But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! He was appointed in 1924 to the Bureau of Investigation which in 1935 would become the Federal Bureau of Investigation and remained in control until his death in 1972. Criminals became national celebrities, who symbolized the public's lack of faith in society's crumbling institutions. An Arkansas bank robber and one time associate of Floyd Hamilton, Walters was sent to Alcatraz and attempted to escape in 1943. What happened happened.[7], NEXT UP: Public Heroes ranking the Depression-era FBI agents, [1] Bergreen, Laurence (1996). [2] Duane B. Oyen. Those include high-profile criminals wanted by state and federal law enforcement agencies for armed robbery, kidnapping, murder, and other violent crime. V. Homer "Wayne" "Van Meter (1906-1934) - A bank robber active in the early 20th century, he was a criminal associate of John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. De Vol was an American criminal, bank robber, prison escapee, and Depression-era outlaw. The Dicksons, husband and wife, turned to crime shortly after their marriage. He successfully evaded arrest for many decades. McCollum robbed banks in both, He was an American criminal, bank robber, and Depression-era outlaw. Prohibition was ultimately repealed in 1933, but by then, the Great Depression was in full force, and with honest jobs harder to come by than ever, the dishonest ones sometimes seemed more . (American Mobster and Head of the Notorious 'Genovese Crime Family'). Those include high-profile criminals wanted by state and federal law enforcement agencies for armed robbery, kidnapping, murder, and other violent crime. Simon and Schuster. A Pennsylvania bank robber, he was sent to Alcatraz, and was a participant in Floyd Hamilton's 1943 escape attempt. J. Edgar Hoover used Dillingers death as a way to promote the FBI. To this day, the perpetrators' identity remains a mystery. Baby Face died in a shootout with the FBI in 1934. He took over the Commission of the Mafia after the incarceration of Vito Genovese in 1959. But after the so-called Kansas City Massacre in June 1933, in which three gunmen fatally ambushed a group of unarmed police officers and FBI agents escorting bank robber Frank Nash back to prison, the public seemed to welcome a full-fledged war on crime. Dearborn Financial Publishing, 1991 . Whether outlaws were wounded in a gunfight or simply became ill, they risked capture by going to an ordinary doctor. If prohibition was what concieved the Public Enemy, then the Great Depression was what gave birth to it. Effects of New Deal and Falling Crime Rates in Late 1930s, Public Enemies: Americas Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34. Al Capone was the child of poor Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York and lived the "American dream" in his own way - by becoming one of the most successful gangsters in American history. Nash has been called "the most successful bank robber in U.S. history", but he is most noted for his violent death in what has become known as the Kansas City massacre in 1933. "Bugs" Moran was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster. Labor strikes by miners and autoworkers sometimes turned violent. [3] Publicly, Hoover denied Bureau use and commented that lists were for the reporters. Ma Barker was the mother of many criminals who belonged to the Barker gang during the Great Depression. John Callahan (outlaw) Kid Cann. Bootlegger, car thief, murderer: After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Adams escaped custody twice. For many years, he kept a plaster death mask of Dillinger in the FBIs showcase. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Gangster movies first emerged in the early 1920s, but they really took off in the 1930s. He was eventually captured by the FBI and sentenced to Alcatraz. Many fictional TV and film characters have also been inspired by Whitey Bulger. Frank Lucas was a notorious drug trafficker from the 1960s and the 1970s. In 1932, veterans of World War I marched on Washington, DC . He was a longtime criminal associate of the BarkerKarpis gang and. He was killed by a shotgun blast in his car, and his murder caused a mob war for 4 years. As film historian Jeanine Basinger notes in this clip, "The gangster figure represented somebody at the bottom of the social scale condemned to a life of nothing, who did not accept that as their fate and who found a way to change it, which was through violence." Bonnie & Clyde premieres January 19 at 9/8c on PBS. Hoovers car had been delayed and came up behind them moments later. If the Old West Outlaws get a lot of historic attention, a close second are the gangsters of the 1920s Prohibition era and the 1930s Depression period. Italian-born American mafia leader Vito Genovese was an associate of Lucky Luciano. He was finally shot to death by the authorities in 1934. He is believed to have been killed in 1908. He earned his nickname, shortened from Jellybean, from a slang word meaning a well dressed man (or some accounts say it was a reference to the nitroglycerine used in explosives to crack open safes). After his release, he spoke about prison reform and consulted with banks on antirobbery techniques. Fred and Ma Barker fought for their lives in a four hour gun battle. Although he was responsible for several bank robberies in Kansas and Oklahoma, he was wrongfully imprisoned for a 1932 bank robbery in. It was the height of the Great Depression. His bullet-ridden body was found under mysterious circumstances in 1983. Hollywood responded to the Great Depression almost immediately after the crash of 1929. During the Great Depression, with much of the United States mired in grinding poverty and unemployment, some Americans found increased opportunities in criminal activities like bootlegging, robbing banks, loan-sharkingeven murder. A biography of thenotoriousJohn Herbert Dillinger family life, hometown, criminal activities, relationships and more. Prohibition and the "Public Enemy" era (c. 19191939), "Prohibition Era Gangsters & Outlaws Page 1", "Lester Warfel Brockelhurst Jr. (1914-1938) - Find a Grave Memorial", "Prohibition Era Gangsters & Outlaws Page 2", "Potable Power: Delaware Valley Bootlegging During Prohibition", "Prohibition Era Gangsters & Outlaws Page 3", "Prohibition Era Gangsters & Outlaws Page 4", "Prohibition Era Gangsters & Outlaws Page 5", Public Enemy #1 Gallery: Depression-Era Desperadoes, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_depression-era_outlaws&oldid=1125225399. Hurt stuck a .351 rifle in Karpis face. The Karpis-Barker gang was the most violent and successful of the era and Karpis was its defacto leader. During the Great Depression, crime came in many forms. Dunn was an American criminal, burglar, and bank robber whose career spanned from 1919 until his mysterious death in 1959. Cunniffe was an American bank robber who planned and successfully carried out the 1926 New Jersey mail robbery, one of the most well-publicized thefts during the 1920s. Bulger's life and work inspired the 2015 film Black Mass. Primary Sources: The Great Depression and the 1930s; Gangsters; Not for books or articles! During the Great Depression (1929-1939) there were a series of famous gangsters such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, John Ashley and Al Capone, committing crimes throughout the United States. He was the mastermind in the attempted escape from Alcatraz in 1943. By 1933, unemployment was at 25 percent and more than 5,000 banks had gone out of business. Nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile and called "Ray" by his gang members, he was an American criminal known for his alliance with the Barker gang in the 1930s. Sutton was a prolific U.S. bank robber. Seven members of his gang were gunned down in a warehouse in the Saint Valentine's Day massacre of February 14, 1929, supposedly on the orders of his rival Al Capone. Violent crime rates may have risen at first during the Depression (in 1933, nationwide homicide mortality rate hit a high for the century until that point, at 9.7 per 100,000 people) but the trend . At this time, unemployment in the USA had risen to 25% and many more people were resorting to crime. Meanwhile, outlaws were successfully robbing banks throughout the Midwest. For a 1930's woman, hairstyles and fashion accessories were a way to add class and charm without breaking the bank. He became one of the most famous and powerful beer bootleggers in Philadelphia. W.W. Norton and Company. Out of a family of inveterate criminals, Fred Barker was the worst. The outlaws were relatively democratic. It made millions per year from criminal activities like racketeering, loan sharking, drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion, pornography and illegal gambling. Part III: The Great Depression. He was listed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted in late 1955, and was apprehended by the FBI that same year. Over the years, Moran has been depicted in many films, including The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Al Capone, and Gangster Land. Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. Barry Latzer, Do hard times spark more crime? Los Angeles Times (January 24, 2014). The kidnapping was one of the most highly publicized crimes of the century. In four years time, the Barker-Karpis gang had stole and ransomed over $1,000,000. A, (American Mobster Who was Boss of the 'Chicago Outfit' from 1957 to 1966. Approved | 79 min | Comedy, Drama. At its depth, the jobless in New Jersey ranged between a quarter to a third of its workforce, with African American unemployed estimated at over half of workers. But behind the myth of the games creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. He was threatened by mobster Lucky Lucianos gang and also faced two tax evasion trials. Want to Read. . He was also a peripheral member of the BarkerKarpis gang, and this association Karpis later stated had led to Moran's murder by Fred and. A known associate of Frank Nash, he was involved in the scheme to free Nash from the FBI's custody in what became known as the Kansas City massacre; he was later sent to Alcatraz. 7.6. He was eventually prosecuted and convicted for tax evasion in 1931. Alongside her husband, she was labeled public enemy number one. Great Depression THE BATTLE OVER CONTROL AND "POST-PCA" DEPRESSION MOVIES The popularity and pervasiveness of the gangster films, the fallen-women films, and West's brazen comedies played a significant role in the protests by a variety of pressure groups against the movie industry between 1932 and early 1934. Durkin was convicted of shooting the first FBI special agent killed in the line of duty, An associate of George Birdwell and Pretty Boy Floyd, Elliott was convicted of bank robbery in 1932 and was sent to the. He became a government witness against John Gotti, the Gambino family boss. He never saw her or his baby again. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). Joe Masseria was an Italian-American Mafia boss who controlled the Genovese crime family from 1922 to 1931. Reporters gave colorful nicknames to the public enemies to differentiate them to their readers: the more well known were Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly; the lesser knowns: Two Gun Crowley, Billy the Killer Miller, Rabbits Murray, Mad Dog Underhill, and Terrible Ted Walters. And it alluded to an attempted kidnapping on Long Island. He was the leader of the DeMeo crew, a gang notorious for committing a series of brutal murders. Bailey made light of J. Edgar Hoovers attempt to frame Kate Ma Barker as the brains of the successful Karpis-Barker gang, famously saying, The old woman couldnt plan breakfast. After getting caught up in the aftermath of Machine Gun Kellys kidnapping of Charles Urschel, Bailey was caught by FBI agents while he was sleeping. Showing 1-17 of 17. The most popular and well-known criminal of all Depression era gangsters, Dillinger personified how the general public identified with criminals who stole from banks and evaded law enforcement. Primary Sources: The Great Depression and the 1930s: Gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde's exploits took place during the Great Depression, when people were beleaguered. In fact, the homicide rate exceeded 9.0 in every year from . One of the most famous outlaws of the 20th century, he was known to have offered cab fare to his hostages, many of whom liked him in spite of themselves. Considered one of the most successful bank robbers of the 1920s, Bailey stole over a million dollars. As an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw, he committed numerous bank heists in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, and teamed up with George Birdwell and Pretty Boy Floyd during the early 1930s. They generally lived in large cities, and most were immigrants, or children of immigrants. He met Dolores Delaney and got her pregnant. Eliot Ness was an FBI agent who achieved fame as leader of a team of law enforcement agents known as the Untouchables. According to the FBI, Chicago alone had an estimated 1,300 gangs by the mid-1920s, a situation that led to turf wars and other violent activities between rival gangs. Search Guides. (Italian-American Mobster in the Gambino Crime Family of New York City), (American Gangster Who was a Powerful Caporegime in the Genovese Crime Family New Jersey Faction), (American Mobster and Member of Mafia Lucchese Crime Family), Paul Vario was an American gangster belonging to the New York-based, (Italian-American Mafia Boss of Genovese Crime Family), (American Mobster Who Was a Member of the Colombo Crime Family), (Italian-American Crime Boss of the Bonanno Crime Family), (Former crime boss, active in New York City during the 1970s). Hell, he said, A fellas gotta sleep sometime.[4] After his arrest he was sent to the new federal prison on Alcatraz Island. But a tiny event called the Wall Street Crash of 1929, changed that forever. [3] Gentry, Curt (2001). Shortly after Stella's 16th birthday, they robbed a bank in. He led a small gang during the 1940s and 1950s, ans was referred to by the press as "the modern John Dillinger", and whose activities eventually resulted in his being listed on the FBI's. Edward Eddie J. Adams Kansas bootlegger, John William Anglin and Alfred Clarence Anglin Escaped From Alcatraz, Arthur R. Doc Barker Member of Barker-Karpis Gang, Barker-Karpis Gang Terrorized the Midwest, George Kelly Barnes, aka: George Machine Gun Kelly, Bennie Iva Blanche Caldwell Barrow Barrow Gang Member, Bonnie & Clyde Stars of the Public Enemy Era, Alphonse Gabriel Al Capone Chicago Mobster, Gangsters, Thugs, and Mafia in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Jack Gilbert Graham The Fatal Flight of UA 629, Hells Belle Gunness Black Widow of the Midwest, John Red Hamilton, aka Three Finger Jack, Kansas City Massacre Gangsters vs. the Law, Typhoid Mary Mallon Spreading the Fever, Vernon C. MillerInvolved in the Kansas City Massacre, Joseph P. MoranDepression-era gangster, Giuseppe The Clutch Hand Morello Member of the Morello crime family, Murder, Inc. Part of the Italian-American Mafia, Edna Rabbits MurrayDepression-era Outlaw, Purple Gang A mob of bootleggers and hijackers, Mobster Dutch Schultz & His Hidden Treasure, Benjamin Bugsy SiegelJewish American mobster, Giovanni Johnny Torrio Italian-American mobster. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. His bullet-ridden body was found under mysterious circumstances in 1983 ranking the FBI. Events and screening in your area. ) blast in his car, Depression-era... 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