Seven Group

The Seven Group, also known as the Combine or Big Seven, was a criminal organization headed by many organized crime figures on the east coast during Prohibition serving as the predecessor to the alleged National Crime Syndicate of the 1930s.

Following the reform movements and police crackdown on street gangs and other criminals, the criminal underworld entered a "slow period" in the years during and after the First World War. While the older political bosses were able to get their former criminal associates work as bouncers and work in vice districts such as gambling dens and brothels, they began top disassociate themselves from their former criminal alliances.

Following the announcement of the Volstead Act in 1919, many in the underworld readily entered into bootlegging as gang wars broke out in major cities across the country. As the struggle to gain dominance over the industry continued into the early 1920s, with shootouts and bombings commonplace, a group emerged to resolve the constant warfare which was costing everyone money. Originally intended to serve as a centralized office for the purposes of ordering bootleg liquor to be equally distributed, the group would also reduce costs among bootleggers for supplies and, without worrying about rival bootleggers, enable independent bootleggers to focus on protecting their shipments from freelance hijackers.

Although the concept of the organization differed between Arnold Rothstein and Johnny Torrio, both Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky were major supporters by 1927. Its original members included Luciano and Frank Costello of Manhattan, Joe Adonis of Brooklyn, Abner "Longy" Zwillman of New Jersey and Long Island, Waxey Gordon and Harry "Nig" Rosen from Philadelphia and Nucky Johnson from Atlantic City. Other members included the Bug and Meyer Mob as "enforcers" and the semi-retired Johnny Torrio who remained in an advisory capacity regarding organizational advice.

As the violence of the bootleg wars died down in the mid-Atlantic area, others requested membership including Moe Dalitz of Cleveland, Charles "King" Solomon of Boston and Danny Walsh of Providence with 22 gangs by the end of 1928. Al Capone also expressed interest in joining the organization; however his gang war with the North Side Gang prevented him from doing so.

Despite the death of Rothstein that same year, the Seven Group was successful in establishing its authority and served as the basis for the Atlantic City Conference in 1929.

References

*Sifakis, Carl. "The Mafia Encyclopedia". New York: Facts on File, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3