Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society : America's original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

The Resource Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society : America's original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

Label

Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society : America's original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

Title remainder

America's original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

Statement of responsibility

William Oldfield and Victoria Bruce

Title variation

Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society

Title variation remainder

Americas original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

Language

Summary

"The incredible true story of the US Post Office Inspector who took down the deadly Black Hand, a turn-of-the-century Italian-American secret society that preyed on immigrants across America's industrial heartland--featuring fascinating and never-before-seen documents and photos from the Oldfield family's private collection. Before the emergence of prohibition-era gangsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, there was the Black Hand: an early twentieth-century Sicilian-American crime ring that preyed on immigrants from the old country. In those days, the FBI was in its infancy, and local law enforcement were clueless against the dangers--most refused to believe that organized crime existed. Terrorized victims rarely spoke out, and the criminals ruled with terror--until Inspector Frank Oldfield came along. In 1899, Oldfield became America's 156th Post Office Inspector--joining the ranks of the most powerful federal law enforcement agents in the country. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the unconventional Oldfield brilliantly took down train robbers, murderers, and embezzlers from Ohio to New York to Maryland. Oldfield was finally able to penetrate the dreaded Black Hand when a tip-off put him onto the most epic investigation of his career, culminating in the 1909 capture of sixteen mafiosos in a case that spanned four states, two continents--and ended in the first international organized crime conviction in the country. Hidden away by the Oldfield family for one hundred years and covered-up by rival factions in the early 20th century Post Office Department, this incredible true story out of America's turn-of-the-century heartland will captivate all lovers of history and true crime."--Amazon.com

Cataloging source

TOH

Dewey number

364.1060973

Illustrations

illustrations
portraits
plates

Index

index present

LC call number

HV6448

LC item number

.O54 2018

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Context

Context of Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society : America's original gangsters and the U.S. Postal detective who brought them to justice

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service (CCRLS). Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.

Context

Work of