Papers include daily and monthly reports; trial statements; criminal investigation procedures; policies; training publications and the quizzers that accompanies them; certificates; commendation; newspaper and article clippings; photographs; negatives; brochures; flyers; signs; correspondence: two sets of notes of screenplay research on Garland Bunting; Kopka's retirement speech; sketch; armband; and a roster that lists violators.
Joseph Kopka was born September 4, 1931 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to William and Anna Kopka, who emigrated from Medzilaborce in Slovakia around 1930. Kopka was the first in his family to attend college and he received his BA from Duquesne University in 1953. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1955. In 1957, Joseph Kopka married A. Jean Yourick one year after meeting her. The couple were married for 63 years.
From January 1960 until his retirement in January 1986, Joseph Kopka worked as a Special Investigator for the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and was stationed in Elizabeth City, Rocky Mount, and Cary in North Carolina, and in Savannah, Georgia and Washington, D.C. During his time as ATF Special Investigator, Kopka was assigned to investigate and catch bootleggers or moonshiners as they were also known (people who made illicit whiskey). It was his job to arrest these bootleggers and dismantle their stills.
When Kopka retired from the ATF after 26 years of service, the ATF presented to him its highest honor: The Gallatin Award. Shortly after his retirement, Joseph Kopka joined the staff of Senator Strom Thurmond (R, SC) as the Special Investigator for the US Senate Judiciary Committee (chaired by Senator Joe Biden). There, Joe investigated high profile nominees for federal office, such as Ed Meese.
Joseph Kopka died on February 11, 2021 just a few months after his wife Jean passed away on August 22, 2020. They had two children: Sherrie Kopka-Kennedy and Ken Kopka.
Sources:
Daughter Sherrie Kopka-Kennedy and Joseph Kopka's obituary (https://www.millerfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Joe-Kopka/#!/Obituary)
The papers mainly revolve around Joseph Kopka's law enforcement career. The bulk of the collection consists of reports that outline Kopka's daily and monthly duties and activities carried out in his role as Special Investigator for the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives). The most noteworthy of these reports is the report on the shooting of Joseph Kopka by bootleggers that occurred in 1963. There are statements submitted by Kopka for criminal trials that also give detailed information on the various cases that he was assigned to.
Photographs in the papers show crime scenes of stills that were broken up during legal operations against the bootleggers. A couple of photos, however, are of human remains and are quite graphic in nature. There are photographs of weapons such as guns and explosive devices that ATF agents have run across during their work. Other photos and negatives show people and various scenes. The people in these photos include Joseph Kopka but they also include famous individuals such as Elliot Ness and Ed Meese.
Clippings from newspapers and articles cover subjects such as ATF agents' raids on stills, award presentations, and of Percy Flowers who was a well-known bootlegger from North Carolina. Awards and certificates included in the papers show Joseph Kopka's career accomplishments. Among the more interesting items are Kopka's armband that he wore on the job, a copy of Kopka's retirement speech and the commendation that Kopka received in 1986 on his retirement.
Items such as flyers, signs, forms, correspondence, maps, map information, procedures, and policies are in this collection. There are in-service training publications along with their quizzers. The screenplay research notes on Garland Bunting provides interesting information. Garland Bunting was a well-known ABC officer from Halifax County, North Carolina.
November 13, 2020, 3.0 cubic feet; Joseph Kopka is a retired ATF Revenue agent who spent twenty-six years (1960-1986) in pursuit of bootleggers in eastern North Carolina and in Savannah, Georgia. This collection (1956-1989) reflects his career and includes daily and monthly reports (1960-1971) and trial statements, Criminal Investigation Procedures and the Quizzers that went with them, an official report related to the incident where he was shot by a bootlegger (1963), certificates and commendations, clippings concerning the notorious North Carolina bootlegger Percy Flowers, negatives, photographs of exhibits used in trials and agents breaking up stills, brochures, posters, newspaper clippings, and two sets of notes of Garland Bunting (famous Halifax Co., NC, ABC officer) Screenplay Research. Gift of Sherrie Kopka-Kennedy and Ken Kopka.
Gift of Sherrie Kopka-Kennedy
Gift of Ken Kopka
Processed by Nanette Hardison, December 2021
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.