THE KU KLUX KLAN
COMES TO KOWLEY KOUNTY, KANSAS:
ITS PUBLIC FACE, 1921-1922
by
Jerry L. Wallace
(A Kansas Klansman, Courtesy of the KSHS)
THE COWLEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WINFIELD, KANSAS
MMXII
This Paper is Dedicated to the Memory of
MISS PRISCILLA BRADFORD, 1904-1990,
My Friend and Teacher,
who introduced me to American History.
CLIO
2
THE KU KLUX KLAN
COMES TO KOWLEY KOUNTY, KANSAS:
ITS PUBLIC FACE, 1921-1922
By
Jerry L. Wallace
[The Ku Klux Klan] has introduced in Kansas the greatest curse that can come
to any civilized people—the curse that arises out of the unrestrained passions of
men governed by religious intolerance and racial hatred…..It brings chaos and
hatred and menace to every law-abiding citizen who may fall victim of the private
quarrels and animosities of men who hide their identities behind a mask. If we
deliberately allow this organization to take the law into its own hands, then we
break down all the safeguards of society.
--Governor Henry J. Allen of Kansas, Speech at Coffeyville, Oct. 29, 19221
If the truth were known about the Ku Klux Klan, it would be looked
upon as a patriotic body, concerned with nothing but further development
of the country in which it was born and the preservation of supremacy of
the true American in his own land.
--Henry Ford, August 19242
Introduction.
The Ku Klux Klan, one of the more sinister and enduring forces in American history,
advanced into Kansas in the early months of 1921. A Klan Kleagle or organizer, fresh
from recruiting work in Oklahoma and Texas, set up an office in Kansas City and
proceeded to build up the Invisible Empire within the Sunflower State. Success came
quickly, especially in south central and eastern Kansas. Cowley County itself was among
the first counties to be “kluxed,” that is, organized.3
Unfortunately, for history’s sake, there are apparently no extant records of the Cowley
County Klan. Thus, we have no membership rosters, no minutes of proceedings, no
journals describing its public and clandestine activities.4 Moreover, no individual
Klansman’s records, such as letters or diaries, have come to light. What we do have, and
what this paper rests upon, is a record of the known public activities of the Klan in
Cowley County as revealed in the press: The Winfield Daily Courier, The Winfield Free
3
Press, The Arkansas City Traveler, and The Wichita Beacon. Using these primary
sources, well supplemented by supporting scholarly publications (see Bibliography), the
author has sought to picture the workings and doings of the Klan in the Cowley County
during the critical years of 1921-22, the period when it took root.
PART I: THE THREE KLANS5
To begin with, it is essential to understand this: There have been three Ku Klux Klans,
each separate and distinct from the other. The Klan that is the subject of this paper is the
second Ku Klux Klan, which existed as an organization from 1915 to 1944, a total of 29
years. All three organizations are described below, with the second Klan being last.
The Original Klan: The Order of the Ku Klux Klan, self-described as the “Invisible
Empire of the South,” came into being in the desolated Southland at the end of the War of
the Rebellion an underground resistance movement. Its founders were bored veterans of
the Confederate Army. This Klan was conceived as a fraternal society for amusement
and companionship, but it quickly transformed into a loosely organized vigilante or
terrorist group, noted for its spook-like costumes and secrecy. Its mission and driving
force were clear-cut: restoring and maintaining white supremacy in the Reconstruction
South. At its peak, the group possibly numbered 550,000 men.6 The targets of its attacks
were the newly freed Blacks, along with their Southern and Northern supporters (called
scalawags and carpetbaggers, respectively, by white locals), who had assumed political
power under the Republican banner.7
Fear and intimidation, backed up by the terror of the whip and the noose, were the Klan’s
weapons. Excesses within its ranks, along with much external opposition, caused Klan
leaders to order it disbanded in 1869, but some individual units disregarded the order and
continued on.8 Under President U. S. Grant, the Federal government intervened forcibly
to suppress the nightriders and end their reign of terror.9 As political power in the South
reverted to white Democrat control after with withdrawal of Federal troops in 1877, the
need for an anti-Republican, anti-Black Klan organization ceased.
The memory of the Klan, however, did not die off. Instead, it was romanticized with the
Klan becoming the savior of white Southern civilization, and this was perpetuated in print
in Thomas Dixon’s best selling trilogy, The Leopard’s Spots (1902), The Clansman
(1905), and The Traitor (1907). The Clansman was adapted into a play not long after its
publication and later in 1915 into D. W. Griffith’s blockbuster motion picture hit, The
Birth of a Nation. This romanticized view of the Klan, which became interwoven into
post-bellum Southern culture, played a significant role in its later revival in the 1920s.10
The Third Klan: This Klan, which is still with us today, arose after World War II in
response to a civil rights movement that was engaged in pulling down the racial barriers
of segregation, especially those in education. It reached its greatest prominence in the
South during the racially turbulent 1950s and 1960s. As a hate group, its hallmark was
violence and murder directed against Black civil rights advocates and their supporters.
Over the years, this Klan has faded away into insignificance, and consists today of small,
4
fragmented groups operating on the fringes of society, with the Federal government
closely monitoring their activities.11
The Second Klan of the 1920s, the Subject of this Paper: This body—organized as the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan—differed significantly from its predecessor and successor.
Most notably, it was a popular, nationally organized movement taking the form of a
secret, fraternal organization and presenting itself to the public as a benevolent and
patriotic society. Apart from its darker activities, it is remembered primarily for its
sinister costumes, its mysterious rituals and ceremonies, its bizarre titles for its officers—
and especially for its symbol, the fiery cross.
In the 1920s, fraternal organizations were in their heyday. The Klan took its place along
side the Masons, the Owls, the Elks, the Moose, the Odd Fellows, the Pythians, the
United Workmen, the Knights of Columbus, the Independent Order of B’rith Sholom,
and such like, and was treated as one of them. For some, this association gave the Klan a
degree respectability and acceptance.12
Millions of Americans, both men and women, joined the Klan’s hooded ranks—and,
always to be remembered, many millions more who did not join, sympathized with it and
shared its prejudices and goals. As a consequence of this, many of the Klan’s opponents
chose to center their opposition on its secretive nature, extralegal actives, and
divisiveness, rather than on its beliefs. The Klan’s national membership, as it is usually
cited, reached a peak of four to five million before it began its decline at mid-decade. In
Kansas, the Grand Dragon estimated that the organization numbered 100,000 at its
height; another source put the figure at 150,000. These figures are estimates. Other
sources put both them much lower. For instance, the historian Kenneth T. Jackson put
the Kansas Klan’s total membership over its life at only 40,000 and the total nationally at
2,028,000.13
In the 1920s, Klan members would proudly parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, the
“Avenue of Presidents,” in their hooded costumes and with flags flying in a display
designed to convey power and might and intimidate those who might oppose them.14
These Klansmen, along with the Klan’s women’s auxiliary, were found in both urban and
rural areas and in all sections of the country, but particularly in America’s Heartland.
Col. William Joseph Simmons, an emotional man with a bent towards the mystical,
founded the order and served as its first Imperial Wizard.15 He had summoned a revived
Klan into being on top of Stone Mountain, Georgia, on Thanksgiving night of 1915.
Simmons, an avid fraternalist since his youth, who himself belonged to several orders,
had long dreamed of creating his own group. In reviving the Klan, he was inspired by
stories of the first Klan told him as child by his father, who had been a Klansman, and his
nanny.
Simmons, however, got the idea for the fiery cross, which came to symbolize the Klan in
the 1920s, from the writer Thomas Dixon. Dixon had thought up the fiery cross and
5
included it in his novel, The Clansman. Later, the device appeared in D. W. Griffith’s
motion picture, The Birth of a Nation. The first Klan had never used the fiery cross.
In its early years, 1915-20, the second Klan grew slowly and showed little promise of
success. During the Great War, it put itself to work at ferreting out disloyal Americans.
It did not spring to life, becoming an organizational and financial success, until June of
1920, when Simmons hired two clever marketing experts, Edward Young Clarke and
Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler, to head the Klan’s Propagation Department.
This duo was able to exploit for the benefit of the Klan the postwar situation: a chaotic,
violent, and stressful period, marked by serious social, economic, and political problems.
They did this by developing a strategy—based upon their conception of 100%
Americanism—designed to appeal to the ingrained patriotism and prejudices of the
average American. The resulting program resembled those of two earlier nativist
movements, the Know Nothings of the 1850s and the American Protective Association of
the 1890s.16 There was nothing new or creative about the Klan’s program of intolerance,
rather, it echoed the past—about it all was the smell of mothballs.
So it was that the Klan draped itself in the flag and depicted itself as fighting for
traditional American political and religious values. It preached a message of keeping
“America for Americans”—or, as the Klan saw it, white, native born, Protestants. The
Klan’s prime target was what they deemed to be the unholy Catholic Church, followed by
what they saw as unscrupulous Jews and undesirable immigrants from Southern and
Eastern Europe. Moreover, the Klan had no liking for colored folks, who failed to toe the
line, or for political radicals on America’s shores, especially foreign anarchists and
Bolsheviks. Overall, the Klan was driven by a strong anti-Catholic and anti-foreign bias.
Individual Klaverns or local units were involved in a hodge-podge of causes, with little
central direction or control. What causes were given emphasis depended upon local
concerns. They included encouraging a militant Protestantism, defending Prohibition (a
basically Protestant crusade), supporting the public schools while seeking to abolish
private ones (i.e., parochial), working for clean and effective government, and putting
down community critics, commonly referred to as “knockers.”17
With their controversial methods, including late night visitations, tar-and-feathering and
applying a razor strap to the back, Klaverns were active in fighting crime, focusing on
bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and dope dealing. They sought, also, to protect the
family against home-breakers and to ensure, according to their light, a good moral tone in
the community. They sometimes employed boycotts against those they targeted and
attempted to exclude them from public office and public employment. Klaverns were
noted, too, for their charity work and support of local churches. Later, they directed more
energy towards political activities, fastening upon whatever political party offered it the
best avenue to power. The Klan gained considerable political clout in some areas, such
as Indiana. As for the violence associated with the Klan, it was most prevalent during the
very early 1920s, with the most excesses taking place in the South and the least in the
Northeast.
6
Klansmen, of course, needed to be kept posted on the key issues facing them. This was
accomplished through the Klan’s national publications, such as The Kourier, The
Imperial Night-Hawk, and The Searchlight. And, in Kansas, there was The Jayhawker
American, published out of Wichita.18
In assessing the second Klan in the 1924 edition of Correspondance Internationale,
Nguyen Sinh Cung—later known to the world as Ho Chi Minh—concluded that the
organization was “doomed to disappear.” He wrote this insightful explanation as to why:
[T]he Ku Klux Klan has all the defects of clandestine and reactionary
organizations without their strengths. It has the mysticism of Freemasonry, the
mummeries of Catholicism, the brutality of Fascism, the illegality of its 568
various [Klaverns], but it has neither doctrine, nor program, nor vitality, nor
discipline.19
In short, the Klan lacked the essential qualities to sustain itself over time. At the end of it
all, this proved to be true.
To build up the Klan, Clarke and Tyler hired as Kleagles or organizers over 1,000
energetic, young men on the make. They were generously compensated, based upon the
number of new recruits they secured. Most of them were Masons, and they made good
use of their Masonic connections to gain a foothold in the community and solicit
members. It was said that in some Klaverns, over half their members were Masons,
too.20
A new recruit paid $10.00, the klectoken, to join and another $6.50 for his hooded
uniform, the total cost $16.50 ($213.00 in today’s dollars). The $10.00 membership fee
was dispersed as follows: $4.00 going to the Kleagle; $1.00 to the King Kleagle; 50
cents to the Grand Goblin; $2.50 to Clarke and Tyler; and $2.00 to the Imperial Treasury.
The uniform fee went to the Atlanta headquarters, which owned the plant that
manufactured the costumes.21
Upon entering into a community, the organizers sought to bring into the Klan its leading
citizens. Naturally, businessmen, professionals, ministers, politicians and government
officials were choice targets.22 The organizers also sought to identify a controversial
local issue or pressing concerns to attract new members, as well as give the new Klavern
a focus or purpose for being.23
This sometimes led to conflicting positions among Klaverns. For example, one Klavern
could be opposed to labor unions while another might support local union strikers, or a
Klavern might be hostile towards local Blacks while another might take a neighborly
stance. For those wishing to understand the Ku Klux Klan, it is not sufficient to study the
Klan at the national level; rather, one must also delve into its local community activities.
One never knows what one will find.
7
The Clarke-Tyler approach worked brilliantly and turned the Klan into a great
commercial success.24 “The chief business of the American people is business,” as
President Calvin Coolidge put it so well, and so it was that at its heart, the Ku Klux Klan
was a money-driven operation from top to bottom, selling hate, as it was said, at $10.00
per head. Among its leadership, it was the face of the woman on the silver dollar who
was most often on their mind.25
In November of 1922, Hiram Wesley Evans, a successful Texas dentist, succeeded
Simmons as Imperial Wizard. Evans, a capable manager and leader, changed the
direction of the Klan. He exercised more control over local operations, he clamped down
on violent activities, and he expanded the Klan’s ranks by creating a popular women’s
auxiliary in 1923 and a branch for young folks in the following year. Most notably, he
attempted to make the organization into a powerful political machine, working within the
two major parties.26 Revealing his success in the political arena, Evans’ picture graced
the cover of TIME magazine on June 23, 1924, the day prior to the opening of the
Democratic National Convention.
Cowley County In The Early 1920s.
Cowley County in 1921 had a population of 36,463, which was overwhelmingly white,
Protestant, and native born.27 Scattered through the county, living on farms and in small
villages, were 16,019 rural folk. Its two largest cities were Arkansas City and Winfield
with populations of 11,513 and 8,931, respectively.28 These were distinctly different
communities: Winfield being a “little Athens” noted for its churches and schools, while
Arkansas City was a rough and tumble place, a lunch pail town. Or, as one man summed
it up, “When I want to get a good religious magazine I go to Winfield. When I want to
get a good drink I go to Arkansas City.”29
As for minorities, the principal groups were Blacks and Mexicans, both of whom were
concentrated in the county’s largest cities for the most part. Winfield’s Black population
as of 1922 numbered 503 individuals, comprising more than 120 family units. Blacks
had been part of the community from its earliest years. The local A.M.E. Church dated
from 1879. Of them, the Courier proudly noted, “No more thrifty, law-abiding group of
citizens can be found anywhere….”30 There is no similar population count for the Black
citizens of Arkansas City, but most likely, their number was much larger than Winfield’s.
A number of Black Arkansas Citians were likely employed at refinery or railroad jobs.
Based on newspaper accounts, this community included a criminal element that was
caught up in the bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and drug trafficking that were part
of the city’s life.
Mexicans were largely much needed, hardworking, railroad laborers. The men, some
with their families, resided in Arkansas City primarily, but also were found in Winfield,
Hackney, and possibly elsewhere in the county. Most Mexicans were aliens, going back
and forth across the U.S.-Mexican borders at will.31 They kept to themselves, did their
work, paid their bills, and were generally well regarded.32 County officials did their best
to accommodate them. Crime was a minimal problem. In the 1920s, the Mexican
8
community gathered at Island Park to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, with an invitation to join
in extended to the local gringos.33
The local economy was in a slump due to a national depression that had begun in January
1920 and would come to an end in mid 1921. There was unemployment. To help relieve
the situation, the city government at Arkansas City undertook civic improvement
projects. A full recovery, followed by a period of prolonged prosperity, would not arrive
until 1923.34 Residents of the county were fortunate that a diversified local economy of
agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing, along with a booming oil industry that was
marching towards its peak in 1925, had blunted the impact of the downturn.
They Are Among Us..
The local newspapers first recognized the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Cowley
County on July 26, 1921. The Klan had started in Arkansas City and then moved out into
the county. The Arkansas City Klavern was designated No. 3 in the Realm of Kansas,
meaning that it was among the first chartered in the Sunflower State. (The first Klan in
the state appears to have been Pioneer Klan No. 1, located at El Dorado, which was also
home to the “Kafir Korn Karnival.”35) At that time, it was stated that the Arkansas City
Klavern would be the only one in the county, with it having individual branches
elsewhere.36 This policy would soon be changed with the chartering of a new Klavern,
No. 27, in Winfield. It would later have branches at Burden and Rock.37
Who Were The Klan Organizers And Leaders?
As a secret body, little is known of the Klan’s organizers or local leadership, the Exalted
Cyclops. Their names were not revealed in the newspapers of the day—unless they
became public record. Thus the founders of the Arkansas City and Winfield Klans
remain a mystery. Yet, from what is known, it was undoubtedly an experienced outsider,
brought in by Klan headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, who established the Arkansas City
Klavern. As for Winfield, Courier editor E. P. Greer stated it was a native Winfielder,
who, after returning from Oklahoma, was responsible for the “kluxing” of the town.38
In late November of 1922, as a result legal action taken by the State of Kansas against the
Klan, the names of certain Klan officials did become public. Two Arkansas Citians were
revealed: Noble T. McCall, a young dentist, who was the Klan’s Kligrapp or secretary;
and George W. Frank, also a dentist, who McCall stated was his successor in the post.39
From Winfield, three Kleagles or salesmen (this was a fulltime job), all “well known
young business men,” were identified: William J. Robinson, a 41-year old former car
dealer and now oilman; Lawrence Henthorne, a 35-year old insurance agent and
accountant; and William Milne, the chief clerk at the Emerald Oil Company.40 It is
known that the first two were life-long Masons. Robinson was prominent in Winfield
civic affairs, having recently served as chairman of the Winfield Red Cross. Also, he
had, so it seems, some involvement in the 1922 Sproul Congressional campaign.41 From
what is known, it appears that these individuals dropped their association with the Klan
once their involvement became public.42
9
Governor Allen Meets The Klan.
[The Ku Klux Klan] is the [American Protective Association] plus antipathy to
negroes, plus antipathy to Jews, rolled up in the American flag and sold for $10 a
throw, of which the organizers get $4 and the profiteers at Atlanta get the rest.
--The Ku Klux Klan as he saw it, Governor Henry J. Allen, 1922.
The arrival of the Ku Klux Klan in Kansas did not go unnoticed by state officials, as well
as the political class. Governor Henry Justin Allen, who served as governor from January
1919 through January 1923, had become aware of the Klan presence in the state on July
23, 1921.43 He indicated that the State of Kansas was unable to take action to stop the
Klan and that the state would intervene only if there were acts of violence.44 A few days
later, the governor stated that he believed the Klan was dead in Kansas as a result of all
the bad publicity it had received from its violent activities in Texas and elsewhere.45
This, of course, proved not to be the case.
During the coming year, the Klan quietly continued to establish itself in the state, while
the governor made occasional attacks upon it and gathered information on its activities.
In July of 1922, as a result of events in Arkansas City, which shall be discussed later, the
governor and the Klan would come into direct confrontation. This encounter would lead
Allen to launch in public and in the courts an aggressive attack on the Kansas Klan.
Indeed, it would become his mission to banish the organization from the state.46
In this regard, it is important to understand the nature of Governor Allen’s opposition to
the Klan, especially, since what was true of him, was also true of many other opponents
of the Ku Klux Klan, public and private. Allen opposed the Klan not because of their
beliefs, but because of their secret, nighttime operations, their use of extra-legal methods,
and the divisiveness that they created in the community. The following statement
expresses clearly the governor’s thinking on this matter:
The essence of our opposition to this organization [i.e., the Klan] is not in the
fact that it fights the Catholic church or expresses its antipathy to the Jews or the
negro, but in the fact that it does this under the protection of a mask and through
the process of terrorism and violence.47
These remarks were delivered before the Conference of Governors at White Sulphur
Springs, West Virginia, on December 16, 1922.
There is no doubt but that the governor also feared the Klan as “a clever and invisible
form of government.”48 And he had concerns, too, about it bringing the horrors of civil
war to Kansas, such as that then raging in the newly established Irish Free State.49
It should be mentioned that Allen himself had made anti-Catholic comments at a
campaign stop in Great Bend, Kansas, on October 30, 1922.50 Allen’s attitude towards
10
Catholics should come as no surprise as Protestant children were often taught to believe
that “a Catholic was a criminal and that the Priest was in league with the Devil.”51 These
were popular anti-Catholic sentiments of Allen’s generation. But there was more to his
animus against the Catholic Church than childhood prejudice. For instance, he was
undoubtedly shocked and amazed along with the rest of Protestant America when, in the
early 1920s, Pope Benedict XV attacked the popular and highly regarded Y.M.C.A. as
being a heretical organization that was Protestant controlled and fundamentally Masonic
in nature.52
Most established politicians of both parties were uncomfortable with the Ku Klux Klan.
They realized that the Klan was a disruptive and divisive force, poisoning friendships and
turning neighbor against neighbor. Its presence did not make for a happy and progressive
community. It was, moreover, bad for business. The Winfield Chamber of Commerce
put it this way, “Where the people of a town don’t get along, neither does the town.”53
An overriding concern to the political class, no doubt, was that Klan members could
potentially constitute a significant voting block, one that could disrupt and even
overthrow the existing political order. That was no small concern on their part.54 On the
other hand, for some would-be politicians and some politicians looking to move up the
political ladder, securing the Klan’s favor offered an opportunity for fast advancement.
Who Were The Klansmen?
Besides being white, native born, and Protestant, the Klansmen of Cowley County were
individuals troubled, perhaps even frightened, in these early post World War I years by
what they saw going on about them at home and abroad.55 The world, it seemed, was
everywhere in revolt against accepted laws and long-held customs and standards.56 They
longed for a return to pre-war days, but that happy, well-ordered world was gone. And
now, out of the chaos of war, a new age was coming into being. This age—the New Era,
as some called it—would make the decade of the 1920s into a transformative period, one
leading into the modern world we know today. In this milieu, the Klan was a backward
looking body, with an organizational format that was itself a historical relic and a quilted
together program recalling bygone days.
As best we can surmise, the majority of Cowley County Klansmen were average citizens,
like the fellow next door: married with children, hard-working, church-going, who
thought of his country—to him, “the land of free and the home of the brave”—as a
special place with a special mission to perform. Intermixed in their ranks were
individuals holding positions of standing within the community. Some were professional
men; some were ministers; others were politicians and government officials; and many
were white-collar employees, workers, and farmers. A good number of them were
Masons, for, as noted, Klan organizers especially targeted that group.57 There are
indications that persons associated with the local oil industry, which was expanding
rapidly in the county at the time, might have played an important role.58 The one group
they were not, was common laborers, for the cost of being a Klansmen—around $20 to
$30 a years ($250 to $350 in today’s dollars)—precluded that.59
11
Why Did They Join?
If you asked a Cowley County Klansman what motivated him to join the Klan, he would
have offered a variety of reasons. Here are some likely responses: to stand foursquare
for that old-fashioned, spread-eagle patriotism preached by the Klan….to battle the
Catholic Church in its attempt to overturn separation of church and state and placed
American Protestants under the Pope’s thumb….to stop the clever, alien Jews from
gaining control of American business60….to defend white supremacy against the colored
races61….to save America for Americans by stopping waves of unassimilable European
immigrants from inundating the homeland….to stand up for that old time religion against
modernism….to support public schools, where Americans are made, against private
schools, where foreign languages and foreign values are perpetuated….to battle rampant
crime and vice….to insist upon the full enforcement of the Prohibition laws….to elect
honest men to public office and bring about needed reform….to protect the home and
maintain high moral standards within the community.
And then there were other, less noble motives, which would have remained unspoken,
such as wreaking vengeance upon one’s enemies, making a few extra bucks as a Klan
official, or advancing oneself or one’s business. And, not to be overlooked, there was
the attraction for the Klansman of relieving the boredom of small town life through night
riding adventures or the thrill of participating in his full regalia in secret ceremonies.62
For urban Klansmen, many of whom came from a rural background, the organization
offered companionship among like-thinking individuals in the alien city with its large and
diverse population, including many foreigners with their strange ways.
One of the great strengths of the Klan was its ability to be all things to all men.63 As a
consequence, however, individuals sometimes joined the Klan thinking it to be one thing,
only to find later that it was something different—and perhaps not to their liking. This
contributed to a high turnover rate.64
To sum up, individuals were drawn to the Ku Klux Klan by a combination of factors.
The exact mix varied from Klansmen to Klansmen and will never be known.
One thing, however, is clear from reading the local papers of the time: Crime was a
pressing, immediate concern for the public. When the Klan first appeared in Kansas, a
Kleagle, out selling the Klan, was asked, “What was the objective of the Klan?” He
replied, it was “to combat lawlessness”—and that was the only issue cited.65 His answer
was on the mark, for Kansas, along with the nation as a whole, was suffering from a
crime wave of an exceptional proportion.66
In January of 1922, a Winfield paper reported under the headline, “Wild Night At Ark
City…Neighboring City Has Crime Wave With A Vengeance Now,” that the situation
had grown so critical in the city that the local police were being reinforced by American
Legion volunteers. The added men were having little effect on putting down the crime
wave, however. “Holdups, housebreaking, and other lawlessness continue to be
12
reported.”67 Among “other lawlessness” were serious problems with the illegal sales of
alcohol (e.g., choc beer) and opium and cocaine, but it seems that the worst problem of
all was auto theft.68 It was epidemic. The Courier reported,
There are too many cars being stolen in this community. Something will have to
be done to stop this thieving if it is possible to do so. It is getting so that it is
unsafe for a man to leave his car parked any place upon the streets, or even locked
in his garage….If this car thieving continues, car owners will have to perfect an
organization and formulate some plan for self-protection…Insurance agents are
complaining that unless something is done, it will be almost impossible to insure
cars.69
Contributing to the problem was the fact that the Winfield and Arkansas City police
forces were understaffed, undertrained, and underfunded. Winfield, for instance, had
three policemen overseen by Chief Fred Hoover; one policeman was on duty during the
day, while two were on patrol at night. They were totally unprepared to handle the
challenges posed by the crime wave.70
There was also a serious criminal incident shortly after the Klan’s arrival. On the night
of August 19, 1921, Mrs. Margaret Trees, whose husband, Charles Trees, was a major
figure in the local oil industry, was attacked physically and terrorized by robbers in her
home at 1306 Loomis Avenue. The robbers escaped.71 This event most likely attracted
oilmen to the Klan, for they typically saw in the Klan a means of controlling rough and
unruly oil workers, and there were many in the county at the time.
For concerned citizens, and there were many of them, the Klan offered a way to control
the exploding crime in the community. For the Klan had eyes everywhere, and Klan
secrecy allowed the organization to function as an extralegal body backing up the police
or itself imposing discipline and punishment.72
Finally, in Cowley County, the first organizer sought out an issue that would attract
members to the new Arkansas City Klavern. He found it in the townsfolk’s support for
the railroad men of their community, who had striking on their mind. This same issue
was used in organizing other Klaverns in railroad towns across the state.73
PART II: THE KLAN IN ACTION
The Klan In Arkansas City.
The Klan began its life in Arkansas City in mid 1921, yet it was not until November of
that year that it began to organize in earnest. As was usually the case when entering a
community, the Klan did so using a cover name, in this instance, the Shrine of the Mystic
White Cloak and later, the American Club. Once chartered, the Klan unit’s formal title
was Arkansas City Klavern No. 3 of the Realm of Kansas.74
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The Klan organizer took up residence in the Osage Hotel, rented a post office box, and
commenced seeking members. He distributed cards to selected individuals instructing
them, if interested in joining, to contact Ti-Bo-Tim. It was reported in the Traveler that
one meeting of potential members—including a number of well-known citizens—had
been held.75
A K.K.K. card (Form P-216) distributed by the organizer to attract members, read as
follows:
Do you realize the immediate necessity of a national, non-political, secret,
Christian organization, unselfishly cooperating for the protection of your
homes…The shielding of the chastity of your pure womanhood. The separation
of Church and State…The eternal maintenance of White Supremacy…The
upholding and preservation from tyrannical oppression from any source
whatsoever, of those sacred constitutional rights and privileges of a free-born
caucasian race of people, so wisely enacted by the founders of our constitution,
Washington, Jefferson, Madison and their compatriots? Also, do you realize the
importance of having at the helm cool, prudent, conservative red-blooded thinking
men, capable of directing the execution of such a reformation?76
The Cowley County Klan made its public debut in mid December of 1921. It presented
the Salvation Army with a donation of $50.00 ($604.00) for its Christmas basket fund.
According to the Traveler, the bill was place in a Bible at the 12th Chapter of Romans,
which had been encircled in red. An accompanying letter praised the Army for its good
works and stated that it had the Klan’s full support. In response, through the good offices
of the Traveler, the Salvation Army expressed thanks to Klan for its thoughtfulness.77 A
few days later, the Klan made another holiday donation of $25.00 ($302.00) to the City
Provident Association, a charity organization, which happily accepted the donation.78
The Klan also showed another side of itself at this time. On Friday night, December 16,
1921, at around 11 o’clock, 30 masked men invaded Arkansas City’s “Darktown,” as
locals called it. It was reported that Blacks were seen running from house to house
spreading the word, “Here comes the Ku Klux Klan.” It was part of an effort, it was said,
to clean up this section of town, which was well noted for its crime and violence.
The Traveler offered its readers this dramatic account of the incident on Saturday,
December 17:
To clean up this district, the start was made last night when a group of masked
men entered a negro dive and took away a negro who, it is report, has been
stealing suitcases and hand bags from the Santa Fe depot and off of passenger
trains. No violence took place. The men simply went in and got their man, loaded
him in the rear of a Ford touring car, placed a rope about his neck, and took him
on a journey to a lonely spot known as the Green lane, about three miles northeast
of the city. Here they took the negro from the car and placed one end of the rope
over a limb on a tree, and the noose remained about the negro's neck.
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The negro immediately dropped on his knees, pleading for mercy, and asked time
to pray to his God; and it is stated he did some praying, praying as only one could
when he thinks his life is going to be taken. He confessed to the masked men that
he stole the suitcases and hand bags, and told them where they could recover the
stolen articles.
After the confession, the men released the noose from his neck and told him to hit
the trail…It is predicted this negro will never enter Arkansas City again….79
Interestingly, a few days later on Tuesday, December 20, another account—the correct
one, it seems, coming directly from a Klan source—appeared in a different paper. In this
report, a Klan representative confirmed that it had carried out the action. But the story
stated that the Black man involved was first picked up by railroad police for questioning
and that they, in turn, were then set upon by Klansmen. “There was no rope in sight and
no tree”—nonetheless, the individual, who was the center of attention, apparently did
agree to leave town. Also, according to “Darktown” residents, “there was no terror” in
the community. “The affair was very quiet and no one knew of it until it was all over,”
they said.80
The Klan was not only interested in misbehaving Blacks but in whites, too. On Saturday
night, February 25, 1922, they had a “spanking party” for “a well know young man of
this city.” Masked Klansmen picked up the youth at the corner of A Street and Central
Avenue. They took him by car about three miles out of town, put him over barrel, and
spanked him severely with 20 to 30 blows with a razor strap until he promised to cease.
His offense: “he had been intimate with a married woman…and was about to break up a
home….”81 Following this incident, two other individuals, who had also received
warnings about their dalliances with other men’s wives, were observed to have become
conspicuous homebodies.82
The Arkansas City Klan now had a membership, so it was said, of over 500 and was
growing rapidly. With such a large membership, the Traveler noted, it had “the eyes to
see every unlawful act performed here.” The Klan was going to use these eyes to give
Arkansas City “a good and much needed cleaning.”83
Klan activity was growing to the south of Arkansas City in Oklahoma.84 On the night of
March 23, 1922, the Klan staged a big parade in Kaw City, and there was talk that these
Klansmen might do the same at Arkansas City.85 In May, the citizens of Blackwell,
Oklahoma, about 30 miles from Arkansas City, held a public meeting and requested all
Blacks to leave the city, and all but one agreed to do so.86
The Klan, even if they did nothing overt, through their hate rhetoric they put stress on the
lives of those who were the objects of their displeasure: Catholics, Jews, new
immigrants, and Blacks, along with other colored minorities. On April 15, 1922, the
Traveler reported on a local Blackman, a hard working, law-abiding citizen with a wife
and family, who was literally driven crazy by worry and fear over the Klan.87 This was
15
not a unique occurrence.
In mid May, the Arkansas City Klan continued with its effort to clean up “Darktown.” A
resident, who, as a handler of illegal alcohol and dope, and had for some time been
deemed an undesirable citizen, received an official letter from the Klan. Its message was
that he leave town as rapidly as possible, otherwise he would find himself “covered with
a thousand hills [i.e., welts].” The individual did as instructed. It was reported that other
alleged Black miscreants in the community received similar correspondence from the
Klan.88
In early June, Arkansas City and Winfield Klan members journeyed to Blackwell,
Oklahoma, and there joined with Klansmen from Blackwell, Newkirk, Ponca City, Enid,
and Kaw City to participate in initiation ceremony for 153 new members. There were
2,000 Klansmen in attendance at the ceremony held outside of Blackwell. There was a
30-foot flaming cross on the crest of a hill. An estimate was given that there were about
5,000 Klansmen in the area.89
At the end of June, through the Traveler, the Klan put out a notice to Arkansas Citians
that they were not a menace to them. The notice stated that their behavior would offer no
cause for complaint; that they themselves would not assume to enforce the law or impose
upon others their own moral code; that their objective was to assist the civil authorities in
the suppression of vice, crime, and violence; and finally, that the men of Klan were “of
clean moral character, the best to be had in every walk of life.”90
Up until this point, the story of the Arkansas City Klan differed little from that of other
Klans across the nation. In July of 1922, this changed. The Arkansas City Klan became
the focus of attention for Governor Henry J. Allen in his battle against the Ku Klux Klan
in Kansas, and this local Klan took on a pro-union agenda that was exceptional, though
not unique, in the annuals of Klan history. However, before taking up this story, let us
review the development of the Winfield Klan.
The Klan In Winfield.
The Klan arrived in Winfield in mid 1921, concurrently or about so with its entry into
Arkansas City. Initially, Winfield Klansmen were members of the Arkansas City
Klavern. When they had sufficient numbers, a new Klavern, number 27, was chartered
for them.
Not everyone welcomed the Klan. The targets of its hatred were naturally outraged at its
appearance, as were many other citizens in the community. This was particularly so of
those Union veterans who remembered the battle cry of freedom and who recalled the
repression and terrorism of the first Ku Klux Klan. At their annual encampment in
Winfield in 1922, these old soldiers had this to say of the hooded knights: “Their true
name is because of their works in the dark and fear of the day, a name despised by all true
16
men, the name of ‘coward.’ ”91 However, a new generation had arisen who had “known
not Joseph,” who did not understand the feelings of their fathers.92
Among Winfield’s influential citizens, W. C. Robinson, head of the First National Bank,
made it clear that he was a friend of the Blackman. “God bless the good colored people,”
he wrote in 1924, “and bless us all and may we all live together in harmony and fully
respect each others rights.”93 Because of the role played by Masons in the Klan, it is
worth remembering Robinson’s comments about Thomas Campbell, a Black Winfielder.
Campbell, whom Robinson singled out for praise, was “a great Mason and one of, if not
the best posted Masons in our town or country…94 Robinson also indicated he held no
hostility towards Catholics : “I have in [the Catholic Church] many warm friends and
know it has done, and is doing, great good in the world.”95
One of the Klans most powerful, vigorous, and vocal opponents was Edwin P. Greer,
editor and publisher of the Winfield Daily Courier.96 In one of several anti-Klan
editorials, “Disband The Ku Klux Klan,” he stated, “[The Klan] is essentially a menace to
American liberties…The very name of the Ku Klux Klan condemns the order…[T]he
people will not be safe from it until the constituted authorities of several states take
appropriate legal steps to break it up and punish these sheeted lynchers.”97 The Courier
also featured a flurry of articles on the Klan’s national activities, mostly depicting the
organization in an unfavorable light. For the most part, the Courier ignored the local
doings of the Klan, leaving that reporting to the Winfield Daily Free Press, through
which the Klan had chosen to speak to the public.98
The Klan Goes Public.
On Friday, March 3, 1922, about two and a half months after the Arkansas City Klan had
gone public, the Winfield Klan made its first public move in the city. It did so in a
surprising manner designed to garner favorable public attention. A letter on official Klan
stationery sent to the Free Press instructed the editor to deliver the enclosed $25,00
($325.00) to “that good and honorable citizen ‘Squire’ Johnson,” a Black resident of
1220 Lowry Street. This was in keeping with the Klan’s principle of rendering aid “to
the needy and worthy.” Johnson, whom the paper described as “an aged negro who has
the reputation of being a good citizen and a worthy man,” had suffered a stroke and could
no longer work. Johnson, whom was moved by the gift, “expressed his heartfelt thanks”
to the Klan.99
For the information of Winfielders, the Klan included in its letter to the Free Press this
statement: “This organization composed of Native Born Americans who accept the
Tenets of the Christian Religion, proposes to uphold the dignity and authority of the law.
NO INNOCENT PERSON of any color, creed, or lineage has a just cause to fear or
condemn this body of men.” 100
In the late winter of 1922, Southwestern College was undertaking a campaign to raise
funds for a new gym that would become its magnificent Field House. The Winfield Klan
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saw this as an opportunity to gain further favorable publicity for itself while
demonstrating its support for the community. Its members made a large donation, which
again was made through the Free Press. In its letter, the Klan stated, “To show our keen
appreciation of the benefits accruing to Winfield and this community from Southwestern
College, standing as it does for Christian ideals and the best of American Citizenship, we
enclose the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) [$1,934] and respectfully request
that you deliver this amount to the executive committee in charge of this great work.”
The Free Press in a front-page article, “Ku Klux Klan In A Donation To Gym Drive”,
reported this donation in some detail.101 The Courier, on the hand, gave it no special
attention.
It must be noted that among the other groups making donations were the Sisters of St.
Joseph, who operated St. Mary’s Hospital. They gave $100.00 ($1,289). Winfield’s
Black community gave over $300.00 ($3,867)—twice that given by the Klan.102
On Saturday, May 27, 1922, Winfielders awoke to find a Klan handbill on their doorsteps
“scoring the Catholic Council recently organized [in Winfield] and setting forth the
platform of the Invisible Empire…” It was reported that every home received a copy.103
A month later, on the night of June 26, thousands of “Klan propaganda sheets were
scattered thru the residence district…” This handbill, stating, “Citizens of Winfield, we
are here 500 strong, ALL LAW ABIDING MEN,” went on to describe its support for
government officials and others. Rumors were circulating among Winfielders that a Klan
parade would soon be staged.104
The Railroad Shopmen’s Strike.
On Saturday morning, July 1, 1922, at 10:00 o’clock, most of the Santa Fe railroad
shopmen at Arkansas City walked off their jobs.105 They were striking in response to a
wage reduction and changes in working conditions. The strike had been called two days
earlier by the six craft unions belonging to the railway employees department of the A. F.
of L. Nationally, 400,000 men were involved.106
This strike would become the biggest railroad work stoppage since 1894. To make
matters worse, it took place concurrently with two other major strikes involving coal
miners and textile workers. Including the railroad shopmen, 1,150,000 working men
were idled.107 Of particular concern, the rail strike had the potential of derailing the
economic recovery, which was just getting underway.
At Arkansas City, as elsewhere, not all workers struck. A large number of those who
stayed on the job were Blacks. These workers felt no loyalty to the shopcraft unions that
were blatantly racist in their discrimination against Blacks, segregating them and keeping
them in low paying jobs.
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The Santa Fe railroad was determined, as were the other major lines, to keep rail traffic
moving. To fill the strikers’ jobs, the railroad recruited strikebreakers—“scabs,” as they
were called. While whites were involved here, frequently, the strikebreakers were
Blacks, along with other minorities.108 The strikebreakers and those workers who
remained on the job would become the targets of the striker’s ire, as they threatened to
undermine their work stoppage.
Governor Henry J. Allen had made it a principal objective of his administration to stop
destructive capital-labor conflicts that threatened the public’s well being, and thus, he
was determined that this strike would not interfere with railroad operations in Kansas.
He intended to use the powers granted him under the Industrial Court Act of 1920, his
great legislative accomplishment, for this purpose.109
A key provision of the act prohibited strikers from picketing or in any way intimidating
workers wishing to work. The governor knew that enforcement of this provision would
be difficult at best in railroad shop towns like Arkansas City, where most of the citizenry
were sympathetic to the strikers.110 Indeed, during the strike, Arkansas Citians would put
up in their windows 115 posters reading, “We are with the striking shopmen 100 per
cent.”111 Yet Allen was determined to enforce the law. So it was that on the morning of
July 1, as the strike commenced, he telegraphed all mayors and county attorneys
reminding them and other local officials of their duty under the law.112
On Monday, July 3, 1922, the Arkansas City Klan issued an announcement that they
would “stage a big parade on Summit street at 9:00 o’clock Friday night.”113 It was the
Klan leaders’ intent to use the parade “as a gentle reminder to strike breakers of possibly
dire consequences if they remained at work [author’s italics].”114
Following the parade, there was to be a Klan initiation ceremony of several hundred
recruits. Some said incorrectly that this was to be the first Klan demonstration in
Kansas.115 It was also “whispered” that the Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons might
put in an appearance. Estimates were that 500 Klansmen would participate, all forbidden
to carry firearms.116
On being informed of the Klan’s plan to parade in Arkansas City, Governor Allen acted.
This was the governor’s first serious encounter with the hooded knights. He probably
believed that the Klan was being used as a kind of underground union.117 He asked
Mayor George H. McIntosh to stop the parade. “The only purpose of a parade of masked
men at this time,” the governor told the Traveler, “would be to add to the disorder of the
difficulty you are already having in Arkansas City, and the parade will be regarded as an
effort of intimidation.”118 The governor then dispatched Major William F. Thompson, of
the Adjutant General’s Office, to Arkansas City to report to him on the situation and
convey his instructions to city and county officials. Shortly thereafter, State Attorney
General Richard J. Hopkins paid the city a visit as well.119
When the mayor—a former engineer on the Santa Fe Railroad—stated that he and the
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City Commissioners had no right to stop the parade, the governor threatened to halt the
parade himself—employing troops, if necessary—and oust the mayor and his associates
and anyone else who failed to comply with the law.120 A few days later, the governor
wrote of Mayor McIntosh, “It is astonishing that any mayor having at heart the peace and
order of his community should have encouraged a parade of masked men at a time when
his city is the scene of a passionate quarrel over the industrial situation.”121
The Sheriff of Cowley County, Charles M. Goldsmith, informed the local Klan of the
governor’s position.122 He also stated clearly for all, “I am not a member of the Ku Klux
Klan and I will do all in my power to prevent any demonstration being started in the
county….”123 The Klan then cancelled the parade, the Exalted Cyclops saying: “You
can inform the Honorable Governor Henry Allen, that if it is his wish, we will not hold a
parade in Arkansas City at this time.”124 Nevertheless, come that Friday night, cars from
Winfield and Arkansas City roamed the Rock Road (now Cowley 27) hoping in vain that
a Klan demonstration would still take place.125
Governor Allen had won a decisive victory in his first battle with the Ku Klux Klan. He
now determined to banish the organization from the state.126 On July 10, the governor
issued an order to all peace officers in the state not to permit parades of masked men.127
In connection with the investigation of the Arkansas City Klan, it was brought to the
governor’s attention that the Klan was operating in Kansas without the required state
charter. 128 This would become the key to ousting the Klan from the state, although it
would take over four years of litigation, ultimately going to the Supreme Court of the
United States, to be resolved.
It was at this time that a Klavern in Topeka offered Governor Allen an invitation to join
its rank, with the membership fee being waved.129 But other Klansmen or perhaps those
sympathetic to them were not so pleased with governor’s performance. “We wish to state
to you in the name of the law by the people, and for the people that the merchants of
Wellington, Arkansas City, and all of Kansas, will hold up for the strikers and the rights
of the good people of this country. We advise you to reform.” This was taken as a Klan
warning to the governor.130
The shopmen’s strike would drag on for weeks. During this time, strikers attempted to
convince those still working to leave their positions. Sometimes, this involved threats
and use of force, which led to the arrest of strikers. As the days passed, some strikers,
hard-pressed financially, went back to work. Those who did not were replaced by men
eager to work. By year’s end, the strike had petered out.131
Going to the Polls.
On Tuesday, August 1, 1922, Cowley County voters went to the polls to determine their
parties’ candidates in the November election. This event gave both the Klan and labor,
specifically the railroad workers, an opportunity to reward their friends and punish their
enemies. The Republican primary was the focus of attention. In the race for the
20
gubernatorial nomination, Cowley Klansmen and rail workers joined in voting for former
Governor W. R. Stubbs, who had the Klan’s blessing. Stubbs easily carried the county,
defeating three other candidates, but he lost statewide. Not long before the vote, Stubbs
had spoken at the Wilson Park rotunda to a gathering of striking shopmen and their
supporters, expressing his sympathy for their cause.132
Most significantly, however, was the defeat for renomination of U.S. Representative
Philip Pitt Campbell of the 3rd District and Chairman of the House Committee on Rules,
who was then serving his 11th term in the Congress. In this race, the Klan and labor
joined forces to support W. H. Sproul and bring about the incumbent’s defeat. Campbell
had earned the enmity of Klansman by chairing a Congressional hearing on the Klan and
of labor by his vote for the Esch-Cummins Transportation Act of 1920 (it had set up the
Railroad Labor Board, whose rulings had led to the shopmen’s strike133). The Klansmen,
along with striking rail workers and coal miners, were out to get Campbell, and get him
they did.134 Campbell’s defeat revealed the Klan’s political power (as well as that of
labor) and alerted other politicians to their possible fate if they dared cross the Klan. For
the most part, politicians adopted a wait and see attitude.135
Two Locals Have Their Say About the Klan.
On July 25 and then again on August 8, 1922, the readers of the Traveler found on page
one letters from two Arkansas Citians denouncing the Klan. One was from Joseph
Patrick Tighe, a businessman; the other, from an elderly lady, Nancy J. Biggs. Tighe tore
into the Klan’s program point-by-point in a long exposition; Biggs set forth her contempt
for the post-Civil War Klan and expressed her dismay at the modern day revival of this
evil.136 In connection with Tighe’s “torrid letter,” the editor of the Traveler, State
Senator R. C. Howard, let the world know that “We side with Joe in his arguments.”137
While Howard was opposed to the Klan, the Traveler’s opposition was never as
vehement and direct as that of the Courier.
The Klan was upset with Joseph P. Tighe’s denunciation of their organization. Tighe,
who had moved to Tulsa, received a letter from the Arkansas City Klavern warning that
his comments would create problems for him with Tulsa Klansmen.138
Towards a Better Public Image.
The Klan, always anxious to improve its public image, visited two churches in September
of 1922. The first was at Hackney, where they made a donation of $25.00 ($322.00) to
Rev. R. S. Sargent, who was completing his pastorate at the Baptist church. As usual at
such happenings, one Klansman gave a brief talk outlining the objectives of the Klan
followed by an expression of appreciation for the good work of Rev. Sargent. After
singing “America,” the Klansmen, numbering 15, filed out of the church to the applause
of the congregation and disappeared into the night. Rev. Sargent warmly declared that
the “Klan was the best organization in the world outside of the church of Christ.” 139
21
The next incident occurred a week later, when Klansmen left a letter at the Central
Christian Church in Arkansas City. Here, the Klansmen marched in the north entrance of
the church, passed the stage, dropping off the letter, and proceeded out the south door.
They uttered not a word. The congregation showed some apprehension at their
appearance, compelling Rev. McQuiddy to reassure them.140 The letter contained $30.00
($387.00) and a letter stating the following:
We see with our thousands of eyes, with our ears we hear, with our minds we
think, and we are behind your work and your church. Here is our support. We
hope to see you finish your new church in the near future. Keep the good spirit
going. We stand for Christian religion, white supremacy, and believe in the full
enforcement of the laws. Yours truly, Ku Klux Klan.141
It was also at this time that the Klan donated $25.00 ($322.00) to a Mrs. Edwin Owens,
by way of the Arkansas City Provident Associate. The funds were to help Mrs. Owens, a
victim of rheumatism, to move out West to be with her brother.142
First Open-Air Gathering of the Klan.
Late Tuesday afternoon, September 5, 1922, an airplane flew over Arkansas City and
Winfield dropping handbills inviting the public to witness the Klan’s first large
“naturalization ceremony”--that is, initiation of new members--in Cowley County.143
That evening the meeting was held in a large pasture two miles south of Winfield on the
Rock Road. In Winfield, six Klansmen on horseback and in full regalia appeared
suddenly on West 9th Avenue and rode east to Main where they turned and proceeded
south to the meeting site, followed by many Winfielders in cars. The road to the
gathering place was soon packed with vehicles. At the site, Klansmen directed traffic.
Guiding the public to the area was a huge fiery cross, 40 feet high and 20 feet wide,
illuminated with electric light bulbs; it could be seen for a distance of 15 miles. The
cross served also as the center point of activities. The ceremony followed closely the
Klan’s instruction book, and it was thus similar to those being held elsewhere in the
country.
Estimates were that 3,000 curious and excited spectators watched from a distance the
initiation of the new Klansmen. One source said they numbered 50 and another more
than a 100. Klansmen on horseback kept onlookers away from the area of the ceremony.
A thousand Klansmen, or it could have been more than double that, participated in the
initiation, which lasted from 9:30 to 11:30.
These white-robed knights came from near and far: Winfield and Arkansas City
naturally provided most; others came from Cedar Vale, Dexter, Geuda Springs, Oxford,
Rock, and even Wichita; and from Oklahoma there were contingents from Blackwell,
Newkirk, and Ponca City. This was the first large Klan gathering in Cowley County—
some said it was the biggest Klan event held in Kansas up to that time. Its purpose was to
attract public attention, and it did just that.144
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Arkansas City Activities.
After this event, the Winfield Klan withdrew from public activities for a time. This was
not true, however, for the Arkansas City Klan. Two nights after the initiation ceremony,
a white man, working at a local refinery, was tarred and feathered by a group of men
thought to be Klansmen. They ordered him “to leave town or be hanged.” The act
resulted from his poor treatment of his seriously ill wife, about which he had received a
warning “to straighten up and be a man.” The story made the front page of the Traveler
for two days. The man himself, along with his friends, questioned whether it was
Klansmen who worked him over. Perhaps, as the victim himself put it, it was “gangsters
seeking some revenge.” Whatever the case, the individual decided to depart the city (the
police apparently encouraged him to do so). The Klan, while probably not guilty of the
offense, got blamed nonetheless.145
The Klan was certainly concerned with public morals and especially with those men who
cheated on their wives or who took advantage of the young and weak. On September 21,
1922, the Traveler received from the City Lodge No. 2 of the Klan “A Timely Warning,”
which was further described as a “Notice From The All-Seeing Eye Of The Invisible
Empire.” The “K.K.K. Warning” was published in that evening’s paper and read as
follows:
To the public in general and especially to mothers and fathers: Married men
and women who joyride—be sure that you ride with your own family. Young
people will be taken to their homes in the condition in which they are found, and
their mothers and fathers told where they were found and what they were doing.
The conduct of the parties on the streets and in our country lanes must stop. We
see and hear and know all. Young girls, take your friends to your home or to
church. Be not afraid, we will protect all who are deserving. We warn the
evildoers for their punishment is already planned. Dope peddlers, bootleggers
and gamblers, and all law-violators, take warning to the same, FOR WE WARN
BUT ONCE. We ask for the cooperation of all good citizens. Report all to Box
30. But be sure to sign your name for your identity will be kept secret, we must
have your name so that reports can be investigated before action is taken. We
stand back of the law and law enforcers. You cannot deceive us, and we will not
be mocked. Do not knock for you may be knocking to one of us.—KNIGHTS OF
THE KU KLUX KLAN. Arkansas City Klan No. 3, Realm of Kansas.146
A few nights later, Klansmen paid a visit to Arkansas City’s First Methodist Church,
leaving a donation and letter of commendation but uttering not a word. Afterwards, in
speaking of the Klan, the pastor described the publication of “A Timely Warning” as “a
good move.”147
Catholic Teachers in the Public School.
The day after the appearance of “A Timely Warning,” the Traveler published
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correspondence between the Arkansas City Superintendent of Schools, C. E. St. John,
and the local Klan. The Klan had received an unsigned note stating that 24 public school
teachers were Catholics. If true, wrote the Klan to St. John, this was deplorable, and the
Klan, seeking “100% protestant teachers,” promised to stand behind the superintendent in
purging the school system of Catholic faculty members.
Superintendent St. John responded to the Klan in a strongly worded letter. His point was
that a teacher’s religion could not be taken into consideration in employment. “I think it
unfair to ask,” he replied, “the superintendent and the board of education to draw a line of
distinction that is not drawn in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the
United States or the Constitution of Kansas.” Finally, he noted that only three out of 98
teachers were Catholics. He invited Klansmen to report to him if any of the three were
found to engage in proselytization or demonstrate a lack of patriotism.148 St. John ‘s
letter apparently ended this episode.
Governor Allen Pressures the City Fathers.
On September 30, 1922, the Traveler broke the news that Governor Allen was sending
Judge James A. McDermott of the Industrial Court to investigate Ku Klux Klan activities.
Arkansas City was first stop on McDermott’s list. In doing this, the governor signaled
that he planned to do more than make speeches against the Klan.149
McDermott spent October 2-3 in Arkansas City meeting with city officials. He looked
into the Klan’s recent induction ceremony, its letter to St. John, its newspaper warning on
public morals, and the use of posters, signed by the Klan, to intimidate non-strikers. He
also inquired whether any city officials or personnel belonged to the Klan. He made a
point that a policeman could not belong to the Klan and be faithful to his oath. Mayor
McIntosh denied membership in the Klan but claimed ignorance as to others; the mayor
was told to find out about them and report his findings to the governor. McDermott also
made it clear to the mayor that under the Kansas Mob Law, municipal governments were
responsible for damages done to person, property or even one’s reputation. Before
leaving, McDermott enlightened the mayor, who seemed to be unknowing, about Klan
activities in his own city.150
Winfield.
While his focus was clearly on the strike-related problems with the Klan in Arkansas
City, McDermott also visited Winfield as part of his special investigation. Unfortunately,
there is no published account detailing his activities. One would suppose that he
consulted with city and county officials in his effort to determine the “real purpose” of
the Klan.151 There is one account from this time period that has the Winfield Klan
“lodge”, as it was referred to, as having 700 members to Arkansas City’s 500.152
The Winfield Klan continued with its charity program. Rev. E. W. Luecke of the
24
Lutheran church was a subject of its benevolence. He had himself extended aid to the
family of a Mrs. Minnie Baker during her final illness and had guaranteed her funeral
expenses. The Klan sent the minister a letter, via the Free Press, containing $50.00
($645) and commending him “for his faithful services in the Lutheran church and for his
assistance to this penniless and suffering family.”153
About 50 Klansmen paid a visit to Burden one Friday evening in late September. Their
leader spoke about the Klan’s program. The locals were a bit uneasy at the site of hooded
knights, but thought that they would get used to them over time.154
On Wednesday night, October 4, 1922, there was a large Klan gathering at Island Park.
Four thousand people assembled to hear Rev. Z. A. Harris discuss the aims and principles
of the Ku Klux Klan, saying, “the organization stood for free speech and a free press and
religious freedom, free schools, law enforcement, other American ideals.” The focus of
his talk, however, was on the immigration problem. He believed America was in peril
because of a large influx of new immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. He
pleaded for a ban on their immigration.155
Governor Allen Faces the Klan in Winfield.
The citizens of Winfield learned on Tuesday, October 24, 1922, that Governor Henry J.
Allen was to visit them that Friday night, the 27th. His stopover in Winfield was part of a
mid-term election tour that would take him to several south central Kansas cities. He was
expected to address various “red-hot issues,” the top one being his policy towards the Ku
Klux Klan.156 This issue was especially hot because a band of men, claiming to be
Klansmen, had recently seized the Catholic mayor of Liberty, Kansas, who had offended
them in some way, and whipped him with a black snake-whip.157 Closer to home, in
Arkansas City, “beating up parties” had been at work on Santa Fe strikebreakers. If the
violence continued, there was talk that martial law would be imposed and Mayor
McIntosh ousted from office. Indeed, the situation was so hostile in Arkansas City, that
strikebreakers were being transported to Winfield to do their shopping.158
Governor Allen arrived in Winfield after a stop in Wellington, another railroad town
caught up in the shopmen’s strike.159 Winfielders had just learned the good news that
their city had climbed over the past year from 20th to 19th place in population among
Kansas towns. Before his speech, the governor enjoyed dinner, as the guest of honor,
with the men of the Presbyterian Church. When he arrived at the Opera House, the place
was filled to the doors—and found among the audience were a large number of Cowley
Klansmen. M. B. Light, the president of the State Bank, introduced Allen. In his speech,
the governor defended his record in office and endorsed the Republican candidates up for
election.
The crowd, however, was waiting expectantly for his remarks on the Ku Klux Klan—
indeed, that was why they were there. “I am not here to attack the Klan,” declared Allen,
“I know there are many fine gentlemen in it. But, if I can find any way to do it, I’m going
25
to oust it form the state [author’s italics].”
The Courier described the scene—a “near riot”—that followed: “Before he had
completed the last sentence, Klansmen and Klan sympathizers, both men and women,
arose with a shout from all parts of the building and pushed their way into the
aisles….Three times, Allen started to speak but was drowned out by the departing crowd.
After the confusion had subsided, the governor, with an air of gritty determination,
continued his speech.” He said, “it pained him to come to a town like Winfield with such
a strong body of men”—that is, Klansmen—“trying to take the law in their own hand.”
He went on to predict, “The Ku Klux Klan will be dead in this state inside of six
months.”160
After leaving Winfield, the governor continued with his attack on the Klan in Moline,
Independence, and Coffeyville, promising to drive it from the state. The NAACP
telegraphed Allen congratulating him on his forceful stand against the Klan.
The [NAACP], representing 100,000 persons in 400 branches throughout the
country congratulate you and the State of Kansas upon your order to expel from
the state the leaders of the Ku Klux Klan. We hope the example you have set will
be followed in other states where these forces, by stirring up race hatred, religious
intolerance, and lawlessness, have attempted to undermine American ideals.161
On October 31, 1922, the Courier published “An Apology to the Governor” from the
Winfield Chamber of Commerce, signed by its president and approved by its directors.
The message conveyed the Chamber’s unhappiness over the disruption at the governor’s
speech. “We feel,” it stated, “that we have to a certain degree been disgraced by [the
Klansmen’s actions], and we are hastening to communicate to you our apology.” They
assured the governor that “Winfield believes in law and order as administered by the
legally constituted court.” To lessen the blemish on Winfield’s reputation, the Chamber
noted that “ninety per cent of the disturbers were from out of town”; mostly, that is, from
Arkansas City.162
On Tuesday, November 7, 1922, the citizens of Cowley County, including its Klansmen,
went to vote. The shopmen’s strike, the Industrial Court, the economic slump, and, of
course, the Klan had generated a good deal controversy that made for an exciting
election. The two most important races were for governor and representative from the 3rd
Congressional District.
It is not always clear for whom the Klan voted. Statewide, Klansmen seems to have gone
for Jonathan Davis, the Democrat candidate for governor; and within the 3rd District, their
vote for representative was divided between Sproul, the Republican, and Stephens, the
Democrat. When the votes were counted in Cowley County, Davis won handily, carrying
it with around 63% of the vote, while Sproul did well with 54%, although he went on to
carry the district by only a few hundred votes. It was reported that in certain counties, the
Klan went for Sproul, while in others, for Stephens, revealing an overall lack of
26
coordination within the Klan. Judge McDermott, a Winfielder, who had been so much
involved in the local Klan controversy and the shopmen’s strike, was seeking re-election
to the legislature. He was trounced at the polls by Democrat L. P. Ravenscroft, who
garnered 61% of the vote. (In the previous election, McDermott had carried every
precinct but one.)163
During the election, the Klan was accused of putting out a circular letter charging that
three Republican candidates were Catholics, they being Jess Miley, State Superintendent
of Schools; C. B. Griffith, Attorney General; and Frank Ryan, Secretary of State. In fact,
of the three, only Ryan was a Catholic. The circular letter purported to come from the
Winfield chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), which was,
perhaps, the most important and influential chapter in the state. The president of the
Winfield W.C.T.U., Mrs. H. M. Walker, denied any knowledge of the letter. Writing in
the Courier, she declared, “The W.C.T.U. is non-partisan. Each member is allowed her
own political opinion. Further, we are not in the mud throwing business and do not
believe the K.K.K. would forge the name of another organization [author’s italics].” 164
For some reason, Mrs. Walker believed that the counterfeit letter was not of the Klan’s
doing. Possibly, a local Klansman so told her. The implication, of course, is that it was a
Democrat dirty trick, as it well might have been. Yet, a Klan role in this affair cannot be
ruled out, for the Klan did engage in rumor mongering against its enemies, and Griffin
and Ryan were both high on the Klan’s list of enemies. (Early on, the Klan had put out
that Governor Allen and his family—Methodists, one and all—were Catholics.) It is
worth noting that other Klansmen could have fabricated and distributed the fake letter
without the local Klan’s knowledge.165 Fortunately, the deception did not succeed: All
three Republicans won election.
On the Friday following the election, Governor Allen announced that an ouster suit
against the Ku Klux Klan would be filed soon by Attorney General Hopkins in the State
Supreme Court. This took place on November 21.166 The suit charged that the Klan was
operating in Kansas without a state charter and thus could not do business within its
territory, and was also engaged in intimidating and terrorizing its citizens.167 Allen hoped
that other state would take notice.
The Klan in Cowley County did not let the governor’s action dampen their holiday spirits
and closed out the year of 1922 in festive mood. Ten-robed Klansmen—“stalwart,
invisible men”—visited the Winfield Salvation Army Hall and made a donation to help
with the Army’s good works. A Klan Santa Claus stopped by the Lutheran Orphans
Home on Christmas Eve and presented toys, together with an orange and nuts, to each
child. Klansmen also gave generously to the Winfield Business and Professional
Women’s Club for its Christmas Tree Fund, which was used to provide a tree in the
American Legion Hall and gifts for distribution to youngsters. These holiday acts were
the Klans’ first public activities since the September open-air gathering.168
PART III: EPILOGUE
27
1923 Overview.
In the new year of 1923, the Cowley County Klan would continue with a similar program
of activities. There are certain highlights worthy of brief note. On August 10, no less a
personage than the Imperial Wizard himself, Hiram Wesley Evans, made a stop in
Winfield. It was, albeit, a short one for a bit of breakfast at a local hotel, but there was
time enough for a few local Klansmen to gather and pay him their respects.169 The
Klan’s good works continued with a gift of $50.00 ($633.00) “in crisp bills” to the
A.M.E. Church for their building fund.170 The principal event of the year was a grand
meeting of the Klan at the Winfield Fair grounds in late September. Estimates of the
crowd in attendance ran as high as 20,000 souls—“the biggest crowd in Winfield’s
history,” reported the Free Press.171 And then there were the late night cross burnings on
the brow of the hill just across the Walnut River on the 9th Avenue bridge.172 From that
venue, the Klan’s fiery cross—a symbol of comfort or terror, as the case might be—could
be seen by most Winfielders.
A new Klan auxiliary, the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, was founded, and the wives of
Cowley County Klansmen joined in numbers. Units were also formed for children.
Naturally, these new members added to the Klan’s revenue stream. Together with the
Klansmen, they attended Klan lectures and meetings—always open to the general public
at a fee—at Island Park, the Opera House, and the new Field House at Southwestern
College. There they heard educational lectures on various Klan topics, such as “The
Roman Catholic Problem,” “The Red Situation,” and “Protestantism and Americanism.”
At these gatherings, the Winfield City Band often serenaded the attendees. The band, in
turn, received the Klan’s support, including gifts of musical instruments.173 The Ku Klux
male quartette was another popular feature of the day.
Of special interest, in April of 1923, a happy Klan couple wed in a Klan ceremony at
Island Park. It was well advertised in the Courier, and yes, a small fee was charged nonKlan attendees.174 There were also special entertainments, such as Al Pierce Stock
Company’s presentation of “The Call of the Ku Klux Klan,” which was staged at the
Grand Theatre. The advertisement for it stated, “There is not one thing in it designed to
offend any good law abiding citizen.”175 The Klan, having turned away from its more
intrusive and violent activities, was becoming a more conventional fraternal organization,
gaining thereby more general acceptance, and so it would remain for a time to come. The
Winfield Klan also continued to grow in number. In September 1923, its membership
stood at 914; plus, at the branches, there were 87 at Burden and 64 at Rock. About a year
later, the figures were 1,225 at Winfield, 125 at Burden, and 100 at Rock.176
Decline.
By 1926, however, the Klan was in marked decline in Cowley County and across the
nation. William Allen White described Kansas “Kluxers” as being “as dejected and sad
as last year’s bird’s nest….”177 The Klan’s downfall was a result of multiple factors.
Internally, the Klan suffered from embarrassing, well-publicized power fights among its
28
top leadership. Charges of financial impropriety—extravagance, waste, and
misappropriation of funds—were not uncommon at all levels of the organization. The
quality of leadership varied among the Klaverns, and it clearly deteriorated as time
passed and the better class of people dropped out and the hustlers and wheeler-dealers
moved in. As for the overall membership, its quality declined, too, with some critics
coming to place its members in the category of “hicks” and “rubes” and “drivers of
second-hand Fords.”178
Two other significant reasons for the Klan’s decline need to be mentioned. One was
Presidents Harding and Coolidge’s disapproval of the hooded knights.179 While not
denouncing the Klan by name, these gentlemen through inference made perfectly clear
their opposition to it. They did so mainly by reaching out in a positive, public way to
those groups coming under Klan attacked. President Coolidge summed up his
philosophy this way, “The only way I know to drive out evil from the country is by the
constructive method of filling it with good.”180 In the same vein, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
would later observe: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”181 To Coolidge’s thinking, American was
not a place, but an idea. America lives within us.182
He delivered an important speech on tolerance before the American Legion Convention
at Omaha in October 1925, which was clearly aimed at the Klan and like groups. In it, he
famously said,
Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or
three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of
to-day is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are
all now in the same boat.
And went on to observe,
If we are to have that harmony and tranquility, that union of spirit which is the
foundation of real national genius and national progress, we must all realize that
there are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our section of the
country, who do not attend our place of religious worship, who are not of our
racial stock, or who are not proficient in our language. If we are to create on this
continent a free Republic and an enlightened civilization that will be capable of
reflecting the true greatness and glory of mankind, it will be necessary to regard
these differences as accidental and unessential. We shall have to look beyond the
outward manifestations of race and creed.
And to cap it all, the President declared:
Divine Providence has not bestowed upon any race a monopoly of patriotism and
character.
Coolidge’s addressed received considerable attention and much praise.183
29
Then, there was the opposition of those groups who were the object of the Klan’s abuse:
18.6 million American Catholics, 3.6 million Jews, 14 million foreigner-born, and 10.5
million Blacks. They all acted to counter Klan attacks and to discredit the Klan as a hate
group.184 In the Northeast States, these groups occasionally took the battle directly to the
Klan in violent attacks.
By the mid 1920s, America was in the midst of the Coolidge boom, and with money in
their pockets, there was much for folks to do in the way of activities in this new and
exciting world. There was a lessening of social tensions. Many of the issues that had
driven individuals into the Klan had disappeared or faded in importance or urgency. For
instance, Congress had passed immigration legislation in 1921 and again 1924 reducing
significantly the flow of new immigrants, primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe,
into the county. This had been one of the Klan’s primary goals. The crime wave was
receding. And in 1924, the Klan had succeeded in denying the Catholic Governor of
New York, Alfred E. Smith, the Democratic presidential nomination, although it failed to
install its favorite, William Gibbs McAdoo, a former Secretary of the Treasury and sonin-law of former President Woodrow Wilson.185
Probably the most decisive factor in the Klan’s downfall took place in 1925, when a
major scandal broke involving one of the Klan’s most noted leaders: David C.
Stephenson, the powerful Grand Cyclops of Indiana, whose power extended beyond
Indiana to several other Midwestern States. Stephenson abducted, raped, and murdered a
young woman, for which, after a sensational trial, he was sent to prison. His fall into
disgrace was a major blow to the Ku Klux Klan, doing it untold damage, especially
among its faithful.186
Finally, as the Klan came to resemble more and more a traditional fraternal order, with no
more secret nighttime adventures, it lost its aura of excitement and adventure. Going
through Klan rituals week after week got to be a bore, and it was costly, too. Educational
lectures on this and that danger to the republic eventually lost their appeal as well. Many
Klansmen simply decided to seek their entertainment elsewhere, mostly in familycentered ways, such as going to the movies, listening nightly to the new medium of the
radio, or just going for an outing in the car on the newly paved highways and byways.
Allen Wins!
Here in Kansas, the ouster suit filed by Attorney General Hopkins with the Kansas
Supreme Court on November 21, 1922, moved forward with evidence being gathered and
considered by an officer of the court, Commissioner S. H. Brewster. The state’s petition
contained two counts: 1) The Klan was not a benevolent organization, as it claimed, but
a business organization operating for profit without a Kansas charter. 2) The Klan used
“intimidation and threats against persons who do not conform to [its] plans, theories,
doctrines or practices….”187
30
On January 10, 1925, the Court rendered its opinion in favor of the State of Kansas.
Henry J. Allen had won. “The defendant corporation,” Justice John Marshall declared,
“…is ousted from organizing or controlling lodges…in this state and from exercising any
of its corporate functions…except such as are protect by the interstate commerce clause
of the Constitution of the United States.” The decision, it should be emphasized, made
no reference to violence or threats on part of the Klan found in the second count. The
ouster was based solely on a legal technicality—the Klan did not have a charter to
operate in the state.188
The Klan appealed the ruling to the United States Supreme Court. While awaiting the
results, the Klan continued to operate in the state. On May 25, 1925, after concluding
that it had no choice but to seek a charter, the Klan made application to the State Charter
Board. Their application, as expected, was rejected. A second attempt was made and it
too failed. Efforts to resolve the problem in the political and legislative arenas were
equally unsuccessful. On February 28, 1927, the Supreme Court drove the final nail into
Klan’s coffin when it refused to hear its appeal. At that point, the Klan was legally
ousted from the Sunflower State, but given its state of disarray and decline, no official
action was taken to close down individual Klaverns. It would have been liked “attacking
a corpse,” said the Attorney General William A. Smith.189
The Curtain Falls.
In Cowley County, the Klan continued to meet, as evidenced by its meeting
announcements in the newspapers. It appears that on occasions, joint meetings of the
Arkansas City and Winfield Klaverns were held.190 The Winfield Klan usually met in the
hall of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, which was located at 113½ East 10th
Avenue.191
The Klan—now renamed the Knights of the Great Forest—did experience a brief revival
in 1928 with the Democratic presidential campaign of Alfred E. Smith. Smith, an Irish
Catholic, a member of the hated Tammany Hall, and a strong opponent of Prohibition,
personified everything the Klan opposed. Yet, whatever revival there was soon passed,
and by mid 1929, the Klan was running ads in the Courier beseeching delinquent
Klansmen to re-enlist.192 By 1930, it is estimated that Klan membership had drop from its
peak of four to five million in 1924 to 45,000, which was concentrated primarily in the
South.193
The second Ku Klux Klan was heading down the westward slope to its demise. The
Great Depression finished it off as a meaningful presence in Kansas life, although the
troubling spirit that it represented would linger on, even unto this day. Nationally, the
organization limped along until 1944, with its reputation further darkened by its
association with the Nazis, when it was dissolved by bankruptcy and passed into history.
oooOooo
31
ENDNOTES
1
“Allen Out To Drive Klan From Kansas,” New York Times, Oct. 30, 1922, p. 1.
2
“Ford Praises Ku Klux Klan In Interview,” Winfield Free Press, Aug. 27, 1924. In a
Montreal Star report, Henry Ford stated, “The Klan is the victim of a mass of lying
propaganda and therefore is looked upon with disfavor in many quarters.” He also
indicated that he was not a member of the group. If Ford had chosen to run for president
in 1924, he almost certainly would have been the Klan’s candidate…. One of the prime
sources of anti-Semitism in early 1920s was not the Klan, but Henry Ford speaking
through his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. His anti-Semitic thoughts were
compiled and published in Ford Ideals: Being a Selection from “Mr. Ford’s Page” in
The Dearborn Independent (Dearborn: Dearborn Publishing Co., 1922). At the time,
Henry Ford was one of America’s most popular and influential men. Ford eventually
dropped his attack on Jews—it was bad for business—but it would be taken up again in
the 1930s by Father Charles E. Coughlin, the famous Radio Priest of the Shrine of the
Little Flower at Royal Oak, Michigan. Irony: Father Coughlin began his radio career in
1926 on station WJR (Detroit) when he responded to Klan cross burnings on the grounds
of his church. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin
3
Charles William Sloan, Jr., “Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire: the Legal Ouster of
the KKK From Kansas, 1922-1927,” Kansas Historical Quarterly, XL (Fall, 1974).
Retrieved August 16, 2011, from http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterlykansas-battles-the-invisible-empire/13247. The other Kansas locations in which the Klan
appeared at this time were Pittsburg, Crawford County; Fort Scott, Bourbon County; and
Independence and Caney, Montgomery County.
4
Unable to pay its tax bill, the Klan went bankrupt in 1944. At that time, its headquarters
records were destroyed, although individual Klavern records survived here and there. It
should be understood that in the 1920s, the Klan was treated as a secret fraternal
organization. As such, the papers of the day duly refrained from publishing the names of
its members, unless their names became public.
5
This section is based on material drawn from various Klan histories, which are listed in
this paper’s bibliography.
6
Throughout this paper are cited Klan membership and event participation numbers.
Usually, these figures are rough estimates and should be taken as such. Note well: the
Klan was given to inflating its numbers.
7
A Scalawag was a white Southerner who, during the Reconstruction period, supported
the Republican Party and Black emancipation. A Carpetbagger was a Northerner who
went into the South during Reconstruction for political or financial advantage.
8
Klan units operated individually, with little effective overriding control.
32
9
The Klan was seen as engaged in a conspiracy against the Federal government. Grant
used his powers freely under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 (also known as the Civil
Rights Act) to suppress and dismantled the organization. For further information see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1871
10
Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation made its debut on March 3, 1915. President
Woodrow Wilson had viewed a special pre-release screening of it in February. Wilson
said afterwards, the film was “…like writing history with lightning. And my only regret
is that it is all so terribly true.” The Birth of a Nation has the distinction of being the first
motion picture screened in the White House. It is considered the first blockbuster hit, and
it went on to become one of the most admired and profitable films ever produced by
Hollywood. The film was re-released in 1924, 1931, and 1938. As late as 1950, there
were suggestions in Hollywood of remaking the picture….In Kansas, given the strong
opposition to it, the film was banned by the State Board of Censorship in early 1916.
Under Republican Governors Arthur Capper (1915-1919) and Henry J. Allen (19191923), the ban was maintained. Allen’s successor, Democrat Jonathan M. Davis (19231925) did not object to the film, and the ban was reversed in the fall of 1923. The Birth
of a Nation was shown throughout the Kansas in 1924 and 1925, although there were
protests to it. See Gerald R. Butters, Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship,
1915-1966 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007) for a full account of this
story.
11
The modern Klans have their own websites, an example of which, for those of you who
are interested, is http://www.kkk.com/. The message today is not much different than the
message of yesteryear.
12
The Winfield Daily Courier of November 12, 1920, ran an article recommending
fraternal societies for the up-and-coming man. “Joining of a good fraternal society,” it
observed, “is with many men a first step toward better citizenship…When they associate
themselves with industrious and substantial men they set a standard for themselves to live
up to.”…Note: The Catholic Church prohibited its members from joining secret
societies. In 1882, Father Michael McGivney established the Knights of Columbus as an
acceptable fraternal organization for them. It closely paralleled the structure of other
fraternal groups, having rituals, degrees, and passwords, and offering the all-important
life insurance. Its motto was “Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.” See “Many
Fraternal Groups Grew from Masonic Seed,” retrieved Dec. 5, 2011, from
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/many_fraternal_groups_grew_from_masonic_seed_part
_2.htm
13
“Ku Klux Klan,” retrieved, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan; “The
KKK In Kansas,” Wichita Beacon, Apr. 26, 1965; “The Klan Invisible Empire is
Fading,” New York Times, Feb. 21, 1926, Sect. XX, p. 1; and Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku
Klux Klan In The City, 1915-1930 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 237.
The Kansas membership figure comes from Charles H. McBrayer, who was Grand
33
Dragon of the Klan in Kansas in the 1920s….Klan membership figures are best taken
with a grain of salt. Both the Klan and its opponents exaggerated them to the high side to
suit their interests.
14
The Klan staged its first gathering in Washington, D.C., in late September of 1922.
The Searchlight, the paper of Klan, reported, “The first open air ceremonial of the Ku
Klux Klan in Washington…brought consternation to hundreds of Catholics who had
made the boast that the Klan dare not hold one in the District of Columbia.” The
meeting was held in the Northeast section of Washington in a wooded grove, “loaned for
the occasion by a friendly Mason.” Fifty new Klansmen were initiated. Prior to this, the
Klan had held open-air meetings nearby in Virginia and Maryland. See “Klan Holds
Open Air Meeting in Washington,” The Searchlight, Oct. 7, 1922….The first massive
Klan parade took place on August 8, 1925. Between 50,000 and 60,000 white robed men
and women marched unmasked down Pennsylvania Avenue. The parade reflected the
Klan new interest in politics under Grand Wizard Evans. Klan parades would continue
for the next few years.
15
A good, if brief, sketch of Simmons’ life, by Charles C. Alexander, a Klan historian, is
found in the Dictionary of American Biography - Supplement Three, 1941-1945 (New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1941-1945), pp. 708-709.
16
Robert L. Duffus discussed the ancestry of the Klan in his article, “Ancestry and End
of the Ku Klux Klan,” in The World’s Work, Vol. 46 (Sept. 1923), pp. 527-536. Duffus
concluded (p. 533):
…[T]he modern Ku Klux Klan is directly descended, not from the post-bellum
organization of the same name, but from the A.P.A., the Know Nothings, the
Wide Awakes (a ‘junior order’ which terrorized New York city in the ‘fifties),
and the Native Americans. Its differences are inconsiderable, its likenesses all
important. If it has added the Jews to its objects of hatred, it has done so in the
spirit of the earlier movements.
Dr. John Moffatt Mecklin also offered a very interesting discussion of the Klan’s
predecessors in his book, The Ku Klux Klan: A Study of the American Mind (New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1924), pp. 132-140. Among other things, he noted that the Klan
even revived for its use some of the A.P.A.’s old, anti-Catholic literature. He also
described two fake anti-Catholic documents used over the years that were again
employed by the Klan: a pseudo-encyclical of Pope Leo XIII and bogus “blood-curdling
oath” of the Knights of Columbus.
Abraham Lincoln had the following to say about the Know-Nothings in 1855. You can
imagine what he would have had to say about the Klan.
I am not a Know-Nothing, that is certain. How could I be? How can any man
who abhors oppression of negroes be in favor of degrading classes of white
34
people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me pretty rapid. As a nation we
began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it,
“All men are created equal, except negroes.” When the Know-Nothings get
control, it will read, “All men are created equal except negroes and foreigners and
Catholics.” When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country
where they make no pretence of loving liberty.
See George Seldes, The Vatican: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (New York: Harpers,
1934), p. 314.
The American Protective Association was a popular anti-Catholic organization founded
in 1887 and disappeared around 1914. Its heyday was in the 1890s.
17
The United Committee for Prohibition Enforcement urged Pope Pius XI to lend his
moral support to civil authority in their struggle to make Prohibition work. In a letter to
his Holiness, the chairman of the committee stated that “as a friend of Catholics,” he
desired to call attention to the attitude of “so many Catholics” toward prohibition. This
attitude, he said, “has created a great deal of opposition to the Catholic Church and did
much to call into existence the Ku Klux Klan.” See “Drys To Tell Pope About Ku Klux
Klan.” Courier, Dec. 4, 1925.
18
Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan In The City, 1915-1930 (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1967), p. 36 and 162. Copies of the The Jayhawker American are found
in Special Collection unit of Wichita State University’s Ablah Library.
19
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987), pp. 203-204.
20
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987), p. 155; and Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan In The City, 19151930 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 259. When the Masons’ national
leadership became aware of this use of their membership by the Klan, they condemned it
along with the Klan itself, but by then, it was too late to undo what had been done, and
besides, the local chapters often continued to do as they pleased….On July 3, 1922, the
Wichita Beacon ran an article entitled “Masonry Denies Any Connection With
Klansmen: Grand Masters Unite to Purge This Country of White Robed Terror.” The
article noted that “Klan promoters have engaged in a nationwide fraud by claiming
Masonic sympathy and support for the masked empire” and that the Klan “is an antiAmerican and un-Masonic organization.” This same issue of the Beacon contained a
related piece on “The Masons and the K.K.K.”…A scholarly study of the Klan – Masonic
connection in Kansas is found in Kristofer Mark Allerfeldt’s “Masons, Klansmen and
Kansas in the 1920s: What Can They Tell Us About Fraternity?” in the Journal for
Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, 2 (2011), 109-122. Retrieved on
September 19, 2011, from http://www.equinoxjournals.com/JRFF/issue/current .
35
21
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987), p. 155 and 159.
22
For public officials wishing their participation in the Klan to remain secret, there was a
special category of membership designated for them only.
23
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987), p. 156.
24
Total Klan assets grew from $403,171.18 ($5,197,472.00) as of July of 1922 to
$1,553,761.07 ($19,676,115.00) as of December of 1923. See Kenneth T. Jackson, The
Klan In the City, 1915-1930 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 17.
25
This money-grubbing quality led Governor Henry J. Allen of Kansas to observe: [The
Ku Klux Klan] is the [American Protective Association] plus antipathy to negroes, plus
antipathy to Jews, rolled up in the American flag and sold for $10 a throw, of which the
organizers get $4 and the profiteers at Atlanta get the rest. See “Violence Will Kill Ku
Klux Klan, Says Allen,” New York Times, Dec. 14, 1922, p. 27.
26
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1987), pp. 194-197. Wade observed (p. 196), “Ultimately, Klan politicking
was little more than an amateurish show of strength that only rarely achieved Klan goals
and never achieved Klan unity.”…At the local level, the Klan favored economy in
government and strict law enforcement; at the State level, it focused on eliminating
private schools and strengthening law enforcement; and at the national level, it supported
a Federal department of education along with Federal aid, immigration restriction, and
with its isolationist outlook, it opposed Coolidge’s World Court initiative. See Charles C.
Alexander, The Ku Klux Klan in the Southwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1995), p. 111….To be closer to the center of power, Evans moved Klan headquarters in
late 1925 from Atlanta, Georgia, to 7th and “I” Streets, Washington, D.C. The
headquarters remained there until 1929 when it was returned to Atlanta. See Kenneth T.
Jackson, The Klan In the City, 1915-1930 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p.
42.
27
In August of 1923, G. A. Ramsey, a Federal Immigration Inspector responsible for
Middle Western states, visited Cowley County. “This county,” he declared, “is almost
one hundred per cent American….I find as few aliens here as perhaps [in] any county in
my territory [Mid Western States].” See “Cowley An American County,” Courier, Aug.
29, 1923….Foreigners have been part of life in Cowley County and in Winfield from the
beginning of white settlement. For example, Max Shoeb and his wife Christine Hanson
arrived in Winfield in September of 1869, when the community was just beginning to
take form. Max was born in Germany, Christine, in Denmark. Shoeb was Winfield’s
first blacksmith. Retrieved, Dec. 23, 2011, from
http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/wortman/ archive2005/ShoebMax.htm….What
36
follows is a statistical breakdown of Kansas population by nativity and race as of 1920,
taken from Kansas Year Book: 1937-1938 (Topeka: Clapper Printing Co., 1938), p.45.
Class – 1920
Total Population:
1,769,257
Total White:
1,692,736
Native White:
1,595,523
Native Parentage:
1,308,804
Foreign/Mixed Parentage: 286,719
Foreign Parentage:
161,336
Mixed Parentage:
125,383
Foreign-born White:
97,213
Negro:
57,925
Other Races:
18,596
Native Born:
1,658,290
Foreign Born:
110,967
% Distribution
100.0
96.1
90.2
74.0
16.2
9.1
7.1
5.5
3.3
1.1
93.7
6.3
28
“Population of Cowley County, 1921,” Traveler, June 18, 1921. These figures were
compiled by the county assessor’s office.
29
The person making this statement was Ed Green, a Cowley County pioneer and leader
of the Populists in their day, who lived near Arkansas City. He is quoted in W. C.
Robinson’s Footprints [Winfield, KS: The Courier-Press, 1926], p. 68.
30
The New A.M.E. Church,” Courier, July 3, 1922. This section on Blacks is based on
various articles found in the Courier and Traveler….The pages of the Courier were not
hostile to Winfield’s Black community. Occasionally, however, the paper would
published a demeaning, racist article, one that would disturbed and deeply offend any
modern day reader. An example is “Colored Porter Has Narrow Squeak From Being
‘Undertook’ that appeared on December 6, 1922.” Such articles came out of the blue for
no apparent reason.
31
The flow of Mexicans and Canadians across the borders into the United States was not
affected by the immigration legislation passed in the 1920s. For them, coming into the
United States legally required passing a literacy test and paying an $18.00 ($228.00)
entrance fee. However, those Mexicans seeking labor in the United States simply crossed
the border. They generally came to work for a time and then return to their homeland.
32
P. H. Albright, a public-spirited leader in the community, wrote a letter-to-the-editor of
the Winfield Free Press (Mar. 20, 1920) extolling the virtues of the Mexican workingmen
and urging his fellow Winfielders to treat them in friendly and welcoming manner. He
saw it as the Christian thing to do, as well as right from a political and financial point of
view.
37
33
This section on Hispanics is based on various newspaper accounts found in the Courier
and Traveler. Also, see “Cowley An American County,” Courier, Aug. 29, 1923. G. A.
Ramsey, a U.S. Immigration Inspector, made these observations about the Mexicans
while visiting in Cowley County:
“Mexicans form your heaviest type of alien population,” explained the inspector.
“Very few of them ever take out papers or wish to become citizens. For some
strange reason every Mexican is infatuated with his country and intends to return
to it…When Mexicans do take up American citizenship and modes of life, they
are quick to learn and peaceable residents.”
34
“Depression of 1920-21.” Retrieved Aug. 25, 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_of_1920–21; and “Will Employ Many Men,”
Courier, July 28, 1921. The Great Bull Market of the 1920 and the greatest of the XXth
Century—better know as the Coolidge Market—commenced on October 27, 1923. It
lasted nearly six years and would take the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 345%.
35
“When Klan Strutted In Butler,” El Dorado Times, Apr.29, 1965.
36
“Ku Klux Klan Organizing In Cowley County Now?” unidentified paper, July 26,
1921.
37
“Thousands At Jubilee Here Of Klansmen,” Free Press, Sept. 28, 1923.
38
“The Ku Klux Klan,” Courier, Jan. 13, 1923. Greer had this to say about this Winfield
Klansman:
How unfortunate it is that a native son of Winfield, a city noted for its broadminded tolerance, its neighborliness, its harmonious citizenship, should come and
inoculate his old home community with such a harmful virus!
We are informed that he is no longer with the Ku Klux Klan, but the harmful
results of his home-coming will not die out of this community for years to come.
It is likely that this individual was involved in the oil industry.
39
“Resume Hearing of Klan Ouster Suit,” Courier, May 17, 1923.
40
“Nothing to Say,” Free Press, Jan. 6. 1923. In mid 1923, another name of a Winfield
Klan member surfaced. The person was Thurlow W. Matteson, an insurance agent and
Klan salesman. In a Courier article, “Ku Kluxers” (July 5, 1923), he was reported as
being in Ottawa County, Kansas, recruiting Klansmen.
41
”Red Cross Roll Call Drive,” Courier, Nov. 14, 1921; “Congressional Race Is Getting
Closer,” Courier, Nov. 8, 1922; “Nothing To Say,” Winfield Free Press, Jan. 6, 1923;
38
“W. J. Robinson Dies Wednesday,” Courier, Dec. 9, 1954; and “Lawrence Henthorne
Dies Wednesday Evening,” Courier, Mar. 15, 1951.
42
It seems it was Klan practice to immediately drop from its rolls any Klansman whose
name was revealed in connection with a legal action against the organization. This
allowed that individual honestly to claim that he was not a member.
43
Annals of Kansas: 1886-1925, Vol. II (Topeka, Kansas State Historical Society, 1956),
p. 303, and “Ku Klux Klan Organizers At Work In Kansas Now, It Is Said,” Courier,
July 23, 1921.
44
“Ku Klux Klan Organizing In Cowley County Now?” unidentified paper, July 26,
1921.
45
“Ku Klux Klan Dead in Kansas?” Traveler, July 30, 1921. Local newspapers were full
of articles critical of the Klan, mostly focusing on its operations in Texas and California.
It was rare, indeed, that a positive news service article appeared.
46
Patrick G. O’Brien, “ ‘I Want Everyone to Know the Shame of the State’: Henry J.
Allen Confronts the Ku Klux Klan, 1921-1923,” Kansas History, 19 (Summer, 1996), p.
101.
47
“Kans. Will Oust Klan Says Allen,” Courier, Dec. 16, 1922; and “Governor Discuss
Curbing Of Ku Klux,” New York Times, Dec. 17, 1922.
48
Ibid.
49
“Allen Hits Klan And Bigots,” New York Times, Nov. 1, 1922.
50
“Gov. Allen Flays Ku Klux Klan Again,” Courier, Oct. 31,1922. The report stated that
“The governor denounced certain types of Catholics [Knights of Columbus, to be
specific] and members of the Klan in the same breath, telling them they should both be
ashamed of themselves.” In his remarks, Allen had said, “I am not against your
organization [the Klan] because you don’t like the Catholic church….I am not a Catholic.
I am a Methodist, and 32nd degree Mason, and a Knight Templar. I belong to all these
organizations. I belong to everything, except the Knights of Columbus and the Ku Klux
Klan and I wouldn’t join either of them.”…See also Patrick G. O’Brien’s “ ‘I Want
Everyone to Know the Shame of the State’: Henry J. Allen Confronts the Ku Klux Klan,
1921-1923,” Kansas History, 19 (Summer, 1996), pp. 109-110. O’Brien makes clear that
being anti-Klan did not mean that ones was not anti-Catholic. “…Allen agreed with
many of the civil notions and sectarian tenets [of the Klan], such as only the public
schools could satisfactorily instill Americanism….Allen would have had paroxysms if his
daughter had dated a Catholic, and some of his views on Catholics were little more than
common prejudices. His criticism of Klan bigotry, however was not insincere…The
principle dividing Allen and the Klan was Allen’s belief that the Klan promoted ‘a
39
condition that cannot be tolerated in a state that believes in law and order.’ ”…You can
see this attitude, too, in William Allen White in his extreme reaction to the candidacy of
Alfred E. Smith in the 1928 election. White comes close to sounding like a Ku Kluxer,
slandering, some would say, Smith for having a record favoring the saloon, prostitution,
and gambling. See Edmund A. Moore’s account of White’s actions in A Catholic Runs
for President: The Campaign of 1928 (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1956).
51
This observation was made by C. E. St. John, the Superintendent of the Arkansas City
Public Schools, in discussing the evolution of his views toward Catholics and their
Church; see “Klan Writes On Catholics In Schools,” Traveler, Sept. 22, 1922.
52
“Pope Benedict Attacks Y.M.C.A.,” Courier, Dec. 23, 1920. The Y.M.C.A. came out
of the World War with a fine reputation for its good works, especially among the A.E.F.
in Europe. The Church believed that the Y.M.C.A. placed itself above all churches, was
Protestant controlled, and Masonic in nature. The Papal decree referred to it as being a
“corrupter of the fate of youth.”…The “Y” was popular with Catholic around the world.
In the spring of 1927, the Catholic Church would again attack the organization, this time
in Poland (note: the wife of the President of Poland was chairman of its executive board).
This incident, too, received much attention. See “Religion: Protestant Heresy,” TIME
Magazine (April 11, 1927).
53
“Annual Report of the Winfield Chamber of Commerce,” Courier, April 5, 1923. The
report also contained these words of wisdom: “A community is not built by jealousies,
intolerance and strife. It is built by honest and united effort intelligently directed.” The
Chamber was no friend of the Klan.
54
The Populists had earlier in 1890s posed a similar threat to the established political
order and later, in 1930, Dr. John R. Brinkley would do the same, although to a lesser
extent….The author believes that William Allen White’s reaction to the Klan is explained
in part by this fear. White was a member of small clique of influential men, centering
around the Kansas City Star, who sought to control Kansas politics. (Lacey Haynes,
White’s brother-in-law, was the manager of the Star’s Kansas Bureau; he was described
as the shrewdest and best-informed political observer in Kansas.) They might have
believed themselves threaten. See W. G. Clugston’s comments about Allen’s concerns in
Rascals In Democracy (New York: Richard R. Smith, 1940), p. 136, and about White,
pp. 96-113….The Klan took over White’s home town of Emporia in 1923.
55
See W. E. B. Du Bois’s “The Shape Of Fear,” The North American Review, Vol.
CCXXII (March-April-May, 1926), 292-305. Du Bois wrote (p. 294), “There can be
little doubt but that the Klan…is a legacy of the World War…The civilized world today
and the world half-civilized and uncivilized are desperately afraid. The Shape of Fear
looms over them.”
56
The remarks of James M. Beck, U.S. Solicitor General, before the annual meeting of
the American Bar Association expressed this mood. Beck’s talk focused on “the spirit of
40
lawlessness.” He spelled out the revolt against authority and tradition was not limited to
political state but also was directed at music, art, poetry, and commerce. “The age has
become”, as he saw it, “one of shams and counterfeit.” See “Lawlessness Is Prevailing
Vice,” Courier, Aug. 31, 1921. Note: Beck had become U.S. Solicitor General in June
of 1921 and served through 1925. He was author of The Constitution of the United States
(1924), which included an introduction by President Calvin Coolidge.
57
The Masonic Lodge was an old Winfield institution, dating from 1872. Included
among its members were the city’s best and most prominent citizens. The membership of
the Lodge in early 1920s is unknown but in 1933, it was 512. One can surmise that it
was around that number when the Klan came to Winfield. See Frank D. Hills, Winfield,
Kansas: The Model City (Winfield: The Winfield Independent-Record, 1933)….Not all
Masons, of course, approved of the Klan. In fact, the national headquarters denounced it.
In Winfield, Dr. A. E. Kirk, president of Southwestern College and a Mason, spoke out
public against such organizations…There was also a Black Masonic Lodge in Winfield.
One of its members was Thomas Campbell, who worked for W. C. Robinson, president
of the First National Bank. Robinson described Campbell as “… a great Mason and one
of, if not the best posted Masons in our town and county…”; see W. C. Robinson’s
Footprints [Winfield, KS: The Courier-Press, 1926], p. 59.
58
It is interesting that among the first communities organized by the Klan were oil
towns—Augusta and El Dorado were cited; see “Ku Klux Klan Organizers At Work In
Kansas Now, It Is Said,” Courier, July 23, 1921. Oil towns were populated by a rough
class of men who posed special problems of control, given ineffective law enforcement.
The Klan was an effective tool for dealing with them.
59
“The K.K.K.,” Courier, July 5, 1922.
60
During the 1920s, the Klan in New Orleans focus on anti-Semitism, rather than on
Catholics or Blacks.
61
Folks were race conscious. This included students at Southwestern College, where
they studied Darwin and struggle for survival and learned the mysteries of eugenics.
They playfully named the College Hill street car the “Yellow Peril,” a term then used to
described the supposed threat pose by the yellow races of Asia. The car was painted
yellow and limped along in away that endangered it riders—thus, the name. See “
‘Yellow Peril,’ Living Up To Name, Say Those Patronizing Hill Car,” Courier, Sept. 18,
1922….In connection with eugenic/birth control, it worth mentioning that Margaret
Sanger spoke to Klanswomen in Silver Lake, New Jersey. See John Zeran, “Rank-andFile Radicalism within the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s,” Anarchy: A Journal of Desire
Armed, 37 (Summer, 1993).
The following article, “Filipino’s Life Worthless,” is taken from the Courier of April 15,
1903. It shows the extreme racist attitudes prevalent in the military at that beginning of
the new Century.
41
“One of my reasons for liking the Filipino as a solider is the same that gives me a
preference for the negro in the same capacity in a fight, I am not worried about his
safety as it doesn’t make any difference whether he gets killed or not.” So said
Gen. Frank T. [sic] Baldwin, commander of the department of Colorado, on
taking charge in Denver, fresh from the Philippines. “There is nothing more to
it,” he added in explanation of this. “If a person owned a thoroughbred or fullblooded dog and also a cur, is it not natural that he would prefer to have the cur
killed before the other?”
Note: Frank D. Baldwin (1842-1923) had been appointed commander of the Department
of the Colorado in February 1903, about two months before this article appeared. A
brave soldier was he, twice being awarded the Medal of Honor, once during the Civil
War and again in Indian Wars. He had a long and distinguished military career. Death
came for him not as a bullet or arrow but as cirrhosis of the liver. He is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery. Further information on Gen. Baldwin is available at:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fba43 .
(See also Courier articles on C. O. Brown, Director of the Winfield City Band, “Tells of
Travels,” June 4, 1923, and “When The American Army Went Wild,” June 5, 1923.)
Here is another example of prevalent racism of the day from the pen of a future president,
Franklin D. Roosevelt. His comments are taken from an editorial appearing in the
Macon (GA) Telegraph, April 30, 1925:
Let us first examine that nightmare to many Americans, especially our friends in
California, the growing population of Japanese on the Pacific slope. It is
undoubtedly true that in the past many thousands of Japanese have legally or
otherwise got into the United States, settled here and raised up children who
became American citizens. Californians have properly objected on the sound
basic ground that Japanese immigrants are not capable of assimilation into the
American population…. Anyone who has traveled in the Far East knows that the
mingling of Asiatic blood with European or American blood produces, in nine
cases out of ten, the most unfortunate results.
See GeorgiaInfo, Retrieved, 11/29/2012:
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/FDRedito.htm
62
Those who have read the literature on life in small town America in 1920s, with
Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street (published October 1920; ran serially in the Kansas City
Star beginning in October 1921) being the prime example, can appreciate the ennui of
life in “Gophers Prairie.”
63
Preston William Slosson, The Great Crusade And After, 1914-1928 (New York:
Macmillan Co., 1930), p. 308.
42
64
A notable example: Thinking the Klan a patriotic organization, future president Harry
S. Truman, a Mason and an up-and-coming politician running for county office in the late
summer of 1922, was ready to join the order. Indeed, he had given his $10.00 to an
organizer and he may even have taken the Klan oath and signed a membership card. But
when directed not to appoint Catholics to Jackson County jobs, Truman refused and
demanded his money back. That ended his association with the hooded knights. See
Robert H. Ferrell, Harry S. Truman: A Life (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri
Press, 1994), pp. 96-97; David McCullough, Truman (New York: Touchstone Book,
1992), pp. 164-165; and Alonzo L. Hamby, Man Of The People: A Life Of Harry S.
Truman (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 114.
65
“Ku Klux Klan Organizers At Work In Kansas Now, It Is Said,” Courier, July 23,
1921. Crime was quite bad around the campus of the University of Chicago. This led the
male students to form a Klan to protect young co-eds and property. See “Ku Klux Klan:
Chicago U. Forms Organization to Fight Bandits,” Courier, Dec. 20, 1920.
66
There was an increase in the crime rate of 24% between 1920 and 1921 in urban areas.
Retrieved Oct. 18, 2011, from:
http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00492/Crime_Rate.htm. Robberies of registered
letters and packages aboard railway mail cars became so prevalent that U.S. Marine
guards were assigned to protect the mails. Later in the decade, the robberies of Post
Offices became such a problem in Kansas that postage stamps were overprinted with
“KANS.” to discourage their theft. Retrieved Oct. 18, 2011, from:
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/dickg/mailguards.html
67
“Wild Night At Ark City,” unidentified paper, Jan. 22, 1921.
68
“Choc beer was named after its place of origin, the Choctaw Nation. The Choctaw
people brewed a homemade beer and taught the Italian immigrants, who came to work in
the coal mines, how to make the home brew.” It was a popular beverage in Arkansas
City in the 1920s. Retrieved Nov. 13, 2011, http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/petes-place1919-choc-beer/10441/…. The Kansas Legislature had passed a law prohibiting the sale,
use, and possession of opium or coca leaves at its 1921 session. See The Annals of
Kansas: 1886-1925, edited by Kirke Mechem, Vol. II: 1911-1925, (Topeka: Kansas State
Historical Society, 1956), p. 296.
69
“Car Thieving,” Courier, Aug. 10, 1921. Thieves were so bold that they stole the car
of the Arkansas City police chief….The Beacon reported, July 23, 1922, “The leading
crime in America is auto stealing. Autos worth $100,000,000 were stolen in 1921…The
motor thief has eclipsed the bank robber and housebreaker….This may keep on until
there comes the usual reaction to extremes. You know what happened to a horse thief
years ago in the West.”
43
70
“City of Winfield Annual Budget – Year 1922,” Courier, July 26, 1921. The Police
Department funding was $6,340. This compares to $17,905 for the Fire Department….”
“Courier Quiz,” Courier, Aug. 4, 1921….Gus Froemming’s Recollections, Oral History
Collection, Cowley County Historical Society. Froemming’s recollections make it clear
that the police force during these years could not be considered a professional force.
71
“Woman Tied To Bed By Robbers,” Courier, Aug. 19, 1921, and “No New
Developments in the Search For Thursday Night Attackers,” Courier, Aug. 20, 1921.
72
For example of the Klan assisting the authorities, see “Ku Klux Klan Operatives Said
To Have Furnished Evidence For A Big Raid,” Free Press, April 8, 1924.
73
Historians typically depict the Klan as being an anti-labor organization. This is true for
the Klan in Kansas where its head lawyer, John S. Dean, was said to represent business
interests. Yet, clearly individual Klans could adopt a pro-labor stance, as in the case of
Arkansas City and other railroad towns in Kansas….See Robert L. Duffus, “The Ku Klux
Klan in the Middle West,” The World’s Work, 46 (Aug. 1923), p. 365. Duffus wrote,
“…[I]n Kansas the Klan solicitors conceived the really brilliant idea of enlisting the
strikers. Their appeal was simple and direct. The railways had imported strike breakers,
many of them Negroes. Was not ‘white supremacy’ thus endangered? Ought not
something to be done about it? As a result of arguments like this the railway men
actually did flock into the Klan in what seem to have been large numbers….”
74
“Ku Klux Klan Organizing In Cowley County Now?” unidentified paper, July 26,
1921; “Ti-Bo-Tim If You Wish To Join the Ku-Klux-Klan,” Traveler, Dec. 1, 1921;
“Allen Bars K.K.K. Parade Here,” Traveler, July 5, 1922; and “The Ku Klux Klan,”
Traveler, Dec. 19, 1921.
75
“Ti-Bo-Tim If You Wish To Join the Ku-Klux-Klan,” Traveler, Dec. 1, 1921.
76
Ibid. Klan organizers followed a standardized operational plan and had standardized
handouts for distribution.
77
“To Give 75 Baskets,” Traveler, Dec. 15, 1921.
78
“The Ku Klux Klan,” Traveler, Dec. 19, 1921.
79
“Negroes Scream Here Comes The Ku Klux Klan,” Traveler, Dec. 17, 1921.
80
“Was It The Klan: Different Version Given of Ark City ‘Mob’ Now,” unidentified
paper, Dec. 20, 1921. Apparently, the revised account appeared in the Arkansas City
News on Monday, December 19. The Klan representative said the first account in the
Traveler had been “garbled.” He regretted that the “true story” had not been given out.
81
“ Gay Lothario Was Kidnapped By Klansmen,” Traveler, Feb. 27, 1922.
44
82
“Ku Klux Klan Is Host to Lothario?,” Free Press, Feb. 28, 1922.
83
Gay Lothario Was Kidnapped By Klansmen,” Traveler, Feb. 27, 1922. One can only
wonder about the accuracy of 500 Klansmen figure. It seems that whenever the question
of membership size came up, a figure of 500 was cited.
84
The Klan had come early to Oklahoma in 1919. By September 1921, the Oklahoma
City Klan had a membership of 2,500 and many other communities had active Klans as
well. Oklahoma was a fertile recruiting area for the Klan. See “OSH’s Encyclopedia of
Oklahoma History and Culture,” retrieved Oct. 20, 2011,from
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/K/KU001.html. It is worth nothing
the first Grand Dragon of Oklahoma was Edwin Debarr, a person of note. He held a
doctorate in chemistry and in 1922, was Vice President of the University of Oklahoma at
Norman. It is written that Klan violence was greater in Oklahoma than in any other state.
See Charles C. Alexander, The Ku Klux Klan in the Southwest (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1995), p. 60 and 108-109.
85
Traveler, Mar. 24, 1922.
86
“Exodus From Blackwell of All Negroes,” Traveler, May 11, 1922.
87
Traveler, Apr. 15, 1922.
88
“Negro Flees From The City On warning Of Ku Klux Klan,” Traveler, May 14, 1922;
89
“Big Class Joins Ku Klux Klan,” Traveler, June 3, 1922.
90
“Parade Will Be Held Here Friday Night,” Traveler, July 3, 1922.
91
At the State Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) meeting at
Winfield’s Island Park in mid May of 1922, the following resolution was passed,
reflecting the sentiment of the old soldiers towards the hooded knights of the Ku Klux
Klan:
Resolved: That this encampment repeats its resolution, passed last year [1921],
condemning the K. K. Klan and advising it to keep south of the Mason & Dixon’s
line; further, as this year it has sent its national organization from Boston to
Kansas in its defense; we recall its work of 50 years ago when it was suppressed
in the courts of the south, when the decent men in it testified as to its deeds of
murder and arson and other crimes; such as men commit masked and banded in
mob, who go out in the dark to drag their unarmed and defenseless victims from
their homes, under pretense of upholding law and morality while in truth,
subverting both. Shameless and with less courage than the thief or burglar, who
goes out alone in the dark to mob and steal. Shameless, in taking the discredited
45
and infamous name of K. K. K. with its ritual, and its mummeries, its purpose of
stealing and frightening the colored man of his legal rights which session and
rebellion failed to do. Their true name is because of their works in the dark and
fear of the day, a name despised by all true men, the name of “coward.”
See “Five Hundred March In Soldier Parade,” Courier, May 18, 1922.
92
John Moffatt Mecklin, The Ku Klux Klan: A Study of the American Mind (New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1924), p. 70.
93
W. C. Robinson, Footprints [Winfield, KS: The Courier-Press, 1926], p. 46.
94
Ibid., p. 59.
95
Ibid., 38; and Too Many Banks Especially Small Ones [ca. 1930], p. 27. Of the Sisters
of St. Joseph, who operated St. Mary Hospital, Robinson had this to say: “The Sisters
give the very best service, and I could only tell that they were Catholic by their dress,
never by anything they say.” Footprints, p. 38. In his Too Many Banks, p. 27, the banker
offered this reflection, “I have had close business connections with many Catholics, and
with only ONE who was unsatisfactory and fraught with suspicion.”
96
For further information on Greer, see Dave Seaton’s “Edwin P. Greer: Editor and
Winfield Town Builder,” Celebrate Winfield History: 2011 (Winfield, KS: Cowley
County Historical Society, 2011)….What follows is a partial listing of Greer’s Courier
editorials dealing with or relating to the Ku Klux Klan: July 26, 1921; July 30, 1921;
Aug. 22, 1921; Sept. 26, 1921; 0ct. 5, 1921; Oct. 11, 1921; Oct. 24, 1921; July 5, 1922;
and Jan. 13, 1923. Greer retired in September 1924 and was called home not long
thereafter…. Below is a fascinating article written by Greer, then local editor, on an
interracial run-in at the Winfield Opera House. It appeared in the Courier on August 27,
1885. To your author’s knowledge, nothing appeared quite like this, before or after.
A romance was enacted on the Opera House stairs Friday night as the crowd was
coming away from the show. As usual, the jam on the stairs was a little
oppressive. A white girl was being crowded by a colored one, when she turned
around and said, "You 'coon' there, quit crowding me." The "coon" proceeded to
slap the white Miss with a vengeance, and the alabaster darling let in on the
colored girl. They had it hand over fist, in wool and out of wool, for a few
seconds, creating a furor and a stampeded, when E. C. Seward put his pretty
frame between the belligerents and quelled the war. It was a terrible shock to E.
C., but he is better this morning and his physicians hope to bring him through.
The girls are fighters from long taw, and would draw a big crowd in the prize
ring. The colored girl said, "I'm a 'coon,' am I?" as she played her finger nails in
the vicinity of her antagonist's phiz. She didn't propose being called "coon," and
we admire her grit. Do it some more [author’s italics].
46
97
“Disband The Ku Klux Klan,” Courier, July 30, 1921.
98
The Free Press was merged with the Courier in September 1924, with W. G.
Anderson, publisher of the Free Press, becoming the publisher of the combined papers.
99
“Ku Klux Klan In A Donation To Needy Man,” Free Press, March 3, 1922.
100
Ibid.
101
“Ku Klux Klan In A Donation To Gym Drive,” Ibid., Mar. 27, 1922.
102
“Gym Campaign Is ‘Over Top’ Today,” Ibid., undated. The report on the Black
community’s donation read as follows: “Dr. Snyder with a great deal of pathos [author’s
italics] reported that the colored people of Winfield has subscribed over $300.00 to this
campaign.”
103
“Klan Activities At Winfield In Evidence Again,” Wichita Beacon, May 28, 1922.
The author was unable to find further details on the “Catholic Council” cited. One can
assume that the body was established to answer the threat posed by the Klan.
104
“Winfield K.K.K. Is ‘500 Strong’ Handbill Declares,” Ibid., June 27, 1922. An
original copy of this Klan handbill can be found in the Ku Klux Klan File of the Cowley
County Historical Society Collection.
105
The workforce at Arkansas City reportedly numbered around 150, according to a brief
newspaper account in Courier, dated July 1, 1922. That article also indicated that all
workers left the job. That was not the case, however, for some individuals chose not to
strike. Their number is unknown.
106
“Call Is Issued Last Night By Union Leaders,” Wichita Beacon, June 29, 1922. The
primary occupations involved were machinists, blacksmiths, drop forgers, boilermakers,
iron shipbuilders, sheet metal workers, electrical workers, and car repairers….Writing in
the Beacon on July 2, 1922, Tom Tilma, local union leader, listed the reasons for the
strike: “One of the main reasons for the strike was the taking off the penalty for overtime
and Sunday work….Then there was the matter of farming out work….On top of this was
another direct cut in wages.”…See also, William Z. Foster’s “The Crisis on the
Railroads” (June 17, 1922), retrieved Dec, 8, 2011, from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/foster/1922/crisis.htm .
107
“Million People On Wage Strikes In United States,” Wichita Beacon, July 6, 1922.
Breakdown of strikers: bituminous miners 573,000, out since April 1; anthracite miners
155,000, out since April 1; textile workers 80,000, out since January 1; and rail shopmen
400,000, out since July 1.
47
108
Colin J. Davis, Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen’s Strike
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), pp. 69, 122, and 172; Charles William Sloan,
Jr., Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire,” Kansas Historical Quarterly, 40 (Fall, 1974), p.
1; Lila Lee Jones, “The Ku Klux Klan in Eastern Kansas during the 1920’s,” The
Emporia State Research Studies, XXIII (Winter, 1975), p. 33; and “Railroad Strike,”
Courier, July 1, 1922. It is worth noting that 1,000 Mexican railroad workers at Nuevo
Laredo, Mexico, a major rail point, staged a sympathy strike in support of American
shopmen; see “Mexican Rail Workers Quit Thru Sympathy,” Wichita Beacon, Aug. 2,
1922.
109
The provisions of the Industrial Court Act in question were found in Section 17,
Chapter 29, of the Laws of 1920. See “Industry Court Issues Warning On Intimidation,”
Ibid., July 1, 1922.
110
Henry J. Allen, “Peace in Kansas” (editorial), Ibid., July 15, 1922. Allen wrote: “It is
difficult for one not acquainted with the traditions of a railroad shop town to understand
how thoroughly the sympathy of the community in towns like these is with the members
of the shop crafts. In these towns, the families of these shop men have grown into the life
of the community. Their sons and daughters hold responsible position in the social and
business circles of the town.”…Echoing Allen, the shopmen’s strike historian Colin J.
Davis wrote, “…[W]hole towns rallied around the shopmen by refusing to serve
strikebreakers and scabs with essential supplies—in some cases even ousting the
invaders.” See Colin J. Davis, Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen’s
Strike (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), p. 172.
111
“Sentiment Is Strong in A.C.,” Courier, July 18, 1922; “Strike Poster War Develops,”
Ibid., July 20, 1922; “Mayor Refuses To Order Posters Out,” Ibid., July 21, 1922; and
“Hold Seven Ark. City Strikers For Picketing,” Wichita Beacon, July 22, 1922.
Displaying pro-striker posters violated the anti-picketing law. The governor, working
through County Attorney Ellis Fink and Sheriff Goldsmith, order the posters taken down,
and this was done, although there was resistance. Mayor McIntosh refused to enforce the
governor’s poster removal order, which did not endear him to the governor. All this
happened simultaneously with Governor Allen ordering William Allen White, his friend,
arrested for displaying a pro-striker poster in the window of the Emporia Gazette….A
month later, there were reports that reached Governor Allen that posters, sponsored by
the Klan, were being put up in Arkansas City warning “certain classes of citizens to leave
or be tarred and feathered.” Judge McDermott learned, however, from Assistant County
Attorney Charles W. Quier that no such posters had appeared; see “To Investigate Klan,”
Free Press, Sept. 30, 1922.
112
“Picketing in Kansas Will Invite Arrests,” Wichita Beacon, July 3, 1922; and
“Industry Court Issues Warning on Intimidation,” Ibid., July 1, 1922.
113
“Parade Will Be Held Here Friday Night,” Traveler, July 3, 1922.
48
114
Robert L. Duffus, “The Ku Klux Klan,” The World’s Work (Aug. 1923), p. 366.
115
On February 17, 1922, the Courier printed an account of what may have been the first
Klan demonstration in Kansas: 250 Klansmen marching at Caney, Kansas, the night
before.
116
“Parade Will Be Held Here Friday Night,” Traveler, July 3, 1922.
117
The use of the Klan as an underground union is discussed by John Zeran in “Rankand-File Radicalism within the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s,” Anarchy: A Journal of
Desire Armed, 37 (Summer, 1993). This essay offers an interesting take on the Klan.
118
“Allen Bars K.K.K. Parade Here,” Traveler, July 5, 1922.
119
Ibid.
120
Robert L. Duffus, “The Ku Klux Klan,” The World’s Work (Aug. 1923), p.
366….Governor Allen made it clear that mayors, county attorneys, sheriffs, and chiefs of
police who could not or failed to enforce the anti-picketing law could be removed from
office under the Industrial Court Act; see “Picketing in Kansas Will Invite Arrests,
Wichita Beacon, July 3, 1922….During the strike, the governor did deploy state troops to
maintain order in certain rail shop centers, including Newton, Herington, Hoisington, and
Horton; see “To Remove Guards,” Courier, Sept. 20, 1922. Authorities at Wellington
requested troops but they were deemed unnecessary; see “Strike Situation Tense In
Kansas,” Courier, Aug. 5, 1922.
121
Henry J. Allen, “The Ku Klux Klan” (editorial), Wichita Beacon, July 9, 1922.
122
Sheriff Goldsmith was a Republican and served two terms from 1921 to 1925.
123
“Allen Bars K.K.K. Parade Here,” Traveler, July 5, 1922. The governor was
fortunate, indeed, to have a man as loyal and capable as Goldsmith at his command. It is
worth nothing that the sheriff and under-sheriff of Sumner County were reportedly Klan
members. See Robert L. Duffus’s “The Ku Klux Klan in the Middle West,” The World’s
Work, 46 (Aug. 1923), p. 368.
124
Ibid.
125
“Crowd Sees In Vain For A Glimpse Of White Robed Men,” Free Press, July 8, 1922.
126
Patrick G. O’Brien, “ ‘I Want Everyone to Know the Shame of the State’: Henry J.
Allen Confronts the Ku Klux Klan, 1921-1923,” Kansas History, 19 (Summer, 1996), p.
103.
49
127
“Governor Bars Masked Parades During Strikes,” Wichita Beacon, July 10, 1922.
The governor stated: “In my judgment, any meeting where participants wear masks is
dangerous at this time, especially where industrial quarrels are in progress. I want you to
see that no meetings where men wear masks under the banner of the so-called ‘Fiery
Cross’ are permitted.”…In Wellington, another railroad shop town, the City
Commissioners passed an ordnance prohibiting marchers and parades of any group
wearing masks or concealing their identity. Stiff penalties were provided for offenders.
See “Wellington Puts Ban On K.K.K. Parade,” Courier, July 9, 1922.
128
“State Officials Are Determined To Banish Klan: Declare ‘Invisible Empire” Has No
Place in Kansas,” Wichita Beacon, July 13, 1922.
129
Ibid.
130
“Klan Warns Governor To Reform,” Wichita Beacon, July 21, 1922; and “Gov. Allen
Gets a K.K.K. Warning,” Courier, July 21, 1922. Since this communication was not on
official Klan stationery with a Klan seal, it most likely was not from the Klan itself.
Nonetheless, it no doubt reflected Klansmen’s thinking.
131
The peak strike months were July, August, September, and October. The strike itself
came to an uneven end on September 13, 1922, when the Railroad Shop Conference at
Chicago announced that strikers could return to work individually on such railroads as
accepted an agreement it had framed. Many of the major roads did accept the agreement
in ensuing days, but the Santa Fe was not among them. The Santa Fe strike continued in
much weakened form until December 1, when it collapsed. See “Railroad Strike
Settled,” The New York Times Current History (Nov. 1922), p. 325; and Colin J. Davis,
Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen’s Strike (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1977), pp. 152-153
132
“Mass Meeting Tonight At Wilson Park to Hear Strikers’ Side,” Traveler, July 24,
1922; and Traveler, Aug. 7, 1922. Stubbs had previously served as governor of Kansas
from 1909-13 and was in 1922, a stockman and banker. He was the Klan’s candidate.
Stubbs lost the nomination to W. Y. Morgan, who, in turn, went down to defeat in
November to Democrat, Jonathan M. Davis.
133
“Transportation Act of 1920,” retrieved, December 8, 2011, from
http://www.answers.com/topic/transportation-act-of-1920
134
“Fate Of Industrial Court May Be Decided At Primary Aug. 1,” Courier, July 26,
1922; “Blame for Campbell’s Defeat Divided,” Wichita Beacon, Aug. 3, 1922; Traveler,
Aug 7 and 8, 1922; “Local Issues Big In This Campaign,” New York Times, Oct. 22,
1922; and Lila Lee Jones, “The Ku Klux Klan in Eastern Kansas during the 1920’s,” The
Emporia State Research Studies, XXIII (Winter, 1975), p. 12….As Chairman of the
House Committee on Rules, Campbell held hearings on the Ku Klux Klan, October 1117, 1921, that served as a forum for those speaking both for and against the Klan.
50
Inspiring these hearings were a series of 21 articles exposing Klan activities and violence
that had run in the New York World, Sept. 6 through 26, 1921. This series was picked up
by other major papers, including the Oklahoman, which was available in Cowley County.
Simmons testified at length before Campbell’s committee. He came across well and
made a good case for his organization. Rather than hurting the Klan, the publicity
resulting from the Congressional committee caused its membership to skyrocket.
“Congress made us,” Simmons later claimed. See Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross:
The Ku Klux Klan In America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), p. 166….Campbell
gave an interview to the New York Times (Aug. 3, 1922) in which he claimed to have
been beaten by 15,000 striking shopmen and coal miners who voted for his opponent.
For reasons unknown, he made no mention of the Klan, which was certainly active in the
campaign, nor his vote for the Esch-Cummins bill, which labor hated. He also claimed
that farmers, busy with their crops, had not come out to vote for him in their usual
numbers—yet the results from rural areas showed that he lost the farmers’ vote,
too….The New York Times rightly summed up the situation: “The Ku Klux Klan became
active against him [Campbell] and other circumstances gave the Republican nomination
to W. W. Sproul.” See “Local Issues Big In This Campaign,” New York Times, Oct. 22,
1922.
135
“Ku Klux Klan Revival, 1915-1925,” DISCovering U.S. History. Online Detroit:
Gale, 2003. Retrieved Sept. 20, 2011, from http://phs1.d214.org/phslibrary/klanrevival.html . See also “Klan In State Politics,” Traveler, Sept.
25, 1922.
136
J. P. Tighe, Letter to the Editor, Traveler, July 25, 1922; and Nancy J. Biggs, Letter to
the Editor, Traveler, Aug. 8, 1922. Just who Biggs was is something of mystery. She
may have been related to or the wife of Lee M. Biggs, who was an Arkansas City
contractor.
137
“Ku Klux Klan,” Traveler, July 26, 1922. A few days after it was published, a
Traveler reporter asked seven Arkansas City residents their opinions on the Tighe article.
They all responded favorably to it. See Traveler, Aug. 1, 1922. R. C. Howard was editor
and publisher of the Daily Traveler from 1885 to 1924. He also served as postmaster,
mayor, State representative and State senator. See Mrs. Bennett Rinehart and Others,
Blaze Marks On The Border: The Story of Arkansas City, Kansas (North Newton, KS:
Mennonite Press, 1970), pp. 145-148.
138
Charles William Sloan, Jr., “Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire: The Legal Ouster of
the KKK From Kansas, 1922-1927,” Kansas Historical Quarterly, 40 (Fall, 1974), p
.394. Sloan does not provide a name for the individual but from the description the
individual could have been no one other than Tighe.
139
“Klan Donates To A Minister,” Free Press, Sept. 4, 1922; and Traveler, Sept. 4,
1922.
51
140
Rev. G. W. McQuiddy was a supporter of the striking shopmen. He spoke at a mass
meeting at Wilson Park called by strikers on the evening of July 24, 1922. See “Mass
Meeting Tonight At Wilson Park to Hear Strikers’ Side,” Traveler, July 24, 1922.
141
Traveler, Sept. 11, 1922; and “Busy at A.C.,” Free Press, Sept. 12, 1922.
142
“K.K.K. Gives Aid,” Free Press, Aug. 30, 1922.
143
Mary Ann Wortman thought the pilot of the plane might have been Shirley Devore, a
Winfield aviator and Klansman. He was killed a few weeks after this event in a plane
crash in Augusta. He was buried at Highland Cemetery on October 17, 1922. The Free
Press offered this description: “After the Masonic rites, the Klansmen, seventeen in
number, strode silently forward. They circled the casket and knelt with hands on each
other’s shoulders forming a circle around the dead. One then offered a short prayer after
which the knights of the invisible realm withdrew. Each Klansman wore about this left
arm a mourning band of black.” Among the attendees was Ira Beach. See “Impressive
Services Held For Youthful Aviator Here,” Free Press, Oct. 18, 1922.
144
“Ku Klux Klan In A Big Meeting Here,” Free Press, Sept. 6, 1922; and “Klan
Initiates A Class of Fifty Near Winfield,” Traveler, Sept. 6,1922.
145
“C. Harris Tarred and Feathered,” Traveler, Sept. 7, 1922; and Traveler, Sept. 8,
1922. A young boy was involved in the tarring incident. That is not something that one
would expect from the Klan.
146
“K.K.K. Warning,” Traveler, Sept. 21, 1922.
147
“K.K.K. Visits M. E. Church,” Traveler, Sept. 25, 1922.
148
“Klan Writes On Catholics In Schools,” Traveler, Sept. 22, 1922. At this time,
Arkansas City Catholics numbered several hundred. They had moved into a new $75,000
($966,861) church on South B Street in 1920. The first Catholic Church had been erected
in the city in 1886 on North A Street. See “Razing A Landmark,” Traveler, Sept. 28,
1922….Seeing Catholic teachers as a threat, the Klan was particular concerned about
their presence in the public schools and made it a point to address this issue. In the East,
this was probably more of an issue because of the large number of Irish women who had
gone into the teaching profession….It should be noted here that in early 1923, Will
French, Superintendent of Winfield Schools, proposed a plan for holding weekday
religious training for students, second through sixth grades. The proposal was made in
February; approved by the school board and the 10 local churches, including the
Catholic, in May; and implemented that fall. The classes were held during the school day
in the local churches. The churches were responsible for providing space for the classes,
textbooks, and qualified teachers, along with covering certain associated expenses. There
is no indication whatsoever that the Klan was involved in this matter. But, the Klan was
a strong proponent of having religion taught in the classroom, and no doubt, French’s
52
plan for church school must have pleased them greatly. By the way, the idea for this plan
originated in Gary, Indiana, and Indiana was home to one of the strongest Klan
organizations. For an account of this matter, see “Offer Plan For Church Classes,”
Courier, Feb. 21, 1923, and “Adopt Plan For Church School,” Courier, May 10, 1923.
Superintendent French also spoke to his charges on morals, another important concern of
the day. See “Speaks On Morals,” Courier, Oct. 24, 1922.
149
“To Probe Klan Here,” Traveler, Sept. 30, 1922.
150
“State Probes Ku Klux Klan In This City,” Traveler, Oct. 2, 1922; and “So Mayor Of
This City Is Enlightened,” Traveler, Oct. 3,1922.
151
“Want To Know,” Free Press, Oct. 11, 1922. After visiting Arkansas City and
Winfield, Governor Allen sent Judge McDermott on a follow-up investigation to other
parts of the state. It was at this time that the governor began to look into the legal status
of the Klan in Kansas.
152
“To Investigate Klan,” Free Press, Sept. 30, 1922.
153
“Klan Remembers,” Free Press, Sept. 5, 1922. The author’s impression is that the
Lutheran church was not a favorite of the Klan, given the church’s association with
Germany, the former enemy, its use of the German language, and its private church
schools. This, however, was definitely not the case in Winfield….It is also well to note
that A. W. Myer, President of St. John’s College had written an editorial for the Courier
on July 21, 1921 (just as the Klan was about to make its debut), entitled “The German
Language.” In it, he observed, “ ‘One country, one flag, one language,’ I say, Amen. We
have one country and one flag, let us have one language.” This statement would certainly
have found favor with the Ku Klux Klan….During the Great War, 1917-18, Martin
Graebner, a professor at St. John’s College, had been placed in charged of the state’s
effort to Americanize foreigners in Kansas….Some older Lutherans, who had emigrated
to the United States, perhaps still remembered Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf (culture
struggle) or attack on the Catholic Church in the 1870s. The Kulturkampf’s aim was to
reduce Catholic political and social influence within the new Kaiser Reich. The attack
waged, while more severe, was in some ways like that of the Klan’s, such as the attacks
on Catholic education and loyalty to the Pope first over the Fatherland.
154
Free Press, Oct. 4, 1922.
155
Rev. Z. A. Harris Is Heard By Thousands At Park,” Free Press, Oct. 5, 1922. Harris,
a popular Protestant minister, would become Grand Dragon of the Oklahoma Klan in the
mid 1920s….The Congress had passed the Emergency Immigration Act in May 1921; it
imposed numerical limits on immigration and a quota system for establishing those
limits. This legislation was followed by the Immigration Act of 1924 that made
permanent the nation of origin system. Its goal was to stabilize the ethnic composition of
the population and thus, as its proponents saw it, to preserve their America. This act
53
would remain in effect until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of
1965.…At the same time that Winfielders were reading of Rev. Harris’s talk, they also
learn that Cowley County’s most prominent Catholic, Fred Clarke, had been honored by
being seated with General John J. Pershing, former Commander of the A.E.F., and Judge
Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first baseball commissioner, at a World Series game; see
“Fred Clarke Honored,” Courier, Oct. 5, 1922….Finally, I must note it was while
listening to Rev. Harris in Topeka that Patrick H. Coney decided to write his anti-Klan
pamphlet, The Klu [sic] Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire. This old veterans of the Union
cause saw the second Klan in terms of the first, as did Nancy J. Biggs mentioned
elsewhere in this paper. Coney was a former Department Commander of the Kansas
Grand Army of the Republic.
156
“Gov. Allen Coming,” Free Press, Oct. 24, 1922.
157
“Kansas Mayor Whipped By Mob Of Masked Men,” Courier, Oct. 16, 1922.
158
“No Martial Law At Ark City Now,” Free Press, Oct. 17, 1922; “Orders Mayor To
Clean Up City,” Courier, Oct. 17, 1922; and “A. C. Mayor Says ‘Talk’ A Frame Up,”
Courier, Oct. 18, 1922.
159
At the time, the Klan was attempting to remove the anti-Klan Mayor of Wellington, J.
M. Thralls, along with his police department personnel. Earlier, the mayor had removed
Klansmen from the police force. The Klan’s ouster effort would prove unsuccessful, and
in the meantime, Thralls would be re-elected mayor on an anti-Klan ticket. The Klan had
asked the State for the mayor’s removal on the grounds that he was not enforcing the
Prohibition laws. See “Wellington City Officials Win,” Courier, Apr. 23, 1923.
160
“Allen Defends Record Before Winfield Crowd,” Courier, Oct. 28, 1922.
161
“Endorsed by Colored People,” Courier, Oct. 30, 1922.
162
“An Apology to the Governor,” “Apology To Allen,” and “An Apology” (editorial),
Courier, Oct. 31,1922. The Courier for this date also carried a related poem, “Ku Klux
Klan, Ku Klux Ku or KKK,” by “Winfield Spirit.”
163
“County Ticket Is Republican: Only Three G.O.P. Cowley County Candidates Taste
Defeat,” Courier, Nov. 8, 1922; “Davis Plurality Is Near 20,000…Bourbon County
Farmer Wins Handily,” Courier, Nov. 10, 1922; and “Cowley totals,” Courier, Nov. 10,
1922. “…[I]n Crawford county the Klan is said to have endorsed both Sproul and
Stephens. In Montgomery county, the Klan is said to have favored Sproul,” and that also
must have been the case in Cowley County.
164
“A Klan Trick?,” Courier, Nov. 6, 1922; and “W.C.T.U. Denies,” Courier, November
6, 1922.
54
165
Wyn Craig Wade. The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1988), p. 230.
166
Attorney-General Hopkins did not seek re-election in November 1922. He was
replace in early January 1923 by Charles B. Griffith, a Republican, who would continue
to push the Klan ouster suit. It was Griffith’s assistant, John F. Rhodes, who had direct
charge of the case (Griffith himself was not well during this period). Later, Thomas
Amory Lee of Topeka was retained as a special assistant attorney general to assist in the
case before the Supreme Court of the United States. It should be noted that S. H.
Brewster, a Topeka lawyer and former attorney-general, played a key role in adjudicating
the Klan case. The Court appointed him Commissioner with the task of gathering
evidence and submitting his finds of fact and conclusions of law to he Court….The Klan
was represented by W. L. Wood of Kansas City and Col. John S. Dean of Topeka.
167
“To Oust K.K.K.,” Courier, Nov. 10, 1922.; “Fill Ouster Suit Against Klan,” Courier,
Nov. 21, 1922.; and “First Gun In K.K.K. Fight,” Courier, Nov. 24, 1922…. It was in
connection with the filing of this suit that the names of certain Cowley County Klan
officials were released…. It is worth mentioning here that in 1893, the State of Kansas
had refused to grant a charter to the American Protective Association, a virulent antiCatholic, anti-foreign organization. See Patrick G. O’Brien, “ ‘I Want Everyone to Know
the Shame of the State’: Henry J. Allen Confronts the Ku Klux Klan, 1921-1923,”
Kansas History, 19 (Summer, 1996), p. 103.
168
“Klan Gets Busy,” Free Press, Dec. 26, 1922; and “A Merry Christmas At The
Children’s Home,” Courier, Dec. 27, 1922….It is worth nothing that in 1924, the
Winfield Klan invited “colored children as well as white” to their celebration at the
A.O.U.W. Hall. See “K.K.K. Santa Claus,” Courier, Dec. 23, 1924.
169
“Imperial Wizard Makes Stop Here,” Free Press, Aug. 10, 1923.
170
“Klan Helps Church,” Free Press, Apr. 2, 1923. The Klansman making the gift
appeared during a service wearing street clothes. He made a short speech to the
congregation, stating, “The Klan was not fighting the colored race.”
171
“Thousands At Jubilee Here Of Klansmen,” Free Press, Sept. 28, 1923.
172
For an account of such a gathering see “Ku Klux Klansmen Parade in Winfield
Streets; Hold Big County Rally On West Ninth,” Free Press, July 17, 1924.
173
“A Melophone To Band,” Courier, Aug. 8, 1925. The Klan presented the instrument
to Director C. O. Brown. (For additional information on Brown, see Courier articles,
“Tells of Travels,” June 4, 1923, and “When The American Army Went Wild,” June 5,
1923.)
55
174
Courier, April 28, 1926. Advertisement, reading in part, “Island Park…Friday, April
30 , 8 P.M….Public Invited…Ku Klux Klan Wedding—Real Thing.” For the public,
admission was fifteen and twenty-five cents.
th
175
Unidentified newspaper clipping, 1923.
176
“Thousands At Jubilee Here of Klansmen,” Free Press, Sept. 28, 1923; and “Klan In
A Parade, Free Press, Aug. 26, 1924. Unfortunately, the author has no similar figures for
Arkansas City.
177
Charles William Sloan, Jr., Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire,” Kansas Historical
Quarterly, 40 (Fall, 1974).
178
A few Klaverns, however, were fortunate to have intelligent, enthusiastic, forceful
leaders. One such figure was Dr. C. A. “Archie” Ogg, a dentist. Whatever this man did
in life, he did it with passion and did it well. He was leader of he Klavern No. 60 in
nearby Douglass, Butler County, Kansas. He said a Winfielder brought him into the Klan
(probably a fellow Mason). Under his leadership, the Douglass Klan put forward an
active program of events. His equally enthusiastic wife, Mattie, was a member of the
Women’s Klan auxiliary. Ogg was quite popular and held, apart from his Klan role,
several public offices in Douglass. It is said that while he was mayor, all the city
employees were Klansmen. In his later years, he served a term as State Fire Marshal. He
died in 1963. His obituaries are silent on his Klan affiliation but praised him highly for
his good works and being a good citizen: “Dr. Ogg was a strong, useful man of much
ability and influence.” Ogg was certainly one of the more interesting Klan leaders. See
the KKK File at the Douglass Historical Museum. The file includes two unpublished
historical essays on the Douglass Klan, including one that draws upon Mrs. Ogg’s
recollections.
179
The United States was indeed fortunate to have at the helm of state two men of
tolerance in this time of intolerance. Of them, there is no question but they stood for
square for “one nation with liberty and justice for all” as embodied in the Great Charters
of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States. It could have
been otherwise.
180
Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (New York: Cosmopolitan
Book Corp., 1929), p. 185. As early as 1923, Coolidge’s first biographer had noted that
“[Coolidge’s] creed is that progress is best made by emphasizing good policies and
ignoring evil ones.” See R. M. Washburn, Calvin Coolidge: His First Biography
(Boston: Small, Maynard & Co, 1923), p. 71.
181
Martin Luther King, Jr., quote from A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writing and
Speeches (New York: HarperCollins, 1986), retrieved August 14, 2012:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23924.Martin_Luther_King_Jr_
56
182
One’s birthplace, race, or religion had nothing to do with being a patriotic American;
rather, it called for believing in American ideals and values as expressed in the
Declaration of Independence and Constitution and in supporting American civil and
political institutions. In doing so, as Coolidge saw it, any of God’s children could qualify
and rejoice in the title of American.
183
Here are two other excepts from the President’s address:
•
I recognize the full and complete necessity of 100 per cent Americanism,
but 100 per cent Americanism may be made up of many various elements.
•
If we are to have that harmony and tranquility, that union of spirit which is
the foundation of real national genius and national progress, we must all
realize that there are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our
section of the country, who do not attend our place of religious worship,
who are not of our racial stock, or who are not proficient in our language.
If we are to create on this continent a free Republic and an enlightened
civilization that will be capable of reflecting the true greatness and glory
of mankind, it will be necessary to regard these differences as accidental
and unessential. We shall have to look beyond the outward manifestations
of race and creed.
Coolidge’s complete speech is available at the American Presidency Project:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=438#axzz1fENhMFY4
President Warren Harding (who had been sworn into office by Chief Justice Edward D.
White, purportedly a member of the first Klan and a Catholic) had also spoken out
against the Klan in a speech before the Imperial Council of the Shrine in Washington,
D.C., on June 5, 1923. Speaking indirectly of the Klan, he observed that “This isn’t
fraternity, this is conspiracy. This isn’t associated uplift, it is organized destruction. This
is not brotherhood, it is discord of disloyalty and a danger to the republic.” See “Shrine
Nobles Overrun Capital,” Courier, June 5, 1923.
After President Harding’s death in August of 1923, a Klan spokesman claimed that the
former president had been a Klansman, having been inducted into the organization in the
dining room of the White House! The Coolidge White House immediately issued a
statement, disseminated nationally, declaring the claim was “too ridiculous to discuss”—
strong words, indeed, for that day and time. See “Deny Klan Met In White House,”
Courier, Sept. 22, 1922. Klansmen were notorious for making false statements claiming
that both Harding and Coolidge were brother knights. Surprisingly, these tales have
taken in a few historians. For examples of such Klansmen’s stories, see Wyn Craig
Wade. The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon & Schuster,
1988), p. 217 and 229; and “Ku Klux Klan members in United States politics,” retrieved,
Dec. 4, 2011,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics .
57
184
Kansas Blacks organized early on to address the Klan threat. See “Negroes Organize:
Delegates From Many Counties To Form State Political Ass’n,” Courier, Mar. 29, 1922.
This action was in preparation for the 1922 mid-term elections….The following is an
except from a Resolution of the Independent Order of B’rith Sholom, New York City,
December 13, 1922, which minces no words about its feelings regarding the Klan:
[A] huge venomous snake has now lifted its head in the United States to poison
and pollute the life and existence of the great American nation under the name of
the Ku Klux Klan…[It] preaches a doctrine of hatred throughout the land,
dividing the masses of population into antagonistic groups, arraying patriotic
Americans against each other in an effort to undermine the best and purest
American ideals.
B’rith Sholom was a Jewish fraternal order founded in 1905 and principally active in the
early XXth Century. See “Allen Out To Drive Klan From Kansas,” New York Times,
Oct. 30, 1922, p. 1.
185
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1988), p. 197. The Klan denounced Smith as the “Jew, jug [boozer], and
Jesuit candidate.” McAdoo did not fully accept the Klan’s position but took their support
as he lacked it elsewhere….In the general election, Evans told Klansmen that they were
free to vote for either John W. Davis, Democrat, or Calvin Coolidge, Republican. See
“Advises Klan On Voting,” New York Times, Sept. 2, 1924.
186
A good account of Stephenson’s rise and fall is found in Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery
Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988).
Disappointed that his political associates granted him no clemency, he later released the
names of several public officials who had been or were on the Klan’s payroll, which
further blackened the Klan’s reputation.
187
Charles William Sloan, Jr., “Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire: The Legal Ouster of
the KKK From Kansas, 1922-1927,” Kansas Historical Quarterly, 40 (Fall, 1974); and
“The KKK in Kansas, Beacon, Apr. 26, 1965
188
Charles William Sloan, Jr., “Kansas Battles the Invisible Empire: The Legal Ouster of
the KKK From Kansas, 1922-1927,” Kansas Historical Quarterly, 40 (Fall, 1974)….It is
worth noting that Justice John Marshall had been city attorney in Winfield during the first
decade of the XXth Century. He played a major role in closing down the city’s
saloons….A little over two months before the Court’s decision was rendered, the Kansas
Grand Dragon issued an appeal to Kansans for justice and fair treatment for the Klan.
This appeal appeared in the Free Press on October 29, 1924.
189
Ibid., and “Says Klan Is Dead,” Courier, Sept. 27, 1927.
58
190
In the Klan’s early days, the Interurban ran special K.K.K. runs between the two
cities. See Free Press, front page banner, Aug. 25, 1924. In a way, this showed how the
Klan had become an integral part of Cowley County life.
191
The Klan had been meeting at the A.O.U.W. Hall as far back as 1924.
192
Courier, June 3, 1929.
193
Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1988), p. 253.
59
BIBLIOGRAPHY
This paper on the Ku Klux Klan in Cowley County could not have been written without
the assistance of several individuals and institutions. First, I must thank the helpful staffs
of the Winfield Public Library, Arkansas City Public Library, and the Ablah Library at
Wichita State University for making available to me their materials, especially their
microfilm newspapers collections, which were essential to my work.
I am grateful, also, to the Cowley County Historical Society, the Special Collections Unit
of the Ablah Library, and the Douglass Historical Museum for opening to me their
historical documentation on the Klan. I am also indebted to William Bottorff and his
excellent website on Cowley County history (http://ausbcomp. com/ ~bbott/) with its
collection of early 1920s Arkansas City Travelers, compiled by the dedicated Mary Ann
Wortman.
I was helped by Patricia Crawford of Winfield, who kindly shared with me information
on Winfield’s Black community; Wilbur Killblane of Arkansas City, whose informative
talk on “Little Chicago” introduced me to the rougher side of life in Arkansas City; Larry
P. Rhodes, an expert on Arkansas City history, who identified certain key individuals for
me; and Clayton Scott of Oxford, who help me understand the Douglass Klan of Dr. Ogg.
A special word appreciation and thanks is due to the Celebrate Winfield History
Committee. It was Dave Seaton, a member, who brought to my attention the need for a
paper on the local Klan. Dr. Roland Mueller, the committee’s chairman, was always
there when needed with encouraging words and sound advice. He is a true friend of Clio!
Finally, I cannot close without a word of appreciation for my good wife, Delia, for her
patience and help as I worked my way through this paper.
Books
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Oklahoma Press, 1995.
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Blee, Kathleen M. Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1991.
Butters, Gerald R. Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship, 1915-1966.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2007.
Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan. New
York: New Viewpoints, 1976.
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Davis, Colin J. Power At Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen’s Strike. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Goldberg, Robert A. “Invisible Empire: The Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan” in
Grassroots Resistance: Social Movements in Twentieth Century America. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1991.
Higham, John. Strangers In The Land: Patterns Of American Nativism 1860-1925.
New York: Atheneum, 1965.
Jackson, Kenneth T. The Ku Klux Klan In The City, 1915-1930. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1967.
Lay, Shawn, ed. The Invisible Empire in the West: Toward a New Historical Appraisal
of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
MacLean, Nancy. Behind The Mask Of Chivalry: The Making Of The Second Ku Klux
Klan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Mecklin, John Moffatt. The Ku Klux Klan: A Study of the American Mind. New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1924.
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Presss, 1962.
Rinehart, Mrs. Bennett, and Others. Blaze Marks On The Border: The Story Of Arkansas
City, Kansas. North Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1970.
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1927.
Wade, Wyn Craig. The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America. New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1988.
Magazines and Journals
Allerfeldt, Kristofer Mark. “Masons, Klansmen and Kansas in the 1920s: What Can
They Tell Us About Fraternity?,” Journal for Research into Freemasonry and
Fraternalism, 2 (2011), 109-122. Retrieved on September 19, 2011, from
http://www.equinoxjournals.com/JRFF/issue/current .
Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt. “The Shape Of Fear,” The North American Review,
CXCXXIII (March-April-May, 1926), 292-305.
61
Duffus, Robert L. “Salesmen of Hate: The Ku Klux Klan,” The World’s Work, 46 (May
1923), 31-38.
----------------------- “How the Ku Klux Klan Sells Hate,” The World’s Work, 46 (June
1923), 174-183.
----------------------- “Counter-Mining the Ku Klux Klan,” The World’s Work, 46 (July
1923), 275-284.
----------------------- “The Ku Klux Klan in the Middle West,” The World’s Work, 46
(Aug. 1923), 363-372.
----------------------- “Ancestry and End of the Ku Klux Klan,” The World’s Work, 46
(Sept. 1923), 527-536.
Evans, Hiram Wesley. “The Klan’s Fight For Americanism,” The North American
Review, CXCXXIII (March-April-May, 1926), 3-63.
Gagliardo, Dominico. “The Gompers-Allen Debate on the Kansas Industrial Court,”
Kansas Historical Quarterly, 3 (Nov. 1934), 385-395.
Greene, Ward. “Notes For A History Of The Klan,” The American Mercury, V (MayAug. 1925), 240-243.
Jones, Lila Lee. “The Ku Klux Klan in Eastern Kansas during the 1920’s,” The Emporia
State Research Studies, XXIII (Winter, 1975).
Myers, William Starr. “The Ku Klux Klan Of Today,” The North American Review,
CXCXXIII (March-April-May, 1926), 305-31090.
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Allen Confronts the Ku Klux Klan, 1921-1923,” Kansas History, 19 (Summer, 1996), 98111.
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Newspapers
The Arkansas City Traveler, 1920-23
The Jayhawker American, Sept. & Oct. 1923
The Wichita Beacon, 1921-23
The Winfield Daily Courier, 1920-29
The Winfield Daily Free Press, 1920-23
Manuscript Collections
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Special Collections, Ablah Library, Wichita State University
63
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
JERRY L. WALLACE grew up in small towns in Southwest Missouri where, in his
earliest years, he developed a lasting interest in history. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees
from Missouri State University and the University of Missouri, respectively. After
serving in the Peace Corps and U.S. Army, he worked as an archivist for the National
Archives and Records Administration for thirty years. During this time he honored to
serve as the historian-archivist for three presidential inauguration committees. After Mr.
Wallace retired in 1999, he and his wife Delia moved to Oxford, Kansas. For a time, he
served as archivist at Southwestern College. His interest in local history and that of the
1920s led to his serving on the Cowley County Historical Society board of directors and
the National Advisory Board for the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. He is the
author of several scholarly papers on President Calvin Coolidge and the book, Calvin
Coolidge: Our First Radio President (2008). He has been a member of the Celebrate
Winfield History Committee since its founding in 1999 and has produced in addition to
this paper, four other CWH award papers: Dry Bones on the March: The Great Winfield
Anti-Saloon Uprising of February 1901 (2006); The Jack Welfelt Story: Building Modern
Winfield (2008); The Story of Southwestern College: Its Beginnings (2009); and Edwin
Cassander Manning: The Founder of Winfield, Kansas (2010).
64