Imperial Insane Vice Lords - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded in or near Austin
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Primary ethnicities	African American
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Status	Active

This is indeed one of the deepest histories of the Vice Lord factions. The story dates all the way to at least the early 1950s when the Imperial Chaplains formed on the west side of Chicago. The Chaplains are one of the first major black street gangs in history and formed in the Maxwell Street Market area of the Near West Side along Halsted Street. Eventually the Chaplains migrated to North Lawndale and became a major force in both neighborhoods by the late 1950s. When the Vice Lords first formed in 1958 the Imperial Chaplains were one of their first enemies and founder Edwin Peppilow Perry had a personal Vendetta against the Chaplains. In 1959, the Vice Lords beat down on the Chaplains and forced them into becoming a small gang by 1960. Many Chaplains had flipped to Vice Lord in 1960 behind bars leaving only a small group that stayed Chaplain.

In the year 1961, the Chaplains attempted again to rise back to power and began assembling their forces which made Peppilow Perry want to destroy them for good this time. Pep and the Vice Lords stormed a YMCA where the Chaplains were having a party. The Vice Lords came in disguise wearing Chaplain sweaters and when the time was right, they began destroying the party tearing everything up and even throwing a juke box down the stairs. After this happened the Chaplains no longer wore the sweaters and it seemed as if they went extinct.

Late in the year 1961 they were the first gang that would not let their name die but were willing to become Vice Lords finally. Most of their members had flipped before 1961 and became regular Vice Lords but this last group still had pride of their nation and wanted to only become Vice Lords under the condition, they keep part of their name and have their own leadership. This was granted by the Vice Lord nation because Vice Lords always had the rule that a gang could join the nation, but they needed to retain the last name of “Vice Lord.” No other gangs agreed to this instead they just dissolved and flipped into the main Vice Lord nation, but the Imperial Chaplains were the first to take up the offer of keeping part of their name and they became the “Imperial Vice Lords” in 1961.

I don’t know exactly where the Imperial Vice Lords operated in North Lawndale back in the 1960s, but I do know they had set up territory in the Austin neighborhood by Cicero Avenue by the very early 1970s at the latest. The Imperial Vice Lords befriended the Insane Vice Lords, Cicero Vice Lords and Central Vice Lords. In the year 1971, the Insane Vice Lords had first adopted the “Insane” in the name. In the year 1972, these Vice Lord branches created a “Insane” unity which made the Central Vice Lords, Cicero Vice Lords and Imperial Vice Lords adopt “Insane” into their names and this is how “Imperial Insane Vice Lord” was adopted in 1972.

The Austin neighborhood became one of the main strongholds for IIVLs and they may have withdrawn from North Lawndale a very long time ago. Another major stronghold for IIVLs was in the Henry Horner public housing projects where IIVLs were operating a major drug operation throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s until the buildings were torn down.

IIVLs settled on the south side of Chicago a little bit, I think around 71^st and Jefferey in the South Shore neighborhood but I’m not sure. IIVLs set up lots of sections outside of Chicago as they opened strong in the suburbs of Joliet, Elgin and Aurora just to name some. IIVLs also moved into other states in the U.S. in Memphis Tennessee and in the state of Indiana. Imperial Insane Vice Lords are one of the major Vice Lord branches.