The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in July 1976, when it hosted a statewide convention of the American Legion. Soon after, a pneumonia-like disease killed 29 people and sickened 182 more who had been in the hotel. The vast majority were members of the convention. The negative publicity associated with what became known as "Legionnaires' Disease" caused occupancy at the Bellevue-Stratford to plummet to 4 percent and the hotel finally closed on November 18, 1976. In 1977, Dr. Joseph McDade discovered a new bacterium, which was identified as the causative organism. It thrives in hot, damp places like the water of the cooling towers for the
American Legion Nation. In addition to Boys State, The American Legion features numerous programs including American Legion Baseball, Scouting, Oratorical Contests, Junior Shooting Sports, Youth Alumni, Sons of the American Legion, American Legion Riders, and Scholarships at every level of the organization. The organization's official publication in its initial phase was a magazine called "The American Legion Weekly," launched on July 4, 1919. This publication switched its frequency and renamed itself "The American Legion Monthly" in 1926. In 1936 the publication's name and volume numbering system changed again, this time to "American Legion Magazine." The main American Legion Headquarters is located on