Brothers Notorious: The Sheltons, Southern Illinois' Legendary Gangsters

The 1951 report of the Kefauver committee-a Senate committee investigating the influence of organized crime-dated the rapidly rising influence of criminal syndicates to the Prohibition era of the 1920s and stated that, in the entire country, the criminal gang wars in St. Louis and southern Illinois...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998) 2002, Vol.95 (3), p.332-335
1. Verfasser: Cochran, David
Format: Review
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The 1951 report of the Kefauver committee-a Senate committee investigating the influence of organized crime-dated the rapidly rising influence of criminal syndicates to the Prohibition era of the 1920s and stated that, in the entire country, the criminal gang wars in St. Louis and southern Illinois "reached a peak in bloodiness unparalleled in United States crime history." (6) After having, variously, served time in prison and the military, and worked in the coal mines of Williamson County, the Shelton brothers ended up in East St. Louis in the aftermath of World War I. For the brothers it was fortuitous timing, bringing them into a city with an active underworld and thriving vice district at the dawn of America's great experiment in social engineering, Prohibition. The resultant outcry from reform groups and public anger at the largely Republican office-holders exposed bolstered the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Adlai Stevenson-who made the drive to clean up vice a centerpiece of his campaign-leading to a clean Democratic sweep in the fall elections, including a narrow victory for presidential candidate Harry Truman.
ISSN:1522-1067
2328-3335