Category Archives: H thru L

Marion’s Organizations H thru L

Dingrando, Leo J. 1935-2004

Posted on by January 25, 2014

Leo Dingrando 1935-2004Anyone who grew up in Marion and participated in sponsored youth activities between the late 1960’s and into the 2000’s has an extremely high probability of having encountered Leo Dingrando. Leo selflessly dedicated uncountable hours of his time to youth programs and was a well-loved figure in the Marion community for nearly four decades.

Leo Junior Dingrando was born on June 11, 1935 in Marion at 704 W. White Street to Leo Dingrando and Catherine Duvardo, the youngest of four sons. He grew up as a devout member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church. Continue reading →

The Ku Klux Klan in Williamson County, Part Two

Posted on by December 19, 2013

Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan

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In 1915, the Ku Klux Klan, “a movement dedicated to organized intolerance,” was revived near Atlanta, Georgia, after a dormancy of forty-five years. The Klan appeared to be a small and harmless order, predicated on southern sentimentalism and mild patriotism, until 1920-21, when its organization and national officers were changed. From then on, its spread was rapid. Continue reading →

The Ku Klux Klan in Williamson County, Part One

Posted on by December 8, 2013

KKK 1870s sizedThe first Klan was founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, by six veterans of the Confederate Army. Ku Klux Klan groups spread throughout the South as an insurgent movement during the Reconstruction era in the United States. As a secret vigilante group, the KKK targeted freedmen and their allies; it sought to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder, against black and white Republicans. Continue reading →

Marion Lion’s Club Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 1973

Posted on by October 16, 2013

Lions charter member HaytonMembers of the Marion Lions Club celebrated their 50th anniversary Saturday night with a dinner at the Marion Holiday Inn.

Clarior S. Johnson, of Joliet, a past director of Lions International, was the principal speaker on the program which included presentation of awards to the club by Larry Mehring of Red Bud, governor of District 1C, and a review of the club’s history by Attorney August L. Fowler. Continue reading →