Infamous Gangsters In The 1920's

Legends are passed down from generation to generation. Each generation might get a different story, but it will have the same meaning. H.M. Forester once said, “All those old myths and legends and fairytales didn’t just appear out of nowhere for no good reason, you know.” For each legend, there is a reason behind it. That legend might have been based off of someone that truly did live or something that might have happened. Alf Bolin was a very crude and selfish person while some still believe that he roams the earth.

This exhibit is focused on the “Roaring 20’s”, and what made the 1920s roar. The Roaring Twenties roared because of the vast amounts of spending, the crime, and people just having fun. Willie Sutton was an extravagant bank robber during the 1920s. Sutton was born on June 30, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York. Willie Sutton wasn’t a typical thug. He was instead described by those he encountered as polite and even a gentleman. During his forty-year robber career he stole an estimated two million dollars, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escaped three times.(“Willie Sutton.” Willie Sutton , FBI.). He was known for executing robberies in disguises, he gained two nicknames, "Willie the Actor"

Prohibition, also known as the 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution, banned the transportation and sales of alcohol. It was formed to stop drinking in the United States completely which resulted in the complete opposite. Prohibition lasted from January 1920 to December 1933. Prohibition had two main causes it affected the economy greatly, crime increased dramatically, and increased the literary and artistic movement. Many people saw prohibition as a violation to their freedom and it did not take long for the Americans to begin protesting against it. Alcohol was looked at as the belief that it caused most of the worlds problems. The sales of alcoholic beverages were still remained illegal during this period but it did not stop people from smuggling liquor over and secretly make beer, also known as bootlegging. Prohibition increased bootlegging which was the illegal production and sales of liquor. Bootleggers illegally produced alcohol into underground watering holes and began illegally selling alcohol to

Eliot Ness, born April 19, 1903, in, Chicago, Illinois, knew little of what he was going to do. When he grew up, he went to the University of Chicago majoring in commerce, and law and political science. Eliot Ness led a law enforcement group, during the Prohibition Era in 1930-1931, called the “Untouchables”. They’re called “The Untouchables” because they couldn’t be bribed unlike other police men.

John Wayne Gacy was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 17, 1942. He was born to John Stanley Gacy and Marion Elaine Robinson. John Wayne Gacy is only son of three children. He grew up very close to his mother and his two sisters. His father was an alcoholic and was very abusive to his wife and kids. John was often beaten by his father with a leather belt or a razor strap (Biography.com , n.d.).

What happened in the 1920s when the 18th amendment was passed? The 18th amendment banned the production, sale, transportation, exportation, importation and consumption of alcohol. This law gave a rare chance to start a business that caused the rise of organized crime. The Mafia, also known as La Cosa Nostra (Our Thing), or the Mob, is the name of several clandestine organizations in Sicily and the United States. Before the 1920s the mafia’s main focus was on gambling, theft, and prostitution in order to make a profit, but when the Volstead act passed it increased their profits even more because all mafia organizations started a black market for bootlegging the outlawed alcohol and they also created speakeasies which was where they sold

Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1899. Al Capone was an american mobster, crime boss, and business man during the Prohibition Era. He is known as the most famous criminal from his time. (1899-1947)

Members of his gang were often called "American Boys" : a group of non-Italian, native born criminals."(Lantzer). Before prohibition was enforced, many gangs had their hands tied up in illegal gambling and prostitution. Capone and his gang dominated Chicago and cause lots of fear in people. As Witer explained in his work about Capone's ability with his gang, "By the late 1920's, his gang also dominated gambling, labor racketeering, and other Criminal activities and established contacts with gangs." (Witer). Capone's popularity was growing, he had a name on his back, as The public enemy number one. He was national celebrity, as Witer explained in his work, "Capone became a national celebrity both because of his great wealth and because Police seemed unable or unwilling to bring him to justice."(Witer). He was never caught by the police, because most of the police were involved in organized

Mobsters was a term that describes a group of gangsters in the 1920’s. Gambling, Prostitution, and Murder went hand in hand with the term of mobster. Every mafia group has a leader. Al Capone was a dangerous mobster who was a Mafia crime lord and had took part in illegal alcohol, illegal drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling during the 1920s (History).

The early 1900s was the beginning of the prohibition. With the ban of the distribution of all alcohol came the start of organized crime. Many people helped launch the Gangster Era. One in particular became one of the more notorious to do so. His name is John Dillinger. Professional bank robber, expert escape artist, and an all around dangerous gangster. He was one of the biggest contributors to the Gangster Era of the 1920s and 1930s. He was seen as a hero in the reason that he stole the money from big companies and corporations; the same companies that took advantage of low income citizens. Even though he was extremely dangerous and violent, the life of crime made him very prosperous and wealthy.

Gangs had also become a big part of the 1920’s, they had a lot of say in went on round the towns they lived in. Gangs had a lot of control of how liquor got in and out of their towns “It was smuggled in from the seas off both the east and west coasts and brought overland from both Canada and Mexico.” (McNeill). Everyday people would smuggle liquor in from all over if it was hard to find by them. They would sell it to family and friends all over and speaks did the same thing. They would bring in liquor from other places so they could keep their speaks open. keeping their speaks open allowed them to still make an income in order to keep their businesses still open. Gangs in some places had no trouble trying to kill people if they got in the way

On March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was born to John Wayne Gacy, Sr. and Marion Elaine Robinson as the second of three children. Gacy was very close to his mother and sisters as a child, but had a very troubled relationship with his alcoholic father because he was abusive. He was struck in the head when he was 11, forming a blood clot that caused him to suffer blackouts beginning when he was 16. Other than the issues with his father and the blood clot, John Wayne Gacy lived a seemingly normal childhood. He attended four high schools in four years, eventually dropping out and moving to Las Vegas. He began working for Palm Mortuary as a janitor. A few months later, he returned home to Chicago. He then enrolled to a business college and became a salesperson. After graduating, Gacy began working as a management trainee Nunn Bush Shoe Co. After working there for only a couple weeks, he was transferred to Springfield, Illinois.

Community boundaries are particularly important because they help define the identity of a community. Boundaries within a community can be physical or visual. Each community will have boundaries, borders or margins that separate the community from another. Boundaries can be marked by a map, laws, or by physical features such as a main road. Calumet City is in Cook County, Illinois that is situated near south-east of Chicago. It is north of Lansing and southeast of Dolton Illinois (The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2005).

It could be said that Al Capone unknowingly started the cosplay craze. During his reign over Chicago’s criminal network, Capone would sometimes have his henchmen disguise themselves while doing a job. Al Capone was a powerful and dangerous gangster because at a young age, he joined his first gang; he caused the Valentine's Day Massacre; and after being found guilty for other crimes, was sent to Alcatraz.

Prohibition played a large role in the rise of organizes crime. With the belief that alcohol was a dangerous drug and the route to disruption in the communities and family structure, prohibitionists pushed to ban the sale of alcohol. They believed it was responsibility of the government to intervene and prohibit its sales (Lyman 2015), thus subsequently creating the National Prohibition movement. With alcohol now banned, it created a high demand in the black market and created a gold mine for crime (Lyman, 2015).