The Michigan chapter of the Black Legion was founded in the mid '20s by Highland Park resident Arthur Lupp. The original oganization spawned as a security group for the Ohio officers of the Ku Klux Klan. Known at the time as the Black Guard, Lupp twisted and shaped the Guard into one of the most powerful organizations in the state of Michigan. Arthur Lupp organized the gurard along military lines, seperating his recruits and followers into groups of brigades, regiments, battalions and companys. Lupp and the Legion attracted an interesting mix of respected community leaders, crooks, racists and lovers of violence. Lupp was employed as an inspector for the Detroit department of Public Health and had reportedly explored ways to introduce strains of typhoid into milk and cheese delivered to ethnic neighborhoods throughout the city of Detroit. The shadowy organzation and it's leader fell into disarray following the murder of Charles Poole in May of 1936. The organization suffered a death blow when 11 core members were convicted on September 29, 1936 and sentenced to life in prison for Poole's murder. The Poole murder trial sparked other investigations resulting in convictions for 37 other members and associates. In Tribute to the reputation left by Lupps creation Hollywood filmed the movie "The Black Legion," starring Humphry Bogart shortly after the 1936 court cases ended.
