Origins of the American Legion

Mike Worcester In the Midst May, 2003 (vol 23, no 2), copywright Cokato Historical Society.

The origins of the American Legion date to the months immediately following the end of the Great War (later called World War I). In March 1919, a gathering of 1,000 veterans of that war gathered in Paris and adopted a charter and temporary constitution. This group completed its organizational efforts in St. Louis, in May 1919, making plans for a permanent home in New York. Congress granted the Legion a national charter in September 1919, a its inaugural national convention was held in Minneapolis that same month. In 2001, the Legion had over three million members spread across 16,000 local posts. Though the Legion is not the only veterans organization in America, it is by far the largest.

Read More