Photo of an American Legion parade on Monument Circle circa 1920s courtesy of Indiana Historical Society.
The idea for an American Legion began when Theodore Roosevelt Jr., and other line officers of World War I met in Paris in February 1919, to consider the postwar needs of veterans, the state of U.S. democracy, and the plight of children who lost parents to the war. The March 15-17, 1919, Paris Caucus of military personnel still stationed in France after the armistice is considered the birth of The American Legion. It was followed by a stateside gathering in May 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri where the organization’s goals and aims were clarified and a constitution was drafted. The American Legion was federally chartered on September 16, 1919.
At The American Legion’s first national convention in November that year in Minneapolis, delegates from around the country selected Indianapolis as the new organization’s national headquarters and elected its first national commander. They also passed resolutions to improve care for disabled veterans and to stimulate employment opportunities for those who had served. Those first delegates wanted the organization to strengthen national security, promote “100 percent Americanism,” call on schools to teach patriotic values, encourage local support for the Boy Scouts, and more. In just eight months, The American Legion had grown to more than 685,000 members.
The American Legion’s first long-term home in Indianapolis was dedicated at 777 North Meridian Street in 1925, the cornerstone of what would become known as “American Legion Mall.” The organization crossed the mall and moved into a newly built headquarters building, dedicated in 1950, its current home base. The organization’s top staff officers – the national commander, national adjutant, national judge advocate, and national treasurer – are based at the Indianapolis headquarters, as is The American Legion Magazine, the largest monthly publication for veterans in the United States.
Throughout its first century, operating through thousands of local posts, state departments and national headquarters in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., The American Legion has been the driving force behind multiple accomplishments in U.S. society. These include: establishment of rules that would become U.S. Flag Code in 1942; creation of one federal agency (the U.S. Veterans Bureau which evolved into the Department of Veterans Affairs) to address health care, disability benefits, transition assistance and other issues facing veterans and their families; drafting and fighting for passage of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the “GI Bill”; multiple youth programs like American Legion Boys State and Boys Nation, Oratorical Competition, American Legion Baseball, American Legion Junior Shooting Sports and others at the state and local levels; emergency response and civil defense programs; support, maintenance and protection of thousands of military and veterans memorials worldwide; and more.
The American Legion celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019, as the largest veterans service organization in the United States, one that serves communities, states and the nation worldwide from its home base in Indianapolis.
Jeff Stoffer, Director of American Legion Media & Communications Division, 2020