Vault217

This post was written by Tavia Wager, Research Services Assistant.

Special Collections Research Center’s (SCRC) exhibit “Before and Beyond 1968: Three Civil Rights Movements in America,” displays materials from the nineteenth century to the present day relating to the civil rights movement. The exhibition includes materials from the KKK in the 1920s, at the height of their power and influence in the early stage of the civil rights movement. Although the materials examined here were not used in the exhibit, they are demonstrative of the position of the KKK on issues relating to women, immigration, and race, essential questions for the nation at the time. Where race and immigration are the focus of “The Attitude of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Towards Immigration,” the “Women of the Ku Klux Klan Official Bulletin,” focuses on the role of women in the movement. Both documents indicate that Klan members were increasingly concerned that their identity as white, Protestant Americans was under attack, and all Klan members, including women, had to fight to keep the nation on the right path.

Opposition to immigration and racial heterogeneity was one of the most important issues for the Klan during the 1920s. According to Dr. H. W. Evans, Imperial Wizard, in “The Attitude of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Towards Immigration,” they are “devoted to the upbuilding of true Americanism in America,” and seek increased government restrictions of “undesirable” immigrants.[1] This opposition is threefold: economic, racial, and religious. The increase in foreign labor fostered the belief that immigrants had come to America for economic opportunity, undermining wages for Americans, whereupon they returned home, “fattened at the expense of the country which…gave them prosperity.”[2] Moreover, these immigrants did not conform to the Klan’s image of a historic, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon immigrant, and Evans rather describes them as “the scum of the Mediterranean and middle European countries,”[3] accusing them of actively seeking to undermine American Protestant democratic ideals. As KKK membership increased by three to six million people in the 1920s,[4] they sought to use their increased membership to promote their political and social agenda. Their notions of racial purity came to not only influence immigration policies, but also perpetuated racial tensions at home.

The “Women of the Ku Klux Klan Official Bulletin” further emphasizes Klan opposition to non-white participation in American life, focusing particularly on African-Americans. In urging their readers to vote against the Democratic Party, they proclaim the Democrats’ support of black rights, historically and at present, proclaiming: “Who….are continually whining about negro suffrage and negro equality, the Democratic Party!”[5] If the Democratic candidate, Al Smith, were to win the election of 1928, they believe he would allow immigration to increase while supporting the rights of blacks at home, thereby bolstering support for his own party. Race, especially where it is tied with the economic, political, and religious implications of immigration, became a key issue for the Klan during the 1920s, particularly in the presidential election of 1928, and their position influenced the early civil rights movement.

 

 

As the exhibit showcases several materials relating to the movement for women’s rights, the emphasis of the role of Klanswomen in the “Official Bulletin” is particularly relevant. The authors believe Klanswomen have a responsibility to participate not only in Klan life, but also in politics. Their vote is seen as so crucial, in fact, one contributor claims that: “Political observers of both parties are forced to admit that the women hold the balance of power in the coming election.”[6] By voting, Klanswomen are serving their country and the Protestant, Anglo-Saxon ideals of the Klan, fighting back against the influence of Al Smith and his dangerous Catholicism;[7] failure to vote constitutes a betrayal. “The good women of America will not sell out….In fact, no nation can rise above…the virtue and intelligence of its womanhood.”[8] The authors focus particularly on the possible repeal of prohibition to convince women to vote, equating prohibition with the virtues inherent in womanhood. It is “because of her instinct to protect the child she fights alcoholism in any form.”[9] The belief that women think differently and had different priorities than men was a common conception at the time, seen in Women in the Home, published in 1910 and currently in exhibit, which emphasizes the importance of women for the health and home of the nation.[10] Similarly, the Klan emphasized women as the protectors of Klan morality and identity, requiring them to vote to protect the values of Protestant women everywhere. The Ohio Broadcaster, also on display, thanked Klanswomen after the democrats were defeated, claiming that their victory was the signal of “a new epoch in the lives of Protestant womanhood,”[11] and would lead to increased membership and opportunities to spread their message.

For the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, much was at stake. Although they were at the height of their power and membership, they saw themselves attacked on all sides by immigration and racial heterogeneity, the pervasive influence of Catholicism, and threats to prohibition, all of which were central to their notions of an Anglo Saxon Protestant identity. Every Klan member was essential in the fight against such influences, especially Klanswomen. Both “The Attitude of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan” and the “Official Bulletin” demonstrate Klan perspectives on pivotal issues of the time, including race, immigration, prohibition, religion, and the role of women. Although the Klan constituted a force against particular aspects of the civil rights movement, where it involved the rights of non-whites for example, they were not opposed to other aspects when believed to strengthen their movement, including the rights of women, leveraging Klanswomen in their efforts to oppose the platform of the Democrats in the 1928 election. These primary sources from the 1920’s demonstrate the influence of white supremacist movements and their impact on early civil rights movement, setting the stage for later struggles by those who wanted to create a more equitable society.

 

Works Cited:

Dr. H.W. Evans, Imperial Wizard, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, “The Attitude of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Towards Immigration,” HS 2330.K63 E83 1923. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Fitzgerald, Susan W. Women in the Home. Richmond, VA: Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, 1910.  JK1896.F58 1910. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

McVeigh, Rory. “Structural Incentives for Conservative Mobilization: Power Devaluation and the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, 1915–1925.” Social Forces, Vol. 77, No. 4 (June 1999).

Office of the Imperial Commander: “Women of the Ku Klux Klan Official Bulletin,” Little Rock, Arkansas, October, 1928, Vo. 2 no. 4. HS 2330.K6 O44. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

The Ohio Broadcaster. Station K.I.G.Y Owned and Operated by Women of the Ku Klux Klan of Ohio. Vol. 2 No. 4, November 29, 1928. HS 2330.K6 055 1928. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

[1] Dr. H.W. Evans, Imperial Wizard, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, “The Attitude of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Towards Immigration,” HS 2330.K63 E83 1923. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries, p. 3. Dr. Evans was Imperial Grand Wizard from 1922-1939.

[2] Ibid., 5.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Rory McVeigh, “Structural Incentives for Conservative Mobilization: Power Devaluation and the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, 1915–1925,” in Social Forces, Vol. 77, No. 4 (June 1999): p. 1463.

[5] Office of the Imperial Commander: “Women of the Ku Klux Klan Official Bulletin,” Little Rock, Arkansas, October, 1928, Vo. 2 no. 4 HS 2330.K6 O44 v.2: no. 4 (1928: Oct.). Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries, p. 1.

[6] Ibid., 9.

[7] Ibid, 5.

[8] Ibid, 7.

[9] Ibid., 12.

[10] Susan W. Fitzgerald, Women in the Home, (Richmond, VA: Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, 1910), Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

[11] The Ohio Broadcaster, Station K.I.G.Y Owned and Operated by Women of the Ku Klux Klan of Ohio, Vol. 2 No. 4, November 29, 1928. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries, p. 1.