*Ku+Klux+Klan

__**Teodora Z., Pd 5**__ 1925 ARLINGTON SERVICES FOR KKK The first original name of the KLu Klux Klan was The Klan, or now abriviated as the KKK. It was an organization in the United States, that included white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration. "White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backrounds"

The story of Indiana's undoing centers in the amazing story of Stephenson. He will make Sunday-supplement stuff for a long time to come. But he would have had no career had it not been for the Ku Klux Klan, for religious fundamentalism and its concomitant, 100 percent Americanism, for the provincialism both of the honest ruralists and the city business men, for the dominance of a political party whose major prophet has won the sobriquet, "Slippery Jim." Even the ingenious King Kleagle could not have harvested from sterile soil. The biography of the "Old Man," told by one of his klavern partners and confidants, begins in Houston, Texas, where he was born in 1891. He went to a parochial school (!), moved to Oklahoma, became a tramp printer at sixteen, married a prize-winning beauty, played Governor Jack Walton's brand of politics, deserted his wife upon the birth of a daughter, sowed plenty of wild oats, made Socialist stump speeches, went to Iowa for a while to get away from his family, managed to avoid going to France with the army, married again, deserted the new wife, and wound up in Evansville, in the coal business, just when the high-pressure Ku-Klux salesmen began to invade Indiana. Hitherto he had been variously a Democrat and a Socialist. He now joined the Klan and became a Republican. His uncanny ability in the manipulation of a crowd became the Klan's chief asset, and his rise to the highest authority was rapid. In an amazingly short time, he had more than a quarter of a million dues-paying members. He acquired a city mansion, a summer home, a beautiful yacht on Lake Erie. The fiery cross was lifted high all over the state-and highest, strange to say, where Jews, Catholics and Negroes were fewest. Churches went Ku Klux. Many pastors joined the hooded ranks, and from their number organizers and promoters were selected; a fee of $25 per speech looked good, when you had been won to Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, 100 percent principles and convinced of the God-ordained supremacy of the Nordic. Stephenson was strong on "pure Americanism." Like his illustrious mentor, Mussolini, he turned from Socialism to a crusade against the "reds." Napoleon's image always graced his desk, and Mussolini's methods were, to his mind, the model for men of action like himself. Alien baiting was even more popular with him than mere crusades against Jews and Catholics; it was more comprehensive and more popular, and it included many of the Jews and Catholics, anyhow. It was popular everywhere, all the way from the hill-billies of southern Indiana to the business men of the cities. For a long time, the rank and file of the hooded knights did not know the name of their great leader. He was called, mysteriously, "The Old Man," swooped down from the clouds in a gorgeous cream-white aeroplane after thousands had gathered in some great open space, harangued them with fervid, demagogic oratory and shot away in a high-powered automobile. From behind the well guarded doors of his suite of city offices, he gave cryptic orders, issued letters and bulletins by the tens of thousands, and directed the policy of the Fiery Cross, the Klan journal which reached a circulation of 400,000 at one time. Secret conferences were the rule. All good Klansmen took an oath to be nonpartisans politically, and, naturally, machine politicians sought the favor of the wizard. The hooded order was out to save Indiana from all alien powers, whether deriving from Rome, Russia, or Africa. The crisis, it was clear, demanded that type of action which only a trusted leadership could supply. To the honest church folk, the bootlegger was attacked. The fundamentalist was shown the fiery cross, the 100 percenter was promised the scalps of aliens, and the politician, sure election if he lined up and took orders. "The amalgamated enemies of America" became the chief theme of the "intelligence department," and religious and racial prejudice was substituted for both intelligence and a good conscience…. When the 1924 primary came on, the "Old Man" had it sewed up in his pillowcase…. He had elected a legislature and a state administration. If you "wanted anything," you went to Stephenson first, and afterward or not at all to those who had official power to grant it. His boast, "I am the law," was not altogether idle…. Meanwhile, the "Old Man" had enlisted policemen, sheriffs and justices of the peace. He had revived, for Klansmen's benefit, the defunct Anti-Horse-Thief laws which, in the pioneer days, had made it possible for almost anyone to become a constable. He boasted that he could control courts and grand juries as well as a legislature. His big coup was a plan to obtain control of the state highway commission with its millions of good-roads funds. There was no way to get them except by removing the commission for malfeasance in office, so the charges were trumped up. Things were moving smoothly-and then came the crash. While many honest men, narrow and prejudiced, to be sure, but sincere, had been helping Stephenson to lead the white-clad crusaders, he had been in the habit of retiring from the front of the procession to indulge in private orgies of dissipation. One after another, the best or his lieutenants dropped out as they learned of this habit, but, sworn to secrecy and ashamed to break faith, they did not reveal what they knew. . . . With two or three millions to his credit, with the conviction that he was bigger than the law bolstering his ego, and with his lieutenants reduced to those whom he could trust as long as there were spoils for them, the "Old Man" grew careless. Seeking new thrills, he invited a worthy young woman who was promoting some educational woman who was promoting some educational measures before the legislature to come to his home and "talk things over." The final result was her committing suicide, dying after an accusation of forcible rape. Responsible toxicologists swore that teeth wounds on her person were sufficient to have caused death, independently of the poison she took. Public indignation waxed hot, the revulsion among thousands of sincere Klansmen was complete, and all his high-powered attorneys could not save the culprit from a life sentence for "malicious mayhem" and murder…. The climax of the whole case should not be far away. Indianapolis has arisen in its wrath, as is evidenced by its turning to the city-manager form of government by a vote of five to one. A complaisant legislature was induced to proscribe the people's will by making it impossible to make the new charter effective until the terms of elected officials expire, and it is understood that the G.O.P. state chairman will be retired and party councils treated to an antiseptic whitewash. ||
 * [[image:http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/KKK%20pages/Images/dcstephenson-Titlebar.jpg width="500" height="93" align="center" caption="The Rise and Fall of D.C. Stephenson"]] ||
 * **The following is a journalistic account of D.C. Stephenson ("Old Man"), the Indiana KKK leader who was ruined by scandal. This article demonstrates how the Klan dominated Indiana politics. Stephenson's scandal was one of the factors that contributed to the decline of the KKK in the mid-to-late 1920s. From Alva W. Taylor, "What the Klan Did in Indiana," //The New Republic//, November 16, 1927.**

__**Robert D.**__ After the civil war the confederate soldiers returned home only to find that majority of the south was in ruins. It was the reason the Six confederate soldiers met in a law office of Pulaski, Tennessee to form an organization. On a June night in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was founded. The purpose of the Klan was not of which it has later become, it was founded to be only a social fraternity similar to a college fraternity but without the college, formed mostly for amusement purposes only, but that shortly changed.

By 1868 the Klan spread to all the states south of Tennessee. They would go on rampages of terror in the night to try and intimidate the newly freed slaves and try to make them afraid to vote. By doing this, they thought they were restoring natural order of the south to the way it was before the civil war. When the intimidation didn’t get through to the blacks, they would use violence toward them. Whipping blacks with tree branches, some died but some survived but with hundreds of lashes on their backs.

As the turn of the 20th century approached the Ku Klux Klan died down, but shortly after it was reborn. On Thanksgiving, 1915, 16 men met on top of a mountain in Georgia to bring the Klan back. Time may have change but the message did not.

The Klan rose again shortly after the end of World War 1. The economic and political conditions made this the perfect opportunity for them to rise again. The decrease in marketing prices and farming were blamed on the Jewish bankers and the immigrants. The rest of the nation became easy influenced by the Klan’s “Hate messages” against all the non-whites. The Klan created movies and such as “The Birth of a Nation” got whites to create the new Klan. (The Birth of a Nation)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9UPOkIpR0A

In the 1920s millions of American people gripped the ideas of the Klan. Women and children would bow down to the Klansmen.

"As the Klan proved with its "Klonvocation" in Hamilton the largest KKK gathering ever held in the Northeast Jerseyans were flocking by the thousands to take the Klan oath. But why? "

"If you were a white Protestant in New Jersey at that time, you might feel disoriented and want to join an organization like the Klan," Bush continued(.http://www.capitalcentury.com/1924.html)

They battle whatever may be a threat to the white race, also to what ever bothered the Klan.

“The Klan of the 1920's thrived on nativism, anti-Catholicism, opposition to the cultural modernism of the Jazz Era, and violations of alcohol, smoking, and gambling laws. Directing their hate tactics toward Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born, the Klan used tarring and feathering, branding, mutilating, and lynching (hanging) to install fear.

The Klan used others tactics to install fear as well. The most significant, which later became a trademark of the Klan, was the burning of the cross. The fiery cross is said to be a "symbol representing the ideals of Christian civilization." The cross itself is a symbol of sacrifice and service to Christ. The fire signifies that "Christ is the light of the world." The light is said to "drive away the darkness and the gloom so knowledge of truth dispels ignorance and superstition." Burning crosses were left as a mark to warn those that had been violated by the Klan.”



In the 1920’s the Klan had influence in state elections and the elections of governors, they also had a part in organized crime. Over time the people started to go against the Klan. An organization called the American unity League worked to try and get rid of the Klan by publishing the names of the Klansmen.as they thought it would work in getting rid of them, I did not. They still showed up to rallies in their outfits. But shortly after the Klan’s violent acts ceased. They were only active in the south by the end of the 1920’s. They still committed the violent crimes, but it died out shorty over time so by the 1930’s they came to a halt. As the number of Klansmen died down to about 55,000, thought the Klan still exists today, they have become less powerful since the 1920’s.

The Ku Klux Klan is the country’s oldest terrorist organization.

//The Ku Klux Klan Manual//
 * PRIMARY SOURCES**

[]

African American News Paper Article on the Klan

//"I am a very old lady, lived over my three score years; born and reared in the Deep South. I am an admirer of the Ku-Klux Klan because my Father was one of the great many who cleansed our public offices of Negroes, carpetbaggers, and scalawags. I can very well remember the Reconstruction Days when the White people of the South were oppressed and mistreated by this ungodly corruptible group. And it was this same group who hated the Ku Klux Klan of that time. . . . I have watched the Ku-Klux Klan in its ups and downs; I have also watched those who so bitterly hate this great organization; have found the haters alwayes had something in mind they wanted to keep covered up, but they know each time when the Klan rises their evils will be uncovered. . . . I can remember my Father saying the Ku-Klux Klan will never die. "It was here yesterday, today, and forever." And I firmly believe God has a working hand through this great organization, for if it wasn't for the Ku-Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Days, America would long have been a mongrelized nation. So today God sees the need of a Ku-Klux Klan as never before a nation as full of corruptible filth as America has. . . . Instead of carpetbaggers and scalawags of years past, America has become infiltrated with worse. . . . [I]n the last thirty years Communism began to grow in America. It has set up fronts such as the N.A.A.C.P and other Jewish controlled organizations as peddlers to create hate and brainwash the minds of the American people [to]. . . just about destroy our Christian faith, our freedom of rights, and the American Way of Life. . . . [W]hen you find a hater of the Ku-Klux Klan check his record; watch him; he is full of corruption; he has something in store for himself and not for others. . . America needs cleaning. The evil ones are in power, as it was in the carpetbagger and scalawag days. Your Father and mine had the guts to clean America. Where are your guts?. . . The Ku-Klux Klan will never die and my prayer is this: O God, bless the Klansman that he may fight to keep America free from ungodly things forever more, and their race as pure as the Lily of the Valley. . . . God bless the Klansman, his home, his family, and his country. Above all, God, bless those who hate the Klan, for they know not what they are doing with their brainwashed minds, Amen"//

//The Old Lady of the South// //(http://www.alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec46ps.html)//

The quote is basically stating that the Ku Klux Klan is a good thing for America, they are cleansing the nation. They are taking care of all that is corrupt in the country. Also that they are the only people or organization to "have the guts" to clean the country.

Ku Klux Klan

Dominika T.


The Ku Klux Klan was found in the 1866. It is a racist, anti-Semitic movement with extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation. Out of all the racial groups in the US the KKK remains one of the groups with the greatest number of national and local organizations around the country. There are more than 40 different Klan groups that exist, with members that may add up to around 5,000 members. The Klan first came about after the Civil War. It was one of the first true terrorist groups. They focused there anger and violence on African Americans, and white Americans who stood up for them. Later on as the Klan emerged their enemy list grew larger and added more categories of racial groups. Later on they attacked the Jews, Catholics, homosexuals, etc. Also after the WWI the Klan became extremely violent to Jews, Roman Catholics, socialists, communists, and anybody they considered to be foreigners. By the 1925 the membership reached about 4,000,000. As years went on the Klan kept appearing and disappearing.




 * The Klan's Symbol

__ Time line __
"__1920__ - The **KKK** slipped its hooded head into [|Indiana] in **1920**. At that time, Indiana had very few cities with large black populations, and the Klan in Indiana primarily targeted Catholics, Jews and foreigners."

"__1922__ - The **KKK** arrived in **1922** and quickly became a powerful mass movement with tens of thousands of members and dangerous ambitions. This nine- part essay examines the meteoric history of the **KKK** in the **1920s**, detailing the ideology, tactics, leadership."

"__1923__ - In **1923**, Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans and ten thousand **Ku Klux Klan** members tried to march through the streets of Carnegie. The town's large Catholic population refused to let the Klan march through the streets. Violence broke out, one Klansman was killed and **...** In **1923**, Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans and ten thousand **Ku Klux Klan** members tried to march through the streets of Carnegie. The town's large Catholic population refused to let the Klan march through the streets. Violence broke out, one Klansman was killed and hundreds of others wounded. Protestant membership in the **KKK** of the **1920s** grew as the population of Catholic families in town increased."

"__1924__ - Another plaque tells of a march by the **Ku Klux Klan** that took place in Saco on **1924**. There were 150000 Mainers affiliated with the **KKK** in the **1920s**, according to this account, with the supremacist group claiming more members in Maine than **...** Another plaque tells of a march by the **Ku Klux Klan** that took place in Saco on **1924**. There were 150000 Mainers affiliated with the **KKK** in the **1920s**, according to this account, with the supremacist group claiming more members in Maine than in any state outside the south. The northern Klansmen organized in opposition to Roman Catholic immigrants, especially the French- Canadians who came in large numbers to work in the mills of Saco and Biddeford."




 * Graph of the 1920s and when the Klan's were found.
 * __Interesting Fact:__ Robert Byrd was a United States Senator and he was a member of the KKK in the 20's and 30's. He was from West Virginia but he recently passed away and he was suspected of being a Klan member.

__﻿KKK Witnesses__

 * The KKK first appeared in Wisconsin in the 1920s. In October 1924 the Klan had their first parade in Madison. Many people watched as they paraded around but since the people didn't know why they were doing this, they couldn't keep it together and it disappeared by 1928.


 * http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1002

__Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's__


//Only Yesterday// was written by Frederick Lewis Allen. He was a very popular commentator of that time. In this excerpt Allen talks about some experiences people had to go through. For example, he said that if a white women accused a black man of "hitting" on her a white figure would spirit him off to the woods and teach him a lesson. Even though their was no evidence that this black man did such a thing to the women, the accusation was made and that's all they needed. If a white man stood up for a black man he would get beaten up. The Klan was a brutal and wrong group and they weren't joking around. It seems as though whoever the Klan wanted to hurt next they did because they wanted to. The walked around biding on peoples land and if the price was to low and the owners didn't agree, they would still take over the land. Even if their was no violence going on in the towns, the threat of them was still around. You could of still seen the burning of the cross from a distance, white robed groups walked around which made people fear them and that's exactly what they wanted.
 * http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/antiimmigrationKKK-index.htm

Koraima H.

=
** BASIC FACTS: ** The first KKK was started in Pulaski, Tennessee. The people that belong to the KKK are both racist, and sexist. They really hate blacks, but they are more sexist than racist. As seen in the photo on the right. It was at the end of the civil war that radical members of Congress tried to destroy the "White Power" structure of the Rebel States. ([])===== The Ku Klux Klan practiced extremism. They were racist, anti-semitic, and were committed to extreme violence. They were pro-segregation; they didn't want blacks and whites to intertwine. They also believed that whites were superior to blacks. They call it white supremacy.

= RITUALS PRACTICED: =