The Black Legion: The Klan’s More Violent Rival

By FORGOTTEN HISTORY

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In the depths of the Great Depression, a secret organization began spreading through Michigan. Its members wore black robes and hoods, carried weapons, held clandestine meetings, and claimed to be defending American values. They called themselves the Black Legion. What began with ties to the Ku Klux Klan developed into something increasingly violent and difficult to control. Throughout the 1930s, the Black Legion was linked to intimidation, beatings, bombings, kidnappings, and murder. Allegations eventually reached beyond ordinary members to police officers, public employees, politicians, and others in positions of authority. Its secrecy made the true size and reach of the organization extraordinarily difficult to determine. Then, in 1936, the murder of Detroit WPA worker Charles Poole began exposing the organization from the inside. In this episode of Forgotten History, Michael Droberg examines the rise of the Black Legion, its connection to the Ku Klux Klan, the violence surrounding

Tags: The Forgotten History Channel, 10th Legion Pictures, Black Legion, Black Legion history, Black Legion Michigan, Detroit history, 1930s America, Great Depression history, secret societies, American extremist groups, vigilante groups, Ku Klux Klan history, KKK history, Charles Poole murder, Dayton Dean, Michigan history, Detroit 1930s, American history documentary, Forgotten History, Michael Droberg