Black Legion (political movement)
Encyclopedia
The Black Legion was an organization that splintered from the Ku Klux Klan
and operated in the United States
in the 1930s. The organization was founded by William Shepard in east central Ohio
. The group's total membership, estimated between 20,000 and 30,000, was centered in Detroit, Michigan
, though the Legion was also highly active in Ohio and one of its self-described leaders, Virgil "Bert" Effinger
, lived and worked in Lima, Ohio
.
The Associated Press described the organization on May 31, 1936, as
The death of WPA worker Charles Poole, kidnapped and murdered in southwest Detroit, caused authorities to finally arrest and successfully try and convict a group of twelve men, thereby ending its reign of terror.
Members wore black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones
insignia and were allegedly responsible for numerous murders of alleged communists and socialists, notably Earl Little, Malcolm X
's father.
Known killings were the slaying of black laborer Silas Coleman May 25, 1935 and a WPA worker named Charles Poole May 13, 1936
, May 25th, 1936, alleges the Black Legion are a secret society
who practice ritual murder.
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
and operated in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1930s. The organization was founded by William Shepard in east central Ohio
Appalachian Ohio
Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio characterized by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines the region as consisting of twenty-nine counties...
. The group's total membership, estimated between 20,000 and 30,000, was centered in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, though the Legion was also highly active in Ohio and one of its self-described leaders, Virgil "Bert" Effinger
Virgil Effinger
Virgil H. "Bert" Effinger was a renegade member of the Ku Klux Klan who became the leader of the Black Legion in the United States. He advocated a fascist revolution in the US with himself as dictator.-Early life:...
, lived and worked in Lima, Ohio
Lima, Ohio
Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
.
The Associated Press described the organization on May 31, 1936, as
- a group of loosely federated night-riding bands operating in several States without central discipline or common purpose beyond the enforcement by lash and pistol of individual leaders' notions of "Americanism."
The death of WPA worker Charles Poole, kidnapped and murdered in southwest Detroit, caused authorities to finally arrest and successfully try and convict a group of twelve men, thereby ending its reign of terror.
Organisation and structure
The Black Legion was organized along paramilitary lines and had five brigades, 16 regiments, 64 battalions, and 256 companies. Although its members boasted that there were one million legionnaires in Michigan, it probably had only between 20,000 and 30,000 members in the state in the 1930s, one third of whom lived in Detroit.Members wore black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones
Skull and crossbones (military)
Variations on the skull and crossbones have been used by several military forces. The largest is on the "Jolly Roger" flags used by submarines.-Naval warfare:...
insignia and were allegedly responsible for numerous murders of alleged communists and socialists, notably Earl Little, Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
's father.
Known killings were the slaying of black laborer Silas Coleman May 25, 1935 and a WPA worker named Charles Poole May 13, 1936
Ritual murder
An article in The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, May 25th, 1936, alleges the Black Legion are a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
who practice ritual murder.
In media
- A film based on the movement called Black LegionBlack Legion (film)Black Legion is a 1937 melodrama film, directed by Archie Mayo, with a script by Abem Finkel and William Wister Haines based on an original story by producer Robert Lord. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Dick Foran, Erin O'Brien-Moore and Ann Sheridan and is a fictionalized story about the...
was released in 1937 by Warner Brothers and starred Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
.
- The April 1, 1937 episode of True Detective Mysteries, a radio show based on the magazine of the same title, was based directly on the Black Legion and the murder of Poole.
- The March 20, 1938, episode of the radio show The ShadowThe ShadowThe Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, with Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
in the title role, was entitled "The White Legion"; it was based loosely on the Black Legion movement.