. Guerin now provides a copy of his father's photo, above, taken in 1935 and showing the names of those present on the back of the photo. Mr. Guerin's father, SA/SAC Robert A. Guerin is shown as #12 from the left. Names of others are shown below. Some are mentioned at other locations on this website.
The above photo was taken in 1945 with many of the 30's G-Men present. An In-Service Training Class, SA Robert A. Guerin is shown in the second row, 7th from the right. At the time, Robert Guerin was SAC in the Detroit FBI Office. Others are currently not identified currently. (Photo courtesy retired SA Rudy Guerin, Robert's son.)
Texas Highway Patrolman, Henry "Hank" Sloan & Original Texas Highway Patrol Group
Courtesy "Hank" Sloan's family. A photo of the immortal "Original 50" men of the first Texas Highway Patrol training school. Sloan, prior to joining the FBI, is in the second row.
The Bureau Of Investigation's Baseball Team Of 1932
Inter-agency sports has been, and many places still is, a popular recreational pastime. This not only pertains to federal agencies, but as many know, to local departments. Director Hoover was a big fan of baseball and as such, had an inter-agency team established under the direction of clerical employee, Thomas J. Connor, who then became a special agent, assigned to the Dillinger squad in Chicago. This photo is one of the rare photos of the team, depicting Connor. Those interested can read more about Connor and the team's beginnings at this link. The full identities of the others shown is not immediately known.
1934 Training Class Of SA Milord Kirkland, Thomas M. McDade & Others
Kirkland (see his bio) is behind the left shoulder of the Agent in the chair, dressed in the suit. Kirkland is holding a rifle. Upon enlarging the photo, we now know that the Agent who is sitting on the floor, 3rd from the right, wearing a black tie pulled down is G. Christopher Callan whose son is currently a retired Special Agent. 2nd from the right, next to Callan, is Agent Myron Gurnea. Sitting in the first row, far left, is SA Thomas M. McDade. We do not know the identity as of yet of the others. (photo courtesy of Kirkland's daughters)
1935 Training Class Of SA John W. Core
Courtesy of his son, retired SA Bob Core, is a group photo of his father's training class in 1935. SA John W. Core is observed in second full row sitting with his hand on the shoulder of the agent in front of him. Bob tells us that his mother relayed a story to him that nearly one half of his father's training class was dismissed from the FBI the day before graduation. The reason is not fully known at this time. Instructor, SA Frank Baughman is observed in the bottom row, 3rd from the left. Others are currently not recognized.
1935 Training Class Of SA Robert E. A. Boyle, SA Norman H. McCabe And Others
SA Boyle served the FBI from 1935-1946. Instructor Frank Baughman is seen here sitting in the bottom row, leather jacket, sunglasses. SA Boyle, wearing a white fedora/dark band is seated immediately to Baughman's left side. Also identified in the photo is SA Norman H. McCabe, standing in rear, 3rd from the right. SA Robert Boyle's son, Mike, is now a retired FBI Agent and Mike Boyle's son, Sean, is currently a Special Agent Supervisor with the FBI. (photo courtesy retired SA Mike Boyle as given to him by SA McCabe. Others unidentified. )
1935 Training Class Photo Of SA Henry "Hank" Sloan And Others
SA "Hank" Sloan is shown in back row standing, 5th from the left. The back of this photo, courtesy the Sloan family, reveals ONLY the LAST NAMEs of others as indicated by Sloan's writing. "Back row - left to right" - Taylor, Boone, Johnson, Collier, Sloan, Sanders, Sears. "Middle Row" l to r: O'Donnell, Mehler, Dierst, Miller, Vincent, Murphy. "Sitting" l to r: Connell, Thompson, Conroy, Baughman - Instructor, Mertz, and Coulter
First Known FBI Administrative Class - 1937
The first known class of 1930s Special Agents for administrative training. Not a clear picture but believed to be the first Administrative School at Quantico, Va. in 1937: First row (L to R): J. A. Smith Jr; John Madala; Edward Soucy; N. J. L. Pieper; John Vincent; the late Inspector, Myron Gurnea; Ivor E. (Bill) Nitschke; Harry Scott; A. Hale Watkins; Thomas Donegan; and William Devereaux (seated in front) Back row (L to R): John Warner; William McNulty, E. H. Williams, Assistant Director A. B. Nichols; (FNU) Fletcher; John Kenny; Roswell E. Smith, Richard Simons; Ray Surran; and J. Ellis Clegg. Identifications were made upon loan of the photo to the FBI by SA Pieper after retirement. The term FNU means "first name unknown."
SA Fred McIntyre (arrow) and other FBI agents currently unidentified. McIntyre served from 1934 until 1955 and possibly was an instructor at the Quantico firearms facility which we have yet to verify. (courtesy his niece, Susan Gilchrist) Circa 1930s
SA McIntyre, above photo, is shown here teaching a forensics class to unidentified local authorities. McIntyre spent much of his career as an FBI Instructor. (Courtesy of his niece, Susan Gilchrist)