The Silver Shirts

In 1938, William Pelley, leader of Nazi copycat group the Silver Legion of America, or Silver Shirts, made plans to speak in Minneapolis and, allegedly, to have his followers attack a local labor union headquarters.
—–Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt AamodtEditorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood—–

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Transcript

Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

The Silver Legion of America, one of the best financed Nazi copycat groups in the country, had Minneapolis to thank for some of its largest membership numbers in the 1930s. By 1938, the Silver Shirts, so called for their shimmery silver outfits modeled after the Nazi stormtrooper uniform, had held two successful meetings in the City of Lakes.

The hate group spewed propaganda about expelling Jewish-Americans, re-enslaving African-Americans, and union busting. Minneapolis Teamsters Local 544 was one of their targets. The union for truck drivers had gotten wind that the Silver Shirts founder and head honcho William Pelley was so impressed with the city that he himself was coming to speak, and according to rumor, to get one of his aides to attack their union headquarters. Well, they weren't going to take that. The drivers and other laborers formed the Union Defense Guard. They dusted off hunting rifles, they practiced drills, and, on the day of the talk, they showed up to the venue en masse. Pelley canceled the talk and boarded the next flight out of there.

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