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‘Terror in the City of Champions’ by Tom Stanton is set in mid-1930s Detroit.
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Author tells of 2 sides to 1930s-era Detroit

Author tells of 2 sides to 1930s-era Detroit

To say the 1930s were a tumultuous time in Detroit would be an understatement.

On one hand, the city’s professional sports teams were experiencing unrivaled success. The Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings all won world titles between the fall of 1935 and the spring of 1936, while professional boxer Joe Louis remained undefeated.

On the other, the Great Depression brought a once booming metropolis to its knees. There was also the emergence of a secret society similar to the Ku Klux Klan, known as the Black Legion.

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Author Tom Stanton ties together the positives and negatives in his book Terror in the City of Champions. He is visiting Bedford High School and the Bedford Branch Library on Tuesday for presentations.

“I grew up a sports fan and during the holidays, my uncles would reminisce about this magical sports time,” Mr. Stanton said. “But there was always this darker story as well that another uncle told of the time he was with a couple of his artsy friends. They were picked up by a couple guys in Detroit who claimed to be police officers, but my uncle thought they were Black Legion members.”

The Black Legion was a hate organization with typical Klan biases. It carried out crimes against blacks, Jews, Catholics, progressives, and others. The group flourished across Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, and Toledo was home to at least one regiment.

Mr. Stanton said an estimated 50 people were killed by the Black Legion in southeast Michigan, although only two murders led to members being imprisoned. With unemployment reaching 40 percent in Detroit, the Black Legion sometimes meant keeping a job.

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“A lot of the people killed by the Black Legion were union organizers or progressives who violated what the legion stood for,” Mr. Stanton said. “One of the things I reveal in the book is one of the members was the police commissioner in Detroit.”

Mr. Stanton — who grew up in the Detroit suburb of Warren and teaches journalism at the University of Detroit Mercy — dug into old records and news stories for the book. He learned multiple FBI agents wanted to investigate the crimes, but the director, J. Edgar Hoover, was reluctant.

Terror in the City of Champions also highlights celebratory aspects. The Tigers had lifted the city’s spirits by winning the American League pennant in 1934, then winning the World Series the following season.

Mr. Stanton said the Black Legion often planned crimes around the Tigers schedule.

“One of the points I focus on is how odd it was for the Black Legion guys to be fans of the Tigers because their star players were Jewish first baseman Hank Greenberg and devout Catholic second baseman Charlie Gehringer,” he said. “So it’s odd they were rooting for a team led by these two guys.”

Tuesday night’s presentation at the library is part of the Michigan Notable Author Tour. The library partnered with Bedford Public Schools to apply to have Mr. Stanton appear.

The presentation at the library starts at 7 p.m. and is free. Copies of the book will be available for Mr. Stanton to sign.

Contact Jay Skebba at: jskebba@theblade.com, 419-376-9414, or on Twitter @JaySkebbaBlade.

First Published April 24, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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