Dr. A.M. Wilkinson, vice crusader, testifies before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, 1937

Item Overview

Title

Dr. A.M. Wilkinson, vice crusader, testifies before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, 1937

Date Created

September 8, 1937

Date

1937-09-08

Publisher

Los Angeles Daily News

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Notes

Description

Dr. A.M. Wilkinson pictured in court, on the day of his testimony before Los Angeles County grand jury regarding an ongoing investigation into religious racketeering. During his testimony, Wilkinson admitted to accepting $4400 from "gambling czar" Guy McAfee. The money was used to pay outstanding bills incurred by "The Last Days of Pompeii" pageant, presented by the Federated Church Brotherhood, of which Wilkinson was chairman. In his testimony, Wilkinson avowed that the funds received from McAfee came without strings attached, and that he and the notorious gambler had prayed for an end to the latter’s gambling addiction. Wilkinson, who was a vice crusader, resigned from the Citizens' Independent Vice Investigating Committee following his testimony. However, his resignation was denied by several Committee members, who believed that accepting the funds should not affect Wilkinson's position on the Committee.

Caption

Text from original nitrate sleeve: Wilkinson, A.M. Dr.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Names

Wilkinson, A.M.

Location

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Judicial proceedings--California--Los Angeles
Vice
Grand juries
Legal
Spiritual leaders--California--Los Angeles