Chicago American Legion post helped launch the Harlem Globetrotters

In 1926, when a group of basketball players from Wendell Phillips Academy High School on Chicago's south side formed a semi-pro team, the World War I veterans at Giles American Legion Post 87 provided the sponsorship that helped get them started. The team later became the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, and nearly a century later, members of the Giles post still celebrate the connection.