Leroy Bundy (1883–1943) served as a city councilman in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

from 1929 to 1937. Before serving as city councilman, however, Bundy, an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, was accused of leading a mob that sparked the

East St. Louis riots The East St. Louis Riots were a series of outbreaks of labor and race-related violence by White Americans who murdered between 39 and 150 African Americans in late May and early July 1917. Another 6,000 black people were left homeless, and t ...

of July 2, 1917. Bundy was the last person to be tried out of 34 defendants, 20 of these defendants were white, and all of the defendants received imprisonment. Bundy served one year in prison and worked as a dentist while imprisoned. Following his release, Bundy became a city councilman and led the fight to block seating of delegates that excluded African Americans at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in Cleveland.

Early years

Bundy was born from into a prominent family in Cleveland. There are few published details on his early life. He was married to a woman named Vella. He and Vella adopted a boy from

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. Later in his life, he graduated from Case Western Reserve dental school in 1903 and received a degree in dentistry. He then moved to St. Louis in 1909, where he became an entrepreneur who owned a service station, garage, and small car agency.

East. St. Louis Riots

Bundy was accused of participating and leading the

. Tensions in East St. Louis heightened due to competition for jobs with African American labor force in St. Louis seen as a threat by some white people. The riot was initiated by the injury of two and death of another two policemen. Rioters caused a total of $400,000 in property damage, drove 6,000 African American laborers from the area and killed by some estimates upwards of 200 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were African-American. During his trial, Bundy received help and funding from the

N.A.A.C.P. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

On March 28, 1919, Bundy was found guilty of being the mob leader of the

. The key evidence that lead to Bundy's incarceration was testimony from Edward Wilson. Wilson testified against ten other defendants, all of whom were also convicted. In jail, it is alleged that Wilson was beaten by police to testify against Bundy. Even though in the court, Wilson admitted that Bundy did not participate in the mob Bundy was still found guilty by the all- white jury. After spending a year in prison, where he also worked as a dentist, he was released following an appeal to the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

Cleveland City Council

After his release he returned to Cleveland and pursued a law degree from Western Reserve. He was anointed as "Sir. Leroy Bundy" and served as the city councilman from 1929 to 1937 and lead the fight to block seating of delegates that excluded African Americans at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Due to his experiences in St. Louis he encouraged black citizens to be able to defend themselves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundy, Leroy 1883 births 1943 deaths African-American activists Cleveland City Council members Prisoners and detainees of Illinois