The Purple Gang: The Violent Underground of Prohibition-era Detroit

Detroit’s infamous Purple Gang, bootleggers and hijackers from the 1920s. Photo courtesy of the Detroit News.

Date: October 3, 2019

Time: 7 p.m. in the Historic Courtroom

Cost: Free for Members or with Museum Admission

Watch

Paul Kavieff, a renowned organized crime historian, has spent much of his life writing about Detroit’s Purple Gang. His books focus on the history and evolution of the notoriously violent organized crime syndicate. Kavieff’s talk will address the Prohibition era in Detroit, which gave rise to a menace that employed murder and corruption to control bootlegging and other criminal rackets in the Motor City and beyond.

A book signing follows the program.