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Indiana Klan
The Indiana Klan was the state of Indiana branch of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a secret society in the United States that formed in Georgia in 1915. It grew rapidly in the early 1920s all across the United States. It used very energetic paid organizers who formed local chapters, and were well paid when they collected membership fees. The state and national Klans made money by selling uniforms. The appeal was to promote ideas of religious superiority and affect public affairs on issues of patriotism and Protestantism, especially Prohibition, education, political corruption, and morality. Only white Protestant men could become members, and membership was kept secret. Historians, however, have discovered some local membership lists. The membership was a cross section of white Protestants in terms of class, education and income. In Indiana It was strongly hostile against Catholics who comprised 20% of the state population. It was nominally more hostile to African Americans and Jews, who each were 2% of the state's population. In Indiana, the Klan did not practice overt violence—there were no lynchings—but used intimidation in certain cases.
The Indiana Klan rose to prominence as the largest organization in Indiana very rapidly in the early 1920s. When white Protestants felt threatened by social and political issues, including changes caused by decades of immigration from southern and eastern Europe. By 1922 Indiana had the largest Klan organization of any U.S. state, and its membership continued to increase dramatically under the leadership of D. C. Stephenson. It averaged 2,000 new members per week from July 1922 to July 1923, the month when Stephenson was appointed Grand Dragon of Indiana. He led the Indiana Klan, and other KKK chapters he supervised, to break away from the national organization in late 1923.
Indiana's Klan was one of the strongest in the country, with about 30 percent of the entire White Protestant male population being members. At state and local elections the KKK leaders publicly endorsed candidates, and the endorsements proved effective. By 1925, over half the members of the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, and many other high-ranking officials in local and state government enjoyed support from the Klan. Politicians learned they needed the Klan's endorsement to win office. However, the KKK leadership was primarily interested in its own personal profits, and was unable to agree on legislative priorities. As a result, the state KKK failed to get any laws passed (with one uncontroversial exception).
In 1925 Stephenson was charged and convicted for the rape and murder of Madge Oberholtzer, a young schoolteacher. His vile behavior caused a sharp drop in Klan membership, which decreased further with his exposure to the press of secret deals and the Klan's bribery of public officials. Denied pardon, in 1927 Stephenson began to talk to the Indianapolis Times, giving them lists of people who had been paid by the Klan. Their press investigation exposed many Klan members, showed they were not law-abiding, and ended the power of the organization, as members dropped out by the tens of thousands. By the end of the decade, the Klan was down to about 4,000 members and it never recovered.
In 1920, Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons of Atlanta, Georgia chose Joe Huffington to start an official Indiana chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Huffington left for Indiana and set up his first headquarters in Evansville.
Huffington met D.C. Stephenson, a fellow war veteran with a background in Texas and Oklahoma, who quickly became one of the leading members of the chapter. Stephenson moved during 1920 to Evansville, Indiana, where he worked for a retail coal company. He joined the Democratic Party and in 1922, ran unsuccessfully for a Democratic Congressional nomination. He was said to have already married and abandoned two wives before settling in Evansville.
Stephenson was extraordinarily successful in recruiting and organizing new members. Like other agents, Stephenson got to keep a portion of the entrance fees, and began to amass wealth. Entrance in the Klan cost $10, plus dues, and the recruiter personally kept $4 of each registration. It is estimated that Stephenson made between two and five million dollars from his position in the Klan. Stephenson was an active recruiter. He initially stressed the concept of the Klan as a fraternal society and brotherhood, organized for civic activism, to help the poor and defend morality. He gained the support of many ministers and church congregations for these appeals to populist issues, and the Klan grew rapidly in Indiana.
The Evansville Klavern became the most powerful in the state, and Stephenson soon contributed to attracting numerous new members. More than 5,400 men, or 23 percent of the native-born white men in Vanderburgh County, ultimately joined the Klan.
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Indiana Klan
The Indiana Klan was the state of Indiana branch of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a secret society in the United States that formed in Georgia in 1915. It grew rapidly in the early 1920s all across the United States. It used very energetic paid organizers who formed local chapters, and were well paid when they collected membership fees. The state and national Klans made money by selling uniforms. The appeal was to promote ideas of religious superiority and affect public affairs on issues of patriotism and Protestantism, especially Prohibition, education, political corruption, and morality. Only white Protestant men could become members, and membership was kept secret. Historians, however, have discovered some local membership lists. The membership was a cross section of white Protestants in terms of class, education and income. In Indiana It was strongly hostile against Catholics who comprised 20% of the state population. It was nominally more hostile to African Americans and Jews, who each were 2% of the state's population. In Indiana, the Klan did not practice overt violence—there were no lynchings—but used intimidation in certain cases.
The Indiana Klan rose to prominence as the largest organization in Indiana very rapidly in the early 1920s. When white Protestants felt threatened by social and political issues, including changes caused by decades of immigration from southern and eastern Europe. By 1922 Indiana had the largest Klan organization of any U.S. state, and its membership continued to increase dramatically under the leadership of D. C. Stephenson. It averaged 2,000 new members per week from July 1922 to July 1923, the month when Stephenson was appointed Grand Dragon of Indiana. He led the Indiana Klan, and other KKK chapters he supervised, to break away from the national organization in late 1923.
Indiana's Klan was one of the strongest in the country, with about 30 percent of the entire White Protestant male population being members. At state and local elections the KKK leaders publicly endorsed candidates, and the endorsements proved effective. By 1925, over half the members of the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, and many other high-ranking officials in local and state government enjoyed support from the Klan. Politicians learned they needed the Klan's endorsement to win office. However, the KKK leadership was primarily interested in its own personal profits, and was unable to agree on legislative priorities. As a result, the state KKK failed to get any laws passed (with one uncontroversial exception).
In 1925 Stephenson was charged and convicted for the rape and murder of Madge Oberholtzer, a young schoolteacher. His vile behavior caused a sharp drop in Klan membership, which decreased further with his exposure to the press of secret deals and the Klan's bribery of public officials. Denied pardon, in 1927 Stephenson began to talk to the Indianapolis Times, giving them lists of people who had been paid by the Klan. Their press investigation exposed many Klan members, showed they were not law-abiding, and ended the power of the organization, as members dropped out by the tens of thousands. By the end of the decade, the Klan was down to about 4,000 members and it never recovered.
In 1920, Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons of Atlanta, Georgia chose Joe Huffington to start an official Indiana chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Huffington left for Indiana and set up his first headquarters in Evansville.
Huffington met D.C. Stephenson, a fellow war veteran with a background in Texas and Oklahoma, who quickly became one of the leading members of the chapter. Stephenson moved during 1920 to Evansville, Indiana, where he worked for a retail coal company. He joined the Democratic Party and in 1922, ran unsuccessfully for a Democratic Congressional nomination. He was said to have already married and abandoned two wives before settling in Evansville.
Stephenson was extraordinarily successful in recruiting and organizing new members. Like other agents, Stephenson got to keep a portion of the entrance fees, and began to amass wealth. Entrance in the Klan cost $10, plus dues, and the recruiter personally kept $4 of each registration. It is estimated that Stephenson made between two and five million dollars from his position in the Klan. Stephenson was an active recruiter. He initially stressed the concept of the Klan as a fraternal society and brotherhood, organized for civic activism, to help the poor and defend morality. He gained the support of many ministers and church congregations for these appeals to populist issues, and the Klan grew rapidly in Indiana.
The Evansville Klavern became the most powerful in the state, and Stephenson soon contributed to attracting numerous new members. More than 5,400 men, or 23 percent of the native-born white men in Vanderburgh County, ultimately joined the Klan.