The 1933 John Dillinger bank robbery in Bluffton is the theme of a presentation at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 21 at the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center, 132 N. Main.

Fred Steiner will give the presentation, which includes several photographs, a map of the Dillinger escape route, a hand-out of Ted Biery’s Bluffton News account of the robbery, plus the retelling of eye-witness accounts from persons Steiner interviewed over the years.

The talk will also include several oral history accounts that are very interesting, but not accurate, in Steiner’s opinion. 

“The John Dillinger robbery captured the imagination of a generation of residents who have passed down embellished stories about the robbery to their family members,” said Steiner. 

“For example, if every person who claimed to be on Main Street during the robbery was on the street, there would be standing room only in the Senior Center. In reality there were less than eight people on the street when the robbery took place.” 

Steiner adds that the oral history stories he’s collected are very interesting and demonstrate how a five-minute bank robbery grew into a story that is close to folk-lore status.

He will show photos of bullet holes caused by the robbery on the outside wall of the building now housing Faith Investment Services at 101 N. Main St. 

In reality, John Dillinger and his gang robbed Citizens National Bank of Bluffton of $2,100 at noon on Aug. 14, 1933. The five-minute episode became the story of the century for Bluffton. 

In addition to the robbery, the gang fired up to 40 shots in a wide arch across the entire business district, breaking many windows, but causing no personal injuries.