Masaryk University Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

The Appeal of the Second Ku Klux Klan

Diploma Thesis

Brno 2018

Supervisor Michael George, M.A.

Author Bc. et Bc. Iva Kubíčková Egertová

Declaration

Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou (bakalářskou, diplomovou, rigorózní, disertační práci) vypracoval/a samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty

Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.

I hereby declare that I worked on this thesis independently and that I used only the sources mentioned in the bibliography section.

…......

Bc. et Bc. Iva Kubíčková Egertová

Brno, 30 March 2018

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank to my supervisor Michael George, M.A. for his help and valuable advice during the process of writing this thesis.

I would also like to thank to Scott M. Waring, Ph.D., who helped me to find some valuable information regarding this thesis.

Table of Contents

Declaration ...... 2

Acknowledgement ...... 3

Table of Contents ...... 4

Introduction ...... 6

1 The First Klan ...... 8

2 Establishment of the Second Ku Klux Klan ...... 10

2.1 Leo Frank and Mary Phagan‘s Murder ...... 10

2.2 William Joseph Simmons – Founder of the Second Ku Klux Klan ...... 12

3 Expansion of the Klan in 1920s ...... 15

3.1 Evans Taking Control over the Invisible Empire ...... 16

3.2 The Klan‘s Vigilantism ...... 19

3.3 The Klan as a Profitable Business Organization ...... 23

3.4 The Ku Klux Klan in Politics ...... 27

4 ―The Birth of a Nation‖ as One of Successful Recruiting Tools ...... 30

4.1 ―The Birth of a Nation‖ and Woodrow Wilson...... 32

4.2 Analysis of the film ...... 33

4.2.1 The Plot...... 34

4.2.1.1 Part I: The Civil War ...... 34

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4.2.1.2 Part II: Reconstruction ...... 35

4.2.2 Blackface in ―The Birth of a Nation‖ ...... 41

5 Who were Klansmen? ...... 43

5.1 The Ku Klux Klan as a populist group ...... 46

5.2 Women in the Klan ...... 48

6 The Klan‘s Hierarchy and Rituals ...... 53

6.1 The Kloran and the Constitution of the Klan ...... 53

6.2 The Klan‘s Rituals ...... 55

6.3 Klonversation ...... 57

7 Decline of the Second Ku Klux Klan ...... 58

Conclusion ...... 61

Bibliography ...... 64

Anotace ...... 72

Klíčová slova ...... 72

Abstract ...... 73

Key Words ...... 73

Appendices ...... 74

5

Introduction

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan became a phenomenon of the 1920s

America. Hooded men marching through the streets of American towns and cities, burning crosses in the fields were an inspiration to some and dread to others.

In 1915, William J. Simmons, along with sixteen of his followers, climbed the

Stone Mountain where they burned a cross and established the new Klan as a patriotic fraternal order.

The original Klan was based on its disdain towards African-Americans, this new order despised not only African-Americans, but also Jews, Catholics, immigrants, or people of low morals. The Klan tried to bring back the tradition of white

Protestant America. And to a degree, it succeeded. Millions of members in the early

1920s are a proof of it.

This thesis describes both the Klan‘s expansion and decline in the 1920s and tries to explain the appeal of the organization to such a wide spectrum of Americans.

The leaders of the Klan used various techniques of attracting potential recruits. One of these techniques was certainly the film ―The Birth of a Nation.‖

There is a chapter dedicated to the movie, as it was not a recruitment tool only for the second Klan, but was used until 1960s.

Other beneficial tactics of recruiting new members are also part of this paper.

The thesis covers descriptions of the Klan‘s rituals, hierarchy, or its Constitution and holy text Kloran.

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was a fraternal organization open only to men. That does not mean women did not have opinions similar to men‘s. An auxiliary called the Women of the Ku Klux Klan was established in 1923 and is briefly discussed in this paper, too.

6

The thesis also describes the Klan‘s involvement in politics despite its claims it is not a political body.

Due to very limited availability of resources about this topic in the Czech

Republic, the majority of the sources were either downloaded, found, or purchased online. Some books were ordered in printed form from the USA.

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1 The First Klan

After the Civil War, the South found itself in chaos. All the beliefs of the southerners were turned upside down. Economy was slow, their slaves were freed, and people knew their lives would never be the same as they were before the war.

The first Ku Klux Klan was formed in the town Pulaski in Tennessee by several former Confederate officers in December 1865. Those soldiers had come from the front to find their homes disheveled. They were not happy about the outcome of the war, and they were not happy about the freedom their slaves suddenly had. This led to the establishment of the first Klan ever. Its name is probably derived from the

Greek word kuklos which means circle (Lingea), then, the founders added the word clan spelled with k, probably to achieve alliteration.

At first, the Ku Klux Klan was a loosely organized secret group of political and social terrorists. (Bryant) The members of the Klan would often go for night rides on horseback to attack mostly African-Americans. ―Klansmen stated that they were only vigilantes acting in the public interest.‖ (Miller 967) By this public interest they meant lynching and harassing not only former slaves, but also white Republicans.

In 1867, the mainly Republican Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which started a period known as Radical Reconstruction. The Acts included measures such as division of the South into five military districts, a permission to all males to participate in constitutional conventions, or voting rights for all men regardless of their race. As the Klan did not agree with the Acts, it evolved into a political organization. (Bryant) Former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest served as the leader – called Grand Wizard – of the organization. ―Under Forrest‘s control, the Ku Klux Klan became a major force of counterrevolution in Tennessee and the rest of the South.‖ (Wills 337) Even though Forrest believed in the power of

8 persuasion and tried to force it in the Klan, he failed and individual factions struggled for control. (Ku Klux Klan – History) Only two years later, Forrest was forced to officially disband the organization, but it still continued in a loosely organized system.

(Miller 967) Small cells kept raiding harassing African-Americans and Republicans and their violence kept growing. (Ku Klux Klan Act)

The real end of the first Klan brought the Enforcement Acts, specifically so called Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. This act, originally requested by president Ulysses

S. Grant, was introduced to protect African-Americans from the Klan‘s violence. It also included the possibility to declare martial law. After that, the Klan slowly faded away and ended its existence along with the Reconstruction period. (Ku Klux Act

Passed by Congress) The last Klansmen were active in 1877, because later, they did not have much of a meaning anymore. (Schaefer 145) The reason was that Jim

Crow‘s laws had become legislated and officially segregated the population, giving the Klan what it had wanted.

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2 Establishment of the Second Ku Klux Klan

The second Klan was founded in 1915 by William Joseph Simmons in Atlanta,

Georgia. On Thanksgiving night, Simmons and a group of his followers went to Stone

Mountain, where they ―gathered under a burning wooden cross and before a hastily constructed rock altar upon which lay an American flag, an opened Bible, an unsheathed sword, and a canteen of water.‖ (Rice 1) All gathered proceeded to take an oath to the Invisible Empire – Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. But as MacLean points out, ―their passion for ceremony was not matched by a talent for organizing.‖ (5)

Simmons did not have a specific plan for his new organization and for the next five years, the Klan had only a few thousand members.

There were a couple of inspirations for Simmons‘s plans – Leo Frank and the murder of Mary Phagan, and the premiere of D. W. Griffith‘s film ―The Birth of a

Nation‖, which was based on Thomas Dixon‘s novel ―The Clansman‖. ―The Birth of a

Nation‖ is described in its own chapter of the thesis.

2.1 Leo Frank and Mary Phagan’s Murder

Leo Frank was a Jewish American, who worked in Atlanta, Georgia as a manager of a pencil factory. In April 1913, Mary Phagan, only a thirteen-year-old worker, started another shift at the factory. Later that night, she was found in the basement of the building murdered. After conducting the investigation, the police arrested Frank, the last person to acknowledge seeing her alive, for the murder.

As Frank was originally from the North, he ―was probably viewed as an outsider by most of Georgia society at the time,‖ (Jacobs) which also helped to make him a target. Frank was convicted and sentenced to death mainly because of the

10 testimony of an African-American janitor, Jim Conley.1 Frank‘s story became a country-wide sensation, mainly because the newspaper covered the case thoroughly.

After Frank‘s sentence to death, new evidence started to appear and the media started taking sides. The New York Times gave the case such attention that even 33 articles were published in December 1914 and made the affair a nationwide mania.

(Oney)

Because of his own doubts about Frank‘s guilt governor John M. Slaton commuted Frank‘s sentence to life in prison. He also had Frank moved to a prison in

Milledgeville. People in Phagan‘s hometown Marietta were not pleased by Slaton‘s decision. In the middle of the town, they hung a dummy bearing a sign that read:

―John M. Slaton, King of Jews.‖ (See Picture 1)

Those men decided to take justice into their own hands. In August 1915, Tom

Watson, an editor of a Georgia based tabloid Jeffersonian, wrote about resurrecting the Klan to restore Home Rule. (Quoted in MacLean 12) Only three days after that, a group of Marietta citizens (according to Linder, the group consisted of a clergyman, an ex-sheriff, and two former judges among others) broke into the Milledgville prison and kidnapped Frank and took him back to the 120 miles distant birth town of Mary

Phagan, where they lynched him and left him hanging from an oak tree. Photos from the scene can still be found on the Internet. People gather around the hanging body and look directly into the camera, not ashamed and not trying to hide their faces.

There are even children in the photos. Linder claims that hundreds of people came to see Frank‘s body and some even tore pieces of his clothes to save as souvenirs.

Moreover, Frank‘s murderers were never brought before justice. (Leo Frank Lynching

Plaque)

1 Nowadays, Conley is widely considered the murderer of Mary Phagan due to new facts and witnesses found. (Oney) 11

The group that orchestrated Frank‘s kidnapping and subsequent lynching called themselves The Knights of Mary Phagan. As MacLean points out, there is an urban legend saying that the same people were the founding members of the new Ku

Klux Klan; nevertheless, no evidence can prove that claim. (MacLean 12) However, even if it were not the same people, those groups had similar objectives and Mary

Phagan‘s Knights paved the road towards the new Klan. Frank‘s lynching was only one of 22 that happened that year in Georgia (Known Georgia Lynching), but it was definitely one that primed people for the resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan and raised hate against Jews.

2.2 William Joseph Simmons – Founder of the Second Ku Klux

Klan

Simmons was born in Harpersville, Alabama in 1880. After fighting in the

Spanish-American War, he started using title ―Colonel‖ even though he never reached that rank. Moreover, Rice claims Simmons wasn‘t even an officer, but only a private. (Rice 1) This title gave Simmons more authority over other people, and is often mentioned as a rank and a nickname he got as a member of a fraternity called the Woodmen of the World. (ibidem 130) After the war, he worked as a Methodist minister, but eventually got suspended.2 Later, Simmons showed his fascination with secret societies, because he became an organizer for Freemasons, or the Knights of

Templars. In fact, he was a member of several churches and fifteen different fraternal organizations. (Gordon 8.73) Fraternal orders were something Simmons was almost

2 Streissguth quotes the reason to be „moral impairment―, and that Simmons was too lazy and incompetent to work as a minister. (67) 3 With e-books in epub or mobi formats, it is impossible to write a number of the page, therefore number of the paragraph as shown in the program Calibre are used within this thesis. 12 obsessed with since he was a child and listened to stories of his ―black mammy‖ about the Klan. (Rice 2)

However, if it were not for a car accident he was injured in in early 1915, the history could have been different. While Simmons was recovering from his injuries in hospital, he became more and more obsessed with the Reconstruction Klan his father had been a member of. (Maclean 5) The premiere of ―The Birth of a Nation‖ in

February of the same year and its record-breaking success might have might have pushed Simmons to take action. He started drawing Klansmen and their costumes; he rewrote the Klan‘s Prescript and detailed the organization‘s hierarchy. He even created passwords for the Klan‘s member to identify each other. (Gitlin 75) Those abbreviations will be covered later.

In December, a few weeks after he ritually revived the Klan, ―The Birth of a

Nation‖ premiered in Atlanta, Georgia. Simmons realized he could share its publicity and had an advertisement for his order printed next to the one introducing the film in local newspaper. (McEwan 9.16)

Simmons made claims to avoid the first Klan‘s violence. In his pamphlet, he insists that the original KKK‘s ―noble principles‖ were his inspiration. He did not want to ―revive its original necessary modus operandi, for no such conditions justifying such existed [then], but to reincarnate its lofty spiritual purpose in a new body of a real patriotic fraternal order.‖ (Simmons) He gambled on recruiting new members with the idea of secret ceremonies, sense of brotherhood, and resurrecting noble principles of the original Klan. However, as it has already been mentioned,

Simmons‘s weakness was marketing. ―His Klan conducted only one public action, at a veterans [sic] parade in 1919 – and a photo of ―his group‖ in that parade turned out

13 to show twenty African Americans he had paid to dress up in sheets.‖ (Gordon 8.10)

This may be considered a proof of Simmons‘s hypocrisy.

―In spite of the uproar surrounding the Leo Frank case and the continued interest in The Birth of a Nation, the Klan struggled to survive for several years.‖

(McVeigh 21) It did not attract as many new members as was its potential, so in June of 1920, Simmons joined forces with Mary Elizabeth Tyler and Edward Young Clarke from the Southern Publicity Association. With them, Simmons changed the Klan into a money-making business – he sold Klan costumes, memberships, and even life insurance to his followers. (Meltzer 33)

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3 Expansion of the Klan in 1920s

With signing of the contract between Tyler, Clarke and Simmons, the Klan began its new era. Its new PR representatives would get 80 percent of any revenue they would bring in from new recruits. (Gordon 8.12) That gave them great incentive to become as successful as possible in their goal to make the Klan more popular; and successful they were as will be presented later in this chapter.

Under their new leadership4 the Klan focused more on its rhetoric.

―Engendering and exploiting fear, he would warn that ―degenerative‖ forces were destroying the American way of life.‖ (Gordon 8.13) His fairly new propaganda used all the fears of the time – because of World War I, people inclined towards patriotism and everybody even seemingly ―un-American‖ was suspicious. (Heinrichs 21) That meant members of the organization were white Protestant men preaching

Americanism and their targets no longer only African-Americans and Jews, but also all sorts of immigrants, Catholics, or even communists. Moreover, the Klan kept their eyes on union organizers and immoral people, which included divorced women.

Anybody who was not a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (commonly named WASP) man living an orderly life could be a possible target. It also meant that the organization had a potential to appeal to much larger group of people than before.

Tyler and Clarke had Simmons appear in newspaper interviews to spread his propaganda. Advertisements with application forms attached appeared in media and press releases were sent out that tied the Klan to any remotely relevant news stories.

(Gordon 8.14)

4 Simmons was still the leader – Imperial Wizard – of the Klan, but Tyler and Clarke made the group grow with their recruitment techniques.

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Not even Tyler and Clarke expected such a rapid boom of the Klan. (MacLean

6) It appealed not only to the Southerners, but it soon expanded to the North and did not stay in the East either. There were Klan cells in all of the 48 states. (Baker 21)

Only after a year, the Klan reached the same size as the original order and by 1924 the organization counted millions of members. The numbers are estimated anywhere between 2 to 9 million people. (Rice 13, Alexander 359, Streissguth 93, McVeigh 1,

Schaefer 147)) It easily could have been even more, because of the very nature of the Klan – it was a secret organization and its members, apart from a few highly standing ones, were unknown.

The Klan entered political arena, too. In 1922, Hiram Welsey Evans, Imperial

Kligrapp (national secretary), led a group of ambitious politicians into both local and state politics. They helped ―to elect its favorites to governorships in Georgia and

Oregon, a United States senatorship in Texas, and local offices in numerous places over the nation.‖ (Alexander 356) However, Evans‘s plan was to usurp power over the whole Invisible Empire as will be discussed in the next chapter.

3.1 Evans Taking Control over the Invisible Empire

Evans ironically benefited from an exposé by the New York ―World‖ in 1921.

Apart from other scandals that were revealed by the series of articles, the ―World‖ wrote about Clarke and Tyler‘s relationship and some Klansmen started protesting.

Of course, such behavior was against everything the Klan kept preaching. The scandalized members went directly to Simmons and asked him to deal with the situation. They were promised Simmons would act, but he did nothing after all. (Cook

53) Simmons was now viewed as a weak leader and some people thought it was good time to replace him. (ibidem 54)

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In November 1922, there was a Klonvokation (a convention) held in Atlanta.

Evans‘s supporters David C. Stephenson and Fred L. Savage convinced Simmons that because of his recent actions, members of the Klan were unsatisfied with him as the Imperial Wizard. They told him that those members were numerous and were about to vote him out of the position, they also claimed that they would have sharpshooters at ready if anybody insulted his honor. Simmons later described this conversation in detail and quoted Savage‘s words: ―A rough house is going to be provoked and the Klonvokation will be destroyed. Now in order to preserve the harmony and the peace and the wonderful carrying on the Klonvokation as we have it, let us beat those birds and you give them a message in which you refuse to allow your name to come before them to succeed yourself.‖ (Quoted in Rice 9) Simmons would not want any internal war, because that would undermine the Klan itself, since struggle for power is usually a bad message towards potential members. Killing the

Klan‘s members at a convention would definitely belong among the worst things that could happen to his profiting organization. He agreed with Stephenson and Savage and concurred to name Hiram Wesley Evans as his successor. Hours before their meeting with Simmons, the two had approached other delegates with the news of an election for Imperial Wizard being held the next day, the conspirators were convincing in their claims that Simmons was overworked and needed a more honorary title that required less work. (Gitlin 79)

At the Klonvokation, Evans was indeed elected as Imperial Wizard. Simmons was made Emperor after redrafting the Klan‘s constitution. Later, Evans claimed he had had no knowledge of the ―coup‖ Stephenson and Savage had prepared. (Rice 9-

10) Yet, he did not hesitate in replacing Simmons. He moved into the Imperial

Palace and embraced his new position. Stephenson became a Grand Dragon and

17 controlled Klan in 22 states. These facts suggest more on Evans and Stephenson planning the whole incident in advance. It is not very likely Evans had had no idea such thing was coming.

A few months after the fateful Klonvokation, Tyler remarried and left the Klan work. Clarke was also removed from the organization at the first opportunity, which was commented by Evans as ―for the good of the order, ( . . . ) [because he would not get] one cent of revenue from the Klan.‖ (Quoted in Rice 10)

Meanwhile, Simmons realized he had been deceived. He was promised ―a throne room from which he could serve as Emperor, but it never materialized.‖ (Gitlin

80) The title of Emperor was only honorary and spiritual and did not give Simmons any real power within the organization, so he soon became outraged. He tried to gain his power back by informing Klansmen of the deception. However, Evans had a court order that prevented Simmons from speaking. (Gitlin 80) The Emperor still had a certain advantage, though. He owned the copyrights to Klan rituals, regalia, constitution, and titles. At first, he was paid 1,000 dollars a month. He was meant to be paid this sum for the rest of his life, but later he agreed on a settlement of 146,500 dollars5 and left the Ku Klux Klan for good. Since Simmons could be described as obsessed with fraternities, he went and founded a rival to the Klan called Knights of the Flaming Sword. This organization was not a success and Simmons spent the rest of his life drinking. (Gitlin 77)

5 Simmons claimed he it was only 90,000 dollars. (Alexander 358) However, Gitlin claims that 145,000 was the amount they settled for, but Simmons was paid only the 90,000 dollars. (77) 18

3.2 The Klan’s Vigilantism

As described in the previous chapters, it is clear that the first Klan was basically a terrorist group of people trying to protect the white supremacy via violence. Even though the second Klan‘s leaders insisted on the Klan being a law- abiding group, there were countless incidents of ―vigilante‖ activity. As mentioned before, in September 1921, the New York ―World‖ published a series of articles about the Klan. These articles were an exposé of the Klan‘s illegal activities including violence. ―The World‖ wrote about killings, mutilations, branding with acid, floggings, tar-and-feather parties, kidnappings, or warnings to leave the area. (Meltzer 40)

Moreover, the articles talked about the Klan‘s financial fiddling, blackmailing, or conspiracies. (Streissguth 70) However, the exposé had little to no effect on stopping the Klan from gaining new members for the organization. The numbers of Klansmen grew for several more years. Moreover, Simmons said that only after the exposé, the

Klan started to grow rapidly. (Quoted in Cook 51) The reason was probably the following Congressional hearing in which Simmons was questioned. He played his role well and kept protesting, that the Ku Klux Klan is only a fraternal order just like others. He refused any violence and claimed the organization shouldn‘t be held responsible. ―It was tremendous theater, and the Klan emerged from the congressional inquiry virtually unscathed.‖ (Cook 53)

Remarkably, the leaders of the Klan always denied allegations of violence and abuse perpetrated by their members. The reason might be that it was not seen beneficial for their marketing strategy. Moreover, the Klan took the criticism and used it as a proof of its victimization. (Gordon 10.24) Similar practice can be found in today‘s politics. ―Fake news‖ allegations are thrown against the media almost every

19 day to undermine its credibility and make people believe the politics are being bullied by them.

However, the organization kept its rhetoric of being a defender of justice and enforcer of civil and, of course, racial law. (The Ku Klux Klan: Who-Why-What) As

Gordon points out, the Klan was a leading movement against crime in the 1920s.

(Gordon 13.15) The order used it as a recruitment strategy. The Klan spoke about rising criminal activities and such statements aroused anger about criminals going free because of ―trivial procedural legal loopholes.‖ (ibidem 13.15) Because

―vigilantism‖6 was the first Klan‘s tradition, the Klansmen might have felt the push to be as heroic as Ben Cameron in the movie ―The Birth of a Nation‖, which was often showed to new recruits. The leaders of the Klan ―may have tried in earnest to keep

Klansmen within the law. But they also understood that vigilantism attracted [certain groups of] members, so their recruitment pitches frequently hinted at vigilante opportunities.‖ (ibidem 13.17) The pamphlet ―Ku Klux Klan: Who-Why-What…‖ also sends similar message to the potential recruits. It speaks about righting the wrong, about what their fathers accomplished in the defense of home, or about the original

Klan‘s unselfish, patriotic achievements, while in the same breath it insists on being a peaceful fraternity for Protestant native-born manly men. Besides, Simmons also said that ―if needed we have a great invisible and mysterious force that will strike terror into the hearts of lawbreakers.‖ (Quoted in MacLean 158) MacLean also provides testimonies of centrally operated tutoring sessions on how-tos of ―rough stuff‖ under the patronage of Simmons (and later Evans) himself. (MacLean 167) The way the organization‘s members spied on people in their communities gives certain credibility to such accusations. In Rice, it is described how such processes worked. These

6 According to the Oxford dictionary, vigilantism is ―law enforcement undertaken without legal authority by a self-appointed group of people.‖ (Oxford Dictionary) 20 members would report weekly to Klokann (an investigation committee), which then passed a judgment on each case and decreed a proper course of action. (Rice 28)

Similarities between individual Klan cells‘ modus operandi do not look coincidental.

Of course, with the size of the Klan in its peak, it‘s almost unimaginable that all the members participated in this ―vigilantism.‖ Probably only a small percentage of the Klansmen kept such practice, otherwise, with millions of members, there would surely be countless more attacks, if not a bigger conflict as well. It is possible that the vigilante groups were another Klan within the Klan itself. Fry says he did not get all the information on the organization and never even saw its constitution until later after he left the order. (71) Some members did not learn about the ―flogging committees‖ for years. ―The Exalted Cyclops was fully aware of its activities ( . . . ); he appointed its chief – sometimes a different one for each action ( . . . ). The members were known only to its head – who drafted them – and the Exalted

Cyclops.‖ (MacLean 168) Those subgroups bore various names because of their need for anonymity; ironically, one of them was called the ―Sanhedrin‖, the name coming from Hebrew and representing the ancient Jewish council of judges. (Gordon

13.27)

If such activities had been known to the majority of members and public, the

Klan would have probably been less successful in increasing its numbers. It is hard to imagine millions of people readily signing up to an openly violent organization. It is more presumable the majority chose to ignore such allegations since they kept being denounced by the Klan‘s leadership, and only those who seemed inclined towards

―vigilantism‖ were secretly drafted from the ranks of its members.

However, to claim the Klan was not exceptionally violent, as it is described in some studies, would be trivializing its deeds. For instance, Rice says that local Klans

21 rarely resorted to a physical disciplining and if they did so, the newspapers wrote about it. (28) Certainly, it wasn‘t as brutal as its predecessor, but violence occurred on a daily basis, which is confirmed in the following paragraph of Rice‘s work, where he describes several assaults conducted by the Klan (28). Those attacks do not sound rare at all. There were African-Americans whipped because of their color, a man beaten because he had separated from his wife, a German speaking man, a lawyer handling lawsuits for blacks was lashed, a woman stripped and beaten for her marriage status was in question, and many more. (Cook 43) Furthermore, it does not seem likely that all such incidents would appear in the media, for not all people would report them, or even talk about them with anyone,7 and the newspapers did not have any obligation to write about every single incident that got reported. However, as is mentioned in MacLean, not only the victims of the Klan‘s violence were affected.

(166) The majority of members of the community, who learned about such incidents, would probably change their behavior, after being threatened with a similar fate, in fear the Klan would come for them, too. That is to say, the Klansmen liked verbal threats and burning crosses to bully their opponents just as much as violence.

Needless to say, since the people committing crimes in the name of the Klan were dressed in the Klan‘s robes, it was impossible to determine whether they truly were a part of the order and if they were, they could easily take action without the authorization of their local Klan cell. On the other hand, people entered the organization for certain reasons and those reasons were generally shared within the local chapters, so it appears to be less likely that non-members would go and commit

7 Like today, only a third of all rapes are reported to police. (The Vast Majority of Perpetrators) The reasons behind not reporting such crimes might be similar to not reporting being beaten, or otherwise, by hooded men. Furthermore, the Klan‘s members were everywhere and it would be understandable that the victims of their assaults would be afraid to report them, not only because they might encounter a Klansman while doing so. 22 assaults in the name of the Klan if they were not devoted members of the order. On top of that, people usually don masks when they want to hide their identity. As

MacLean points out, the Klan was well suited to supporting and protecting violent activities. (167) A former Klansman was heard saying: ―It is not logical to believe that if the intent and purpose is good and for the general welfare, the members will be ashamed, or afraid to be known.‖ (Quoted in MacLean 167)

The Klan‘s preferred way of dealing with behavior they deemed immoral or undesirable seemed to be also ostracism. This way of dealing with unwelcome people within a community seemed to be quite frequent, too. Rice presents an example of such treatment. A man, who had a sexual relationship with a ―notoriously wanton woman,‖ was threatened that he would be sorry if he did not leave his mistress. Instead, the man stayed with the woman and a few days later, he was made redundant at work, his landlord raised his rent, and shopkeepers refused to sell any goods to him. Only one grocer would sell the man food (and was later punished by losing nearly three quarters of his trade). Within two weeks, the victim moved out of the town. (Rice 28) Imperial Wizard Simmons often used the phrase ―vocational

Klanishness‖ (quoted in Schaefer 149) for such activities – the Klan would for example boycott businesses that were owned, served, or employed people that were unwelcome.

3.3 The Klan as a Profitable Business Organization

As was already mentioned, Tyler and Clarke signed a contract with the Klan and got 80 percent of all revenues from new members. The rest of the money went to the Klan. The organization earned money on membership, costumes, or life insurance. With approximately 3,500 new members every day in 1922 (according to

Simmons), the daily income would be roughly 45,000 dollars (Meltzer 36), which

23 would make 666,940 dollars nowadays. Simmons always insisted that he revived the

Klan only as a memorial of the first group and to gather people who love their country and are proud of its traditions. (The Ku Klux Klan: Who-Why-What 4) It might have been true in the beginning, but later the organization resembled a money-making scheme. ―One study labeled the Klan ―a hybrid of a social club and a multi-level marketing firm.‖‖ (Quoted in Gordon 11.6)

Out of the 10 dollars (which equals roughly 124 dollars today) every member paid to join the order, 2 dollars went directly to Simmons. Tyler and Clarke were bound by their contract to use their 8 dollars for all their expenses (the whole contract is quoted in Fry 38-40). They paid the Kleagles (title for recruiters) from that money – for each new member, Kleagles got to keep 4 dollars and 1 dollar went to the King

Kleagle. 50 cents got the Grand Goblin and 2.50 dollars got Tyler with Clarke. (Fry

241)

In the pamphlet ―The Ku Klux Klan: Who-Why-What, Yesterday, Today and

Forever‖, potential members could learn about the degree fees from the following paragraph:

Membership in this Order cannot be bought; it is given as a reward for

service unselfishly rendered. If you really believe in the Order, and will practice its

principles, and conform to its regulations and usages and contribute the sum of

Ten Dollars toward its propagation and can otherwise qualify, then membership is

awarded you upon this service rendered and pledge of future fidelity to the

institution. This is NOT a selfish, mercenary, commercialized proposition, but the

direct opposite. (8)

Especially the last sentence shows the hypocrisy of the Klan. The membership fees made the leaders wealthy and Simmons, Clarke and Tyler cashed the most, because they remade the Klan into a commercial business. The ten dollars fee

24 certainly was not all used towards the propagation of the Klan. Besides, to claim the membership couldn‘t be bought when people paid to become members sounds ridiculous.

The admission fee wasn‘t the only way of making money in the Klan, though.

The order constantly kept finding new things to get money from people. Everybody who has seen The Birth of a Nation would remember the Klansmen as people dressed in white robes with a helmet covering their faces. In the first Klan or in the movie, those robes were made by family members of the Klansmen. The second

Klan monetized this tradition, too. Robes were supplied exclusively by the order itself.

(Alexander 355) As Fry points out, it wasn‘t compulsory to own the robe, but the majority of new members wanted to purchase one. (Fry 41) The robes were not for sale, but were only rented and members had to return them, if they left the organization. The robes were 6.50 dollars each for the basic robes; Kleagles had to pay 12 dollars, since their robes were more ornate, and higher standing officials would pay even more. (ibidem 41) Furthermore, literature, ritual equipment, and other paraphernalia were being sold. (Alexander 353) As already mentioned, the Klan also provided life insurance to its members; burial service was also offered, but the organization never actually rendered the service. (Gordon 11.14)

The organization made people believe that it was, apart from other things, founded for charitable purposes. However, O. B. Williamson, an inspector who perused the Klan‘s documentation, did not find any evidence to support that claim.

When questioned about his research, to the question about the sum of the Klan‘s money used for the benefit of ―needy people,‖ he answered: ―Well, if you call Mr.

Simmons a needy person, then some thousands of dollars have been spent for him.

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But general charity ( . . . ) has not received any of it; at least it does not appear on the accounts.‖ (Quoted in Fry 241)

Charity would not be an activity criticized by outsiders, only if the Klan truly did what it claimed. The members were prodded into helping people in need and local chapters often offered a great deal of aid to such individuals (they gave money to local priests, donated baskets to the poor, in Louisiana the Klan collected funds to start a ―Protestant Home for girl,‖ because there had been only a Catholic one in the state, etc.). (Baker 51) Of course, such help was provided only those who were worthy in the Klan‘s eyes. (Rice 26) However, there were also cases in which the

Klan only cashed in in the name of charity. In Arkansas, one Klan chapter promoted a fund-raising campaign for the construction of a new charity hospital. ―Donations for the project came in from Klansmen in various parts of the nation, but not a brick of the hospital was ever laid.‖ (Alexander 361) So it seems the Klan wasn‘t as charitable as it advertised to the outside world. Alexander states that a lot of funds set aside for charitable purposes were utilized for political campaigns and for personal use of high- ranking Klansmen. (361) It is hardly surprising that corruption thrived even in the one

Klan‘s activity that could be at least partly positive; because usually the more money people have, the more money they need.

As the new Imperial Wizard, Hiram W. Evans tried to be a reformer. He wanted to regulate the Klan‘s finances and even though there might have been less of misappropriation of the organization‘s funds, he still only meant to make certain people richer; only this time it wasn‘t just the highest ranking officers, but more people. (Alexander 358)

Under Evans‘s rule, the Klan could be compared to a feudal society in various aspects. The members paid taxes to their local leaders, who in turn paid a

26 percentage to the higher levels of the Klan‘s government. That means rank-and-file members would only be paying for all the services offered by the organization, while the higher the member got, the more money they could potentially have. No wonder the organization was labeled as a multi-level marketing. Because of this reform, the national headquarters‘ net income dropped from 10.5 million dollars in 1922 to approximately 3 million dollars in 1923. (Alexander 359) It is an immense decline, but

Evans still earned a lot of money and by sharing more of it than his predecessor, he probably avoided his own Hiram W. Evans to rebel against him.

Evans also increased the funds in the Imperial Treasury by which he probably placated the Klan delegates attending the Klonvocation in 1924 where he shared this news. Only, as Armstrong points out, his accounts were extremely misleading and even though the Imperial Wizard truly managed to accumulate more money for the

Klan than his predecessor, there were still millions of dollars missing. (363-364) That money, as mentioned before, probably made several Klan leaders very rich.

3.4 The Ku Klux Klan in Politics

As already observed before, the Klan also interfered in politics – unlike the

Reconstruction Klan which was exclusively Democratic, the second Klan appealed to both Democrats and Republicans. This transformation into a political group happened mainly under Hiram Evans‘s leadership. To fully incorporate electoral politics into the

Klan‘s activities and to become successful in such endeavors, he made several drastic changes within the organization. He sold the Atlanta Imperial Palace

(ironically to the Catholic Church) and moved the headquarters to Washington DC.

He vehemently denounced any violence, he tried to combat drinking, made efforts to get rid of corruption (only forgot about himself) and urged Kleagles to investigate potential members in detail. (Gordon 8.17)

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The order‘s political influence peaked probably in 1924 when state governments in Indiana and Colorado became controlled by Klansmen. The Klan‘s influence did not stop on the state level; the organization was successful in affecting national politics, too. Before the Democratic national convention, the Klansmen had been enraged because a Catholic was nominated for the presidential election.

However, their aggressive campaign against him proved fruitful and their own candidate won the primary election in the end. Their measures though were not received well by some other Democrats. At the convention there appeared a proposal to add a condemnation of the Klan into the party platform; the Convention was divided into two factions – pro- and anti-Klan. ―The Invisible Empire‘s ability to stave off a proposal to denounce the hooded order by name at the Democratic national convention in New York City suggested the political strength of the Klan movement.‖

(Pegram 186-187) The Klan was so confident about its influence that ―The National

Kourier‖ (the order‘s official newspaper) wrote an article, where it claimed that all political parties would have to soon ―reckon‖ with the Empire. (Quoted in Rice 30)

Because the Klan swarmed the United States in the early 1920s, it is reasonable to assume there were many Klansmen elected to state and local offices.

Since even Harry S. Truman attended one of the gatherings because he was seeking support in his re-election as a judge and even paid the 10 dollars membership fee

(Stockton), it can be presumed there were plenty of similar cases across the USA. In areas where the Klan had a great deal of membership within the community there is a high chance it had its representation in various offices. Gordon supports such claims by saying it would be impossible to count all the Klan candidates elected to state and local offices; on the other hand it can be said that there were sixteen senators, many congressmen (75 according to the Klan), and eleven governors.

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(Gordon 16.8) The Knights occupied other influential positions, too. There were judges, sheriffs and even some Supreme Court Justices among the Klansmen.

(ibidem 16.9) Moreover, there were many politicians agreeing with the Empire‘s policies and thus friendly towards it.

However, it is ironic that many prominent members declined the Klan‘s involvement in politics. Even Simmons at the Congressional meeting of 1921 declared that ―the Ku Klux Klan is not a political organization, nor does it seek political power.‖ (Quoted in Rice 35) Of course, Simmons always insisted that the order was more of a memorial and tribute to the Reconstruction Klan. The second

Imperial Wizard, Hiram Evans also started proclaiming that the Klan was not in politics and it was not a political party. Actually, most of such statements refused the notion of the Klan being a political party. (Rice 35-36) Nonetheless, being a political party and being involved in politics are two different things and there is no debate that the Invisible Empire was an influential political force on all the governmental levels (local, state, and national).

The Klan did not try to affect politics only as a political force – there were numerous cases of violent persuasion. For example, the Klan tried to scare African-

Americans before elections. One such incident took place in Florida. One African-

American did not listen to the Klan‘s threats before the election in 1920 and went to the polls. For that, he was beaten and ordered to go back home. Later, his neighborhood was attacked, dozens of African-Americans died and several buildings burned. (Rice 48) This incident proves that to affect politics, the Klansmen did not need to be politicians themselves. They only needed to intimidate voters of those they did not approve of.

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4 “The Birth of a Nation” as One of Successful Recruiting

Tools

―The Birth of a Nation‖ is an American movie released in February 1915. It was directed by David Wark Griffith and based on a novel and play ―The Clansman‖ by

Thomas Dixon Jr. This film is closely related to the establishment of the second Ku

Klux Klan in December of the same year, and therefore important in understanding the appeal of the Klan.

The film is over 3 hours long and at the time of its release it was the longest and most expensive one ever filmed. (Stokes 15) It is divided into two parts – the first half is set at the outbreak of the civil war and ends with the assassination of Abraham

Lincoln and the second part follows the Reconstruction period. It is important to point out it was also the most profitable film until 1937 when Disney‘s Snow White and the

Seven Dwarfs was released. It made 18 million dollars with the charge 2 dollars per ticket. (―The Birth of a Nation (1915)‖ 1)

One might think the film‘s success was successful because of its message, but most of it was caused by its uniqueness in other aspects. Griffith used ornate title cards and subtitles that were used for verbalizing the scenes. He used original music written for an orchestra. Moreover, night scenes were included in the film as were outdoor landscapes as backgrounds. Individual scenes were tinted and every location got its own unique color. Griffith used a dynamic way of editing and narrative techniques that changed cinema and shaped it into the format we know today.

―Griffith did not invent all of these techniques, but ―Birth‖ was the first time they had all been used in the same film to create a cohesive narrative — a feat he accomplished in only nine weeks with a single camera and two lenses.‖ (Armstrong)

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The movie did not get positive reception from certain groups of people and riots and protests broke out at screenings, moreover the recently founded National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People led a campaign to ban the movie for its racist portrayal of blacks. Some of the fiercest riots and demonstrations took place in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston NAACP claimed the movie was a threat to public safety, it heightened racial tensions, and it could also incite violence. Boston mayor James M. Curley met with Griffith for a public hearing. Eventually, some of the scenes were cut out. The mayor claimed he could censor only ―indecent and immoral‖ parts, and so only the sexually suggestive ones were removed. (Mass

Moments) After that, the movie opened anyway. But as even bad publicity works well, people went to see ―The Birth of a Nation‖ and made it the first blockbuster in history.

The protests did not stop, though. Despite – or possibly because – of the film‘s popularity with white audiences, the protests it generated proved to be watershed in

African American activism. The film brought national attention to NAACP, because white newspapers wrote about the protests and gave a rare opportunity to black

Americans to be heard. (Mass Moments)

Along with the historically inaccurate events, there were several scenes recreated almost scrupulously. Griffith always labels such scenes in the movie as ―an historical facsimile,‖ which gives the film an aura of authenticity and historical accuracy. Some of those are for example the scenes of Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination, Congress meetings, or Civil War Battles. Since these scenes gave

―Birth‖ certain credibility it helped to use the film as propaganda not only for the second Ku Klux Klan.8 ―Sometimes Klan chapters signed members up outside theatres, and sometimes they booked screenings explicitly to enlist new recruits. In a

8 According to Stokes the movie functioned as propaganda and recruitment film at least until the 1970s. (Stokes, 9) 31 few places, screenings were attended by ushers dressed in Confederate uniforms, or even Klan hoods.‖ (McEwan 9.16)

4.1 “The Birth of a Nation” and Woodrow Wilson

Interestingly, ―The Birth of a Nation‖ was only the second9 film ever played in the White House. After seeing the film president Woodrow Wilson allegedly said: "It is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.‖ In his paper ―Birth of a Quotation‖, Benbow provides proofs about this quotation being in all probability only half factual. The second sentence emerged decades after the film was released, but the first one could have been spoken by Wilson himself to Griffith right after the film ended.

Wilson never publicly condemned ―The Birth of the Nation‖. Instead, he exchanged letters with Griffith encouraging him to work on other historical movies.

(Ambrosius 704) Furthermore, if he disliked the film, he would probably denounce the use of his words within it. There are several quotations from his ―A history of the

American People‖ to be seen in the middle and at the end of the film. Some of those are following lines that appear at the beginning of the second part of the movie.

―…. The policy of the congressional leaders wrought . . . a veritable

overthrow of civilization in the South . . . . . in their determination to ‗put the white

South under the heel of the black South.‘‖10

―The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation . . . . .

until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a veritable

empire of the South, to protect the Southern country.‖

9 Benbow claims that the first film ever shown was Cabiria in June 1914 and denies a popular belief that ―The Birth of a Nation‖ was the first ever played film in the White House. However, he also says that Cabiria was viewed only by the president and his family. Therefore, it can be said ―The Birth of a Nation‖ was the first public viewing in the White House, since friends and members of Woodrow‘s cabinet with families were invited. (Benbow 513) 10 The underlining appears in the title card in the film itself. 32

These words support the theory that Wilson wasn‘t against the movie and quotations by the US president would further legitimize ―Birth‖ in the eyes of people, and thus make it a perfect propaganda for Ku Klux Klan.

4.2 Analysis of the film

As already mentioned, the film is divided into two sections. The first part takes place before and during the Civil War and ends with the assassination of Abraham

Lincoln. The second part portrays the Restoration period in the South.

Before the film begins, audience can see a preface that reads:

A PLEA FOR THE ART OF THE MOTION PICTURE

We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with

improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the

dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue – the same

liberty that is conceded to the art of the written word – that art to which we owe

the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.

As The ―Birth of a Nation‖ was the first film in many aspects, it had not been expected that a motion picture could affect people‘s emotions and views of history. In his plea, Griffith implies he‘s only bringing the audience the experience of war and historical events. His ―dark side of wrong‖ is for example African Americans lusting after white women and Northern white opportunists desiring the riches of South. The

―bright side of virtue‖ represents slave owners and Ku Klux Klan itself. By comparing his film to the Bible and Shakespeare‘s work he tries to defend the movie and insinuates that ―Birth‖ is indeed a true historical film and only depicts the truth.

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4.2.1 The Plot

The film tells a story of two families – The Stonemans living in Washington

D.C. and the Camerons, plantation owners in Piedmont, South Carolina. Both families are befriended through their sons.

The Honorable Austin Stoneman is an abolitionist and politician. He has 3 children – daughter Elsie and sons Phil and Tod. The Cameron family includes mother and father Cameron and their children – Margaret, pet sister Flora, and three brothers Ben, Wade and Duke.

4.2.1.1 Part I: The Civil War

After the prologue, in which the Civil War is blamed on bringing Africans to

America (by Northerners at that), the viewer is introduced to the protagonist families.

The Stoneman sons travel to Piedmont during the antebellum period. They are introduced to the whole family and see the slaves happily working on the plantation and dancing to amuse their masters. They seem to have idyllic lives. During the visit,

Phil Stoneman falls in love with Margaret, and Ben falls for a photograph of Elsie

Stoneman. He takes the picture from Phil and carries it on his person until he finally meets her later in the film.

When the visitors leave for North, the war breaks and disrupts the relations between the families. Another historical facsimile appears in the movie – President

Lincoln‘s signing of The First Call for 75,000 Volunteers. As Lincoln signs, the scene is followed by a title card that reads: ―Abraham Lincoln uses the Presidential office for the first time in history to call for volunteers to enforce the rule of the coming nation over the individual states.‖ It implies this was the first act of war and never mentions the events before the call.

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Two and half years later, the viewers are shown a grown-up Flora and Ben at the front exchanging letters. Piedmont is not as idyllic as before the war. Raiders terrorize the town. Black Northern militia soldiers raid the whole town, the Camerons‘ villa included. They steal most of their belongings and set the house on fire. The

Cameron women hide in a cellar, but Mr. Cameron is beaten by the soldiers. As the

Northerners are ransacking the town, Confederate state troops are informed of the events and rush to rescue.

As the war continues, the youngest brothers from both families die on the front next to each other. The Camerons sell their remaining belongings to help the cause.

Later, they find out their other son Wade has passed, too.

Elsie Stoneman volunteers to be a nurse in the hospitals in the North, where she finally meets a wounded Ben Cameron. The two fall in love.

The war is over, the North wins. President Lincoln plans to rebuild the South.

――And then, when the terrible days were over and a healing time of peace was at hand‖……came the fated night of April 14, 1865.‖ President Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. This event marks the descent of South into chaos again.

Ironically, in Griffith‘s version of history, Abraham Lincoln is portrayed as a ―the best friend of South.‖ One would expect Lincoln being another villain in the South- partial story, but he is the complete opposite. He pardons Ben and instead of execution sends him back home; Griffith‘s Lincoln is a symbol of peaceful restoration in the South.

4.2.1.2 Part II: Reconstruction

The second part starts with a title card that reads:

―The agony which the South endured that a nation might be born. [sic]

The blight of war does not end when hostilities cease.‖

35

With this statement, Griffith outlines his beliefs about North and South, and all the injustice the war and reconstruction period brought to the South. There are a number of other intertitles following this one. The second card says: ―This is an historical presentation of the Civil War and Reconstruction Period, and is not meant to reflect on any race or people today.‖ Once again, Griffith tries to legitimize his work and claim its historical accuracy. The following title card quotes Woodrow Wilson once again, and further establishes Griffith‘s claims. Nevertheless, it also manages to be in contrast with the previous card. It talks about opportunists from the North, insolent Negroes, or ―putting the white South under the heel of the black South.‖

―Birth‖ shows the viewers that all blacks who aren‘t ―faithful souls‖ work with carpetbaggers for their own gain. ―The negroes getting free supplies. The charity of a generous North misused to delude the ignorant,‖ says another Griffith‘s title card. By faithful souls he means the blacks that stayed with their former owners as loyal servants and condemn the actions of other freed slaves.

Senator Stoneman is one of the most influential people of the North after the death of Abraham Lincoln. He encourages his mulatto protégé Silas Lynch and sends him down South to Piedmont itself to organize the newly freed slaves. There,

Lynch manages to spark a sort of an uprising against Southern whites. The black militia oppresses the rights of whites in the name of equality. Lynch‘s henchmen enroll the votes of blacks.

Stoneman, because of his poor health, comes to Piedmont with Elsie. She and

Ben rekindle their romance, but Margaret cannot speak to Phil because of the horrors of the war. Meanwhile, Silas Lynch notices the relationship between Ben and Elsie.

On the Election Day, ―all blacks are given the ballot, while the leading whites are disfranchised.‖ In this scene, white men try to vote, but are driven out by armed

36 black militia and because of that, ―the negroes and carpetbaggers sweep the state.‖ It is understandable that some of the film‘s audience, who had not studied history thoroughly, would see this as injustice that actually happened. The film is very persuasive in this matter. Furthermore, in early stages of movie industry, it is possible people were more malleable to trust what they saw in movies without looking for further evidence.

After the election, Silas Lynch becomes the state‘s Lieut. Governor and

Senator Stoneman is delighted, which encourages Lynch to think of Elsie as a perspective bride.

The film shows how the blacks repress the whites – at court, in the streets, and even in their homes. One of Camerons‘ ―faithful souls‖ is beaten for not voting with the carpetbaggers.

Griffith presents another ―historical facsimile‖ next. The facsimile is the State

House of Representatives. This facsimile is highly misleading. Griffith fails to specify it‘s connected only to the building itself, not the events the audience is about to witness. In the same title card, Griffith claims there were 101 black representatives against 23 whites. However, in 1868, there were only 73 black or mixed-ancestry delegates. (Rubin, ―Reconstruction‖) Other sources talk about 78 African-American representatives. (Work 87) That suggests that in 1871, when the session was held in the movie, the numbers would be more or less the same.11 Furthermore, Griffith‘s timeline is incorrect.12 The Klan was founded before 187113 and the events from the

11 The only other source claiming there were 101 black representatives is a book by James S. Pike. (Pike 12) However, this book is very biased and racist in its description of African-American representatives and therefore could be exaggerated in its figures. It almost invokes memories of the scenes from Griffith‘s film. Nevertheless, the book was published in 1874 and the question stands, whether maybe, Griffith had read this chapter before he made the film and took the figures from it. 12 Even Dixon‘s ―The Clansman‖, which was the book ―Birth‖ was based on and originally even named after, ends in the year of 1870. (Dixon) 13 According to Rubin, the Klan expanded to all the southern state by 1868. ( ―Ku Klux Klan‖) 37

House of Representatives are supposed to be another of Ben‘s reasons to establish the Klan. The African-American representatives are portrayed as uneducated, uncivilized men without any manners. The viewer watches them put their feet on the tables, eat and drink alcohol during the session, and talking to each other without any interest about what‘s being debated. When there are white visitors on the balcony and the delegates notice two pretty young women, they start lusting after them and a bill on interracial marriage is passed immediately; all the African-Americans present cheer. The white representatives are portrayed as a minority sitting silently in the corner.

We meet Gus, a black ―renegade,‖ who immediately starts lusting after Flora.

Silas Lynch does not give up on his plans for Elsie and tries to court her. ―In agony of soul over the degradation and ruin of his people,‖ Ben goes for a walk and sits at a bank of a river, thinking and fearing black supremacy. He sees white children donning white cloth and pretending to be ghosts. They scare of some black children and that gives Ben inspiration. The result is The Ku Klux Klan.

The first action of the Klan showed in the movie is terrorization of ―a negro disturber and barn burner. They are shown only scaring the man and his friend and not even touching him. Lynch organizes retaliation. He and his supporters ambush the Klansmen and kill them. They get their robes and show them to Stoneman. His reaction is the following: ―We shall crush the white South under the heel of the black

South.‖ Then he tells Elsie that Ben is a member of the Klan. ―Your lover belongs to this murderous band of outlaws.‖ Elsie is devastated and angry. She breaks her engagement with Ben.

Flora goes to the spring and meets Gus. He tells her he wants to marry her, but she is scared and flees. Gus pursues her through the wood to the top of a rocky

38 cliff. In the meantime, Ben goes looking for Flora, because he is worried. Gus assures Flora he will not hurt her, but Flora is terrified and climbs higher. Gus approaches her and gestures her to go down, but she loses her balance and falls down the cliff. It is not evident whether she jumped on purpose to avoid being raped and losing her reputation, or whether she fell merely by accident. Gus runs away, fearful of being made responsible and held accountable for Flora‘s death.

Ben finds Flora dying under the cliff. As he holds her, he swipes away blood from her face with a confederation flag. They exchange a few words and Flora dies in his arms.

After carrying his dead sister home, Ben takes a Klan robe and leaves. He enlists other townsmen in the search for Gus, ―that he may be given a fair trial in the dim halls of the Invisible Empire.‖ Gus hides in a pub and is discovered by one of the townsmen. He gets in a fight with the patrons, who are all African-Americans, and is consequently shot by Gus. Gus flees on horseback and is chased by other townsmen. Of course, he‘s captured, given a ―fair trial‖ by the Klansmen, found guilty and then lynched in execution. In the original version of the film, the details of Gus‘s punishment were more explicit. However, his castration and detailed scenes of lynching were cut out of the film. ―Censors found truthful and educational the suggestions of black sexual violence ( . . . ), but they wanted to bury the ( . . . ) representations of white racist speech and action.‖ (Rogin 174)

Gus‘s body is delivered to Silas Lynch‘s doorstep. He answers by ordering the black militia ―to fill the streets.‖ Senator Stoneman does not want to be associated with current events and leaves Piedmont to avoid consequences. The film draws near its climax. Mr. Cameron is accused of being a member of the Klan and is captured. Nonetheless, Cameron family‘s ―faithful souls‖, their black servants,

39 manage to free him. He, Margaret, Phil, Mrs. Cameron and their servants flee the town. They come across a cabin in the woods inhabited by Union veterans and are invited inside. ―The former enemies of North and South are united again in common defence [sic] of their Aryan birthright.‖ However, the black militia is closing in and besieges the cabin.

Elsie witnesses Mr. Cameron‘s escape and is worried for her brother. Since her father is not in residence, she tries to find help with Silas Lynch. Instead of help,

Lynch proposes to Elsie. She refuses – threatens him with horsewhipping – and he tries to force her to marry him anyway, and thus make her ―Queen of his Black

Empire.‖ Elsie tries to fight Lynch, but instead is imprisoned by him and being prepared for the wedding.

Senator Stoneman returns to Piedmont and visits Lynch, who reveals that he wants to marry a white woman. Stoneman congratulates him and Lynch becomes more confident and confides the woman is Stoneman‘s daughter. Stoneman shows his hypocrisy and is repelled and angered by Lynch‘s plans.

In the meantime, the Klans are assembling and ready to rescue Elsie and the group in the cabin. In Piedmont, the black mob lynches white sympathizers of the

Klan and other whites only helplessly look on. Then, the Klan arrives and drives the black militia out of the town. Elsie is rescued. After freeing the town, the Klansmen ride to the cabin and rescue everybody inside, preventing Mr. Cameron and one of the Union soldiers from rather killing their daughters than letting them fall into hands of their enemy. Both battles are unequivocally won by the Klansmen.

The Klan victoriously marches through the town; blacks are fleeing and whites are rejoiced. The Klansmen overlook the next election with their weapons armed to intimidate potential black voters, who rather turn around and step back. Of course,

40 both couples – Ben with Elsie and Phil with Margaret – rekindle their relationships and get married.

In one of the last scenes, Jesus looks down in approval of the outcome. The film ends with one last title card: ―Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and forever!‖14 Griffith seems to be proposing peace with these parting words, but looking back at the events of his film, he certainly does not mean union of all people, but only whites. The whole film suggests that this unity should be enforced by the African-

Americans being deferred to the whites.

4.2.2 Blackface in “The Birth of a Nation”

It has not been mentioned before, but one of the film‘s significant features is the use of white actors playing African Americans wearing blackface. Basically all the black characters that are important for the story are white actors. This includes

Senator Stoneman‘s ―mulatto‖ mistress, Silas Lynch, Gus, Cameron family‘s servants, and other less consequential characters. Actual African-Americans played only meaningless roles and as extras. Of course, they are not even mentioned in the cast list at the beginning of the film. The viewers can witness ridiculous scenes, where there are blackface characters in the forefront and African-Americans stand in the background.

There is even one scene by the end of the film, where Klan‘s members wear blackface and operate as spies in Piedmont. Elsie crashes a window and calls for help, because she recognizes them. In fact, this is a perfect disguise since half of the blacks in the town are actually whites wearing blackface, too. ―It thus normalises [sic] the use of blackface by inferring that there is no difference between makeup and an actual black face.‖ (McEvan 105)

14 The underlining appears in the title card in the film itself. 41

The use of blackface was not something new for the audience of the time, since it was a common practice. But later, Griffith was criticized because of it. Lillian

Gish, the actress that portrayed Elsie, defended the director in her memoir by saying:

―There were scarcely any Negro actors on the Coast (…) [and] Mr. Griffith was accustomed to working with actors he had trained.‖ (Gish and Pinchot 163) This seems to be a vicious cycle – there were no actors of color and because of the blackface trend, there was no need to train any either.

―The film represents how racist a white American could be in 1915 without realizing he was racist at all.‖ This quotation by Roger Ebert excellently illustrates the problem of a blackface not only in ―The Birth of a Nation‖, but also in the early cinema. It also describes why the film was such a huge hit between the white

Americans to the point of being a recruiting tool for the Ku Klux Klan.

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5 Who were Klansmen?

Up until now the Klansmen were referred to only as Knights of the Invisible

Empire. This chapter discusses who those people actually were.

Naturally, the Klan did not accept members from the groups it was opposed to

– people of color, Jews, Catholics, or immigrants would not be drafted into the organization. It would be strange if they wanted to enlist in the order anyway. The pamphlet ―The Ku Klux Klan: Who-Why-What…‖ states its prerequisites to citizenship in the Invisible Empire.

Only native-born American citizens who believe in the tenets of the

Christian religion and owe no allegiance of any degree or nature to any foreign

government, nation, political institution, sect, people or person, are eligible. (8)

Other than this, it enumerates only vague requirement the Klan has for its potential members. The membership applications were certainly more specific. One of them demands that applicants must be ―White, Native-born, Protestant Gentile

Americans,‖ who support, among other things, ―White Supremacy, or Just Laws.‖ (K.

K. K.) If a person wanted to become a member of the Klan, they had to fill in this application. Then they would get a questionnaire. Upon filling in all the questions in it and answering to liking of the recruiters, the person would be invited to a Klan meeting. Potential recruits answered questions such as: ―Were your parents born in the United States of America? Are you Gentile or a Jew? Are you of the white race or of a colored race? What is the color of your eyes? Do you believe in White

Supremacy? What is your religious faith? Of what religious faith are your parents?‖

(Knights questionnaire) Of course, there are more questions, some more, other less offensive, but as a whole, they give the picture of the Klan‘s intentions.

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It is understandable the Klan would accept only the ―true Americans‖ it endorsed. It is more difficult to define the order‘s class composition. As already discussed, being a Klansman could be fairly expensive, which indicates that the poorest would not enroll to become members for they simply couldn‘t afford it even if they wanted to. In fact, various historians have provided census data compared to

Klan membership lists. These studies indicate the majority of members were white- collars, businessmen, ministers, or even teachers, doctors, dentists, and lawyers.

(MacLean 57-58)

But why did those people rush to be Klansmen? For one, fraternities were quite popular at the time. ―Colonel‖ Simmons stands as a proof. Then, the secrecy of the Klan might be appealing to some people, especially because they could hide behind the order‘s masks. The members would also participate in various rituals hidden underneath their hoods; and then, after they finished whatever they were doing, they could go home and be regular Americans again. The robes too protected people‘s identities while they participated in ―vigilantism‖ as was already discussed.

The Klan‘s views reflected the society of the time (evidently, those views were designed to address as many people as possible) – people were worried because of immigration (millions of immigrants came to the States since 1880s), they resented

African-Americans because of their history and ―inferiority,‖ hostilities against Jews after World War I increased not only in the USA, but also in Europe. There were open anti-Semites even among very influential people such as Henry Ford or earlier mentioned Thomas Watson. Actually, all foreign ethnicities were a target of the

Invisible Empire. Interesting is that the Klan did not concern itself by speaking against

Native Americans who probably did not bother them since they were secluded in reservations.

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Being a Klansman also brought a certain degree of prestige in some areas of the country. The Ku Klux Klan was a highly structured organization with multiple levels of ranking. Many Klansmen delighted in gaining those titles. (MacLean 6) With millions of members, the Knights could make new connections – work and business opportunities, better social status, or, of course, friends with similar political and social opinions.

It was already remarked that the Klan at its peak counted Klaverns (local chapters or meeting places of the Klansmen) in all of the states. There were places where the order had overwhelming representation. What is surprising is that Oregon belonged to such states. What compelled people to join the Ku Klux Klan in a state where 85 percent of its inhabitants were native-born Americans? There were only few people of color, Catholics, or even Jews. In 1920, there were 788,000 people living in

Oregon and in the height of its activity, there were approximately 200,000 members of the Klan. (Rice 13) An idea to compare these facts to today‘s political situation and populist parties comes forward. Like one hundred years ago in America, immigrants are now coming to Europe. The situation might make people feel as unsure as were

Americans in the past. A Czech, partly populist, political party ―Svoboda a přímá demokracie‖ (SPD) ranked fourth in the last year‘s parliamentary elections in the

Czech Republic. (Volby) Its program is oriented against immigration and it refuses to accept any Muslim refugees within the borders of the country. In comparison with western European countries, there is a minimum of those immigrants staying there and yet, the party‘s rhetoric appeals to a lot of Czech voters. The reason might be fear of losing their lifestyles or jobs because of the newcomers, and therefore they want to prevent it. The same reason might have applied for Oregon citizens in the

1920s. However, Oregon had other problems that might have encouraged people to

45 join the Klan. As Cook points out, the officials did not enforce law properly – the prohibition laws were repeatedly violated and nobody tried to stop the practices. (59)

But that would not be good enough reason to gain one quarter of the state‘s citizens into the order. The Klan continued with its hate speech against Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. (ibidem 60)

As the Oregon case and other examples in this paper suggest, the Klan applied various techniques of campaigns depending on the local problems despite being presented as one national body. That was actually quite clever, because it, in all probability, secured much larger following. With this decentralization, the local chapters focused on ―threats‖ in their neighborhoods. There were places, where it cooperated with Irish Catholics against Mexican American Catholics. In Maine, foreign-born Protestants were admitted to the order to help the Klan in its fight against Catholics. There were also auxiliaries that brought in the ―right‖ foreign-born members. The Klan was basically a chameleon – it kept changing according to its surroundings to lure more members.

5.1 The Ku Klux Klan as a populist group

The Klansmen often referred to themselves as ―plain people,‖ (Pegram 223) for example Hiram Evans liked to call himself ―the most average man in America.‖

(Rice 8) The Klan claimed it fought for the values of most ordinary American people.

―The restrictive racial and religious identification of the Klan made its white Protestant nationalism an exclusive form of populism.‖ (Pegram 226) However, this right-wing populism is also frequently compared to fascism and Klansmen themselves saw the similarities of their ideology with the fascist regimes. The ―Searchlight‖ (a Klan newspaper) covered Mussolini‘s rise to power in 1922 and described it as ―a sign of political health in Italy.‖ (Quoted in MacLean 179)

46

It is important to note that the original populism is a left-wing ideology that supports the rights of ―ordinary‖ people in their fight against the elites and privileged.

Unlike that, the right-wing populism is more of a reaction to progressive social change by people who think they are losing power; they oppose both elites and minorities. (What Is Right-Wing Populism) Both fascist movement and the Ku Klux

Klan are rationally included as representatives of the ideology.

Right-wing populism is not a phenomenon of the past and today‘s populists‘ rhetoric and ideals can be compared to those of the Klan. As already mentioned, the

Czech political party SPD is one of the populist parties that try to demonize immigrants, they blame foreigners and minorities for economic problems, and they preach intense nationalism, which they call patriotism. This can be seen in their election campaign videos. (KPOLFSS) Even international media wrote about the party as about nationalists. (Bauerova) Such notions aren‘t exclusive to Europe.

There are plenty of right-wing populist politicians in the USA, too. Many of the features are similar to the Klan‘s rhetoric. The Klansmen used their speakers to incite anger against minorities. ―They used outrageously false and/or exaggerated claims to ratchet up fears that ―aliens‖ were threatening morals, law and order, political control,

―family values, ―American values‖, and, not least, jobs.‖ (Gordon 18.25) Of course, the Klan would stay on the more extreme end of the right-wing spectrum, while most of today‘s successful right-wing populists would not dare to go that far in their ideologies.

To summarize, the Klan can be viewed as a right-wing populist organization, which was very similar to the European fascist ideologies. Like the fascists, the

Klansmen organized parades and pageants to heighten the members‘ pride over being one of the master race, and also to motivate others to become part of it.

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(Gordon 18.25) However, the Klan was also different in some aspects. One of those was its financing. The leaders were not focused on investing ―their‖ money back into the organization like the fascists they were more interested in coining it. Gordon also points out that Klan connected nationalism with religion, which made their enemies sinners. (ibidem 18.27)

5.2 Women in the Klan

When speaking about the Klan‘s members, only men have been mentioned. It is understandable that there would be no women in a fraternity itself, but there were many of those who agreed with the organization‘s ideals. At first, women were only outside observers, for example wives and other family members of Klansmen.

Inspired by the Reconstruction Ku Klux Klan, the Knights saw women as something to protect and value. Defending the white womanhood was a slogan of the Klan. In his book The Klan Unmasked, Simmons dedicates a chapter to ―Conservation of

American Homes.‖ There he stresses the role of women as mothers, and family values. According to him, the Klan does not wish for each woman to have fifteen children, but it insists on at least two to six. ―Every normal young man and woman who accepts life should be gladly willing to create life.‖ (282) Such notions show how women were perceived at the time – basically, they should take care of their homes, husbands and offspring, and not meddle in politics.

The Klan opposed the suffragette movement and saw it as a threat in the beginning. (Heinrichs 22) But in 1920, women won the right to vote and Clarke and

Tyler focused to capitalize on real fears instead. (Schaefer 147) Besides, they probably realized that women can be as lucrative as men. Women could endorse the

Klan‘s ideals and if they had their own organization, more money would flow to the

Imperial Palace.

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At first, women sympathetic to the Klan‘s ideals started gathering independently. As already remarked, they were often wives of Klansmen, but there were some who led their husbands into the order. As Gordon points out, some men resented their wives‘ activities because of their absence from home; other times

Klansmen became laughing stock to their objectors, because they couldn‘t keep their wives at home. (Gordon 14.11) Women often did not seek Klansmen‘s permission to join the movement and organized themselves independently. After the Klan started gaining following, Klansmen leaders across the country, alarmed they did not have full control of the women‘s actions, decided to organize various female auxiliaries.

Under the sponsorship of Hiram Evans, the most successful was the Women of the

Ku Klux Klan (also referred to as WKKK). (Blee 63) The WKKK admitted only white

Protestant women of ―dependable character.‖ (Women of America! 15-16) Naturally, there would not be women of color or other denominations admitted as the WKKK honored the ideals of the Klan.

As said before, many women joined because of their beliefs in white

Protestant America. Others wanted to belong into the sorority because they searched female bonding; some were drawn to the secret rituals and hierarchy of the organization. (Gordon 14.64) Obviously, the reasons were very similar to the men‘s motives to join the Klan. Moreover, the order propagated female suffrage and gender equality and women also joined the Klan because of their newly gained political legitimacy. Naturally, the recruitment pamphlets of the WKKK warned about similar problems as the KKK did. In one of such booklets, the author writes about the organization being strictly non-denominational, but adds that every member should be affiliated with a Protestant church. The pamphlet also states, that the Klan is patriotic, or it highlights its ideals of white supremacy. However, there are some

49 specific topics the Women of the Ku Klux Klan addressed. They stressed the importance of a free public school system, they also emphasized the hierarchy of the organization – it was a group for women led by women, they called for political equality for white women, and naturally, talked about the preservation of family life.

(Women of America!) The Klanswomen also sometimes talked against domestic violence and often interpreted anti-miscegenation laws as defense against white men betraying white women by consorting with women of color. (Blee 2009 31, 34)

Nevertheless, men of the Klan kept seeing women as domestic and expected the WKKK to only uphold morals of young women. Klan newspapers published articles that strengthened such beliefs. ―The charm of the home depends upon the woman ( . . . ). Each night sees her a better housekeeper, a better seamstress, a better cook, a better wife, a better mother, a better woman – which means a better citizen.‖ (Quoted in Gordon 14.62) Klanswomen opposed such notions and saw themselves as equal to the Klansmen. ―Klanswomen attempted to prove that motherhood made them more apt than their male counterparts to protect the nation the Klan held dear.‖ (Baker 126)

Klanswomen‘s activities were similar to those of Klansmen. They had their own Kloran,15 they organized their own naturalization rituals, and they went to parades either with Klansmen or without. They even had their own internal judicial system and defended it by saying they could discipline and punish each other more effectively than men would. (Gordon 14.65) The WKKK organized all sorts of get- togethers – there were festivals, rallies, or recreational events. Such events were

15 The word Kloran was coined by William Simmons who named The Book of the Klan Kloran. It is probably a blend of words Klan and Koran (ironically the Holy text of Islam). Gordon supports this theory and points out that many Klan terms were orientalist or from Latin. (11.27) 50 either for Klanswomen only, or some for both the Klansmen and Klanswomen, and some for entire Klan families. (Blee 69)

Public school system was one of the issues the Klanswomen were concerned with. Unlike men, the women often put emphasis on topics closer to them than to men. Therefore, they focused heavily on public school system. They visited schools and distributed Bibles. Often, they attempted to have Catholic encyclopedias removed, or Catholic teachers fired; they called for racial segregation of schools.

Klanswomen also sometimes ran for school board seats, so they could put the Klan‘s program to make Protestant and ―Americanize‖ the school system into effect. (Blee

70)

Women rarely participated in violent vigilantism as their male counterparts did, but they were not shy to boycott Jewish- and Catholic-owned businesses. Those actions proved quite effective, since women were those actually shopping for groceries and other important household items. Those boycotts also encouraged trade only with fellow Klan members. (Blee 71)

Women of the Ku Klux Klan did not avoid a certain level of hypocrisy either.

They adopted Joan of Arc as their symbol and heroine. (Gordon 14.67) As much as they worked against Catholics, they did not mind her being one. Joan was seen as a symbol of defending their country against foreign invaders.

In many aspects, the Klanswomen shared the ideals of the Klansmen and their motives to join the WKKK were similar to those of men. Naturally, they added some of their own interests into their program and restrained from activities not worthy of women. Where men intimidated their enemies by open violence, women were more of manipulators. They also legitimized the Klan by organizing all sorts of projects – from carnivals and sports events to charity work. The amount of time spent preparing

51 such events brought women together, which strengthened the Klan and sometime even challenged the male hierarchy. (Blee 69-71, Gordon 14.68)

Women of the Ku Klux Klan were a very successful project overall. There were chapters in every state of the country, and the membership steadily grew. Some estimates claim there were at least three million women in the order. (McVeigh 2010

25) That means there was approximately one Klanswoman per two Klansmen.

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6 The Klan’s Hierarchy and Rituals

The Klan was highly structured. Territorially, it was divided into 8 ―Domains.‖

Those were divided probably according to the density of population, since for example the ―Domain of the East‖ was composed only of the State of New York, and the ―Western Domain‖ consisted of 10 states. Each state is then known as a ―Realm.‖

Domains are under command of ―Grand Goblins‖ and Realms under ―Grand

Dragons.‖ (Rice 4) Fry compares the structure to military. He likens the Domains to divisions of an army and Realms to regiments. The system was quite complex as members answered only to their direct leaders. (Fry 46-47) Grand Dragons could further divide their realms into Provinces and appoint ―Great Titans‖ to each as their leaders. Every local chapter then had its own chief called ―Exalted Cyclops.‖ (Rice 4)

There were also ―King Kleagles‖ in each Realm – they were head recruiters working under Edward Clarke as the Imperial Kleagle and above regular recruiters –

Kleagles. (Gordon 11.9, Rice 6)

William Simmons wrote two works very important for the Klan. One of them was ―Kloran‖ containing rituals and lectures of the order, and the second one was the

―Constitution‖, which described the laws and hierarchy of the organization.

6.1 The Kloran and the Constitution of the Klan

The Book of the Klan was kind of a handbook for the members. It contains detailed descriptions of individual rituals and ceremonies and individual members‘ roles. There is also a thorough sketch of a ―Klavern‖ (a meeting place of the

Klansmen) with seating order, or altar placement.

Due to its content, the book was ―sacred‖ to the members and ―must be rigidly safeguarded and its teachings honestly respected.‖ (Kloran 5) If the members failed

53 to follow the book, a penalty was enforced. The rituals it depicted were supposed to be followed without any innovations and members were expected to learn its teachings. Moreover, Exalted Cyclopes tested all Klansmen. (ibidem 5-6) This also points to Simmons‘s captivation with fraternities‘ rituals.

In contrast with the Kloran, the Klan‘s Constitution was truly a Collection of

Laws of the order. It is divided into articles and sections and states duties and functions of each high-level officers and the Klan itself.

All the titles and terms are described in the Kloran and the Constitution of the

Klan. Kloran describes the titles, while the Constitution describes the roles of the members bearing the titles. The majority of terms start with letters Kl to achieve alliteration. Those that do not start with these letters are usually a part of terminology of the first Klan. Simmons did not leave many of those, except for the highest ranking members. Imperial Wizard, Exalted Cyclops, Grand Dragon, Giant, or Night-Hawk are some of those. (Kloran 52-54)

As was already pointed out in this thesis, people like their titles and there were many titles to obtain within the Invisible Empire. Here are some of those explained as they are explained by the Kloran and the Klan‘s Constitution.

The Emperor of the Invisible Empire was the ritualistic and philosophic leader of the Klan and his term of office was for life. This position was created for Simmons after Evans took his place as the Imperial Wizard in 1922.

The Imperial Wizard was basically the head of the order. He was elected by

Grand Dragons for the period of four years. It is worth noting that the first Imperial

Wizard William Simmons appointed himself and was not elected. (McVeigh 19) The

Imperial wizard had a close group of fifteen assistants or advisers called Genii. These

Imperial Officers were the heads of various divisions of the Klan. There was the

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Imperial Klokard (Supreme Lecturer), Imperial Klaliff and Klazik (First and Second

Vice-presidents), Imperial Klabee (Treasurer), or Imperial Kligrapp (Secretary). The same positions, except they were not ―Imperial‖ anymore, were held by Klansmen in every chapter of the order. Naturally, with the positions within the Klan cell would also come some degree of prestige and as already pointed out, the members liked to be appointed to the position and gain the titles.

Different kinds of Klan‘s gatherings also have their own names. Klonklave was a secret session held by each cell of the organization. Klavalkade was a parade or another public exhibition. One of the most important gatherings was the Imperial

Klonvokation. It was the legislative body of the Klan and was composed of all

Imperial officers, the Grand Dragons and a Klepeer (an elected delegate) from each

Realm, the Great Titans and Klepeers from each Province. Such elaborate rules truly indicate that the Klan was led as a country within a country. Besides, the Klansmen didn‘t apply for membership, but for citizenship within the Invisible Empire. (Pegram

23)

The Klan‘s terminology did not end with offices and gatherings. Simmons also added attributes to each day, week of the month and months themselves. He also started dating the years from 1867. Thus, the date of Simmons‘s ritualistic renewal of the Klan – 25th November 1915 would be: Desolate Day of the Wonderful Week of the Frightful Month of the Year of the Klan XLVIII.

6.2 The Klan’s Rituals

The Klan, like other fraternities of the day, used secret rituals to enhance the order‘s mystique, and strengthen male bonding. (MacLean 6, Gordon 18.35) The

Kloran describes some of those rituals to the smallest detail. For the Opening

Ceremony held at the beginning of the Klonklave, all equipment needed and all steps

55 are described. It even states how many feet far from the Exalted Cyclops should the

Kladd (conductor of rituals) stand. The Opening Ceremony used the American flag, a sword, the Bible (opened to the 12th chapter of Romans), the ―dedication fluid,‖ and the Fiery Cross (representing burning crosses). Naturally, at every Klan event, the

Klansmen were required to wear their robes. (Gordon 11.28) All of these had meaning – the flag would represent the Klan‘s patriotism, the Bible would represent the Klansmen‘s Protestantism, the sword probably the Knighthood and need to protect the order‘s ideals. The robes were a sign of membership within the Klan. The

Fiery Cross was the Klan‘s best known symbol and was inspired by the burning crosses that rallied the Scottish clans. (Rice 4) According to Rice, the dedication fluid was water later sprinkled upon initiates during the Initiation Ritual. (4) The rituals might have been another successful recruitment tool, as they would attract new members. Even though the rituals themselves were secret, the Klan would publicly parade themselves in the streets or let people witness their cross burnings, but on the other hand, the Klansmen wouldn‘t reveal any further details as they were sworn to secrecy by Kloran. The outsiders didn‘t have any other option than to join the order if they wanted to know more.

The Klan‘s parades could be considered another successful recruitment tool.

Some of them were small and only on a local basis. Others were huge spectacles of thousands of Klansmen marching through streets of big cities. One of such marches took place in Washington DC in August 1925 when more than 50,000 members paraded for more than three hours down the Pennsylvania Avenue. (Rothman)

Ironically, in the pamphlet Klan Unmasked, Simmons claims that the Klan has nothing to do with ritual. (53) Considering that five different rituals are described only in the Kloran, or how much he himself reveled in them, such claims only confirm

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Simmons‘s hypocrisy. On the other hand, with such statements, the Klan would probably acquire a higher level of mysteriousness and therefore attract more potential members.

6.3 Klonversation

One of many ritualistic things the Klansmen liked to do was their secret code speech called Klonversation. The members usually used it to recognize fellow

Knights. The speech uses a simple code – acronyms. Typically, the first letters of each word in a sentence were used. Fry gives an example of such conversation, where one Klansman is testing another. For example, AYAK would mean ―Are you a

Klansman?‖, or AKIA meant ―A Klansman I am.‖ Fry also notes that after affirming that both parties in the conversation actually were Klansmen, they would shake with their left hands. (91)

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7 Decline of the Second Ku Klux Klan

In late 1924, the Klan was probably at the peak of its career. In 1925 the number of members started declining. In 1927, there were probably only 321,000

Klansmen. (Alexander 365) Naturally, there was not only one reason for such a rapid downgrade.

First of all, the Klansmen became more and more irritated by their leaders‘ escapades and profiteering on the rank-and-file members. For instance, an Oregon dentist Ellis O. Wilson was convicted of raping his secretary and killing her while attempting to perform an abortion. (Gordon 18.7) Another Klansmen were charged with bribery or embezzlement. (Schaefer 150)

Moreover, the continued Klan ―vigilantism‖ and violence set many Klansmen against the order. (Gordon 18.8) As was pointed out before, some members had not even known about certain Klan‘s activities and that may have angered them and pushed them into leaving the order. It was also mentioned that being a Klansman was quite an expensive activity and some members simply did not have the funds to stay in the Klan. (Gordon 11.17) It is not surprising with the Klan charging its members for virtually everything.

Probably the final nail in the Klan‘s coffin was David Stephenson‘s affair, though. Stephenson, Hiram Evans‘s follower and Grand Dragon of the Realm of

Indiana, was involved in several scandals. Indiana was one of the states with the highest number of members and Stephenson cashed in as much as 40 thousand dollars a month. (Rice 11) He liked to show his wealth – he owned a mansion in the suburbs on Indianapolis, a yacht, a luxurious car, or a plane. (ibidem 11) It was estimated that Stephenson profited at least 3 million dollars (approximately 42.5 million in 2018). (Alexander 366) He liked to throw lavish parties full of alcohol and

58 women. (Rice 11) His worst crime, though, was violent and deranged. In 1925, he started dating Madge Oberholtzer, a manager at the Indiana Department of Public

Welfare. (ibidem 12) One evening in March, Stephenson called and informed her that he needed to see her. When they met, he made her accompany him to Chicago.

Oberholtzer was dragged into a private compartment of a train, where drunken

Stephenson attacked her. (Abbott) He bit and raped her. Some of his bites were so deep that pieces of her skin were missing. She was bitten all over her body and face; he even chewed her tongue. (ibidem) He dragged her into a hotel and refused to get her medical help. ―Like so many other women at the time, she felt permanently ruined by what had happened to her.‖ (Gordon 18.11) The next morning, Oberholtzer asked her assailant for money to buy some makeup. With that money, she went to a drugstore and bought a box of mercury bichloride tablets, which were used to treat syphilis at the time, and took several of them. Stephenson, frightened, offered to take her to a hospital if she married him, but Madge refused. Instead of helping her, he

―hid her away for another day in the loft apartment over his garage. (Cook 69) After refusing to marry him again, Oberholtzer was taken back to Indianapolis to her mother. Slowly and in pain, she died nearly a month later. (Gordon 18.11, Abbott)

Such hideous crime could be overlooked neither by public nor by the Klan.

Stephenson was charged with rape, kidnapping, conspiracy and second-degree murder. (Abbott) In November 1925, he was convicted and sent to prison for life.

(Rice 12)

After Stephenson‘s imprisonment, another scandal developed. His private records about high-standing Indiana politicians were revealed. Several of them went to prison, others were saved thanks to the statute of limitations had expired. (Cook

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70) All of these events made a huge scandal and probably contributed to the decline in the number of members.

Presidential election of 1928 didn‘t help the Klan either. By electing a Catholic to run for the president, the Democratic Party didn‘t win the organization‘s sympathies. ―Then, what was left of the Invisible Empire collapsed. By 1930 its membership had withered away to scarcely 50,000. And with the depression of this new decade, the secret order was all but forgotten.‖ (Rice 12) Even though it wasn‘t the complete end of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, it may as well have been. The

Klan didn‘t recover from the blows and barely survived. It officially disbanded in April

1944, because it wasn‘t able to pay the taxes it had continuously ignored. (Schaefer

11)

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Conclusion

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a second embodiment of the KKK, were born on Thanksgiving night of 1915 under the baton of William Joseph Simmons, a former minister and a career fraternity member. Despite claiming to having had the idea of reviving the Klan for fourteen years, he acted upon it only when the situation allowed.

Two events helped him – the murder of Mary Phagan, and the premiere of the cinematic spectacle The Birth of a Nation. The former ignited a wave of anti-Semitism across the United States, and the latter depicted the original Klansmen as chivalrous knights rescuing damsels in distress from the evil of the ―Negro.‖ Unlike the first Klan,

Simmons‘s Knights did not focus only on hate towards African-Americans. The Klan became an organization that preached nationalism, and Protestantism; they opposed immigrants, people of color, Catholics, or Jews.

For the first five years, the Klan didn‘t have the following fit its potential – perhaps because Simmons was not adept at marketing the organization. When he joined forces with PR professionals Elizabeth Tyler and Edward Young Clarke, the

Klan started growing rapidly. It appealed to Americans who were afraid of losing their lifestyle to those the Klan opposed.

Despite professing the Klan was a ritualistic, fraternal, patriotic society, and a revival of the old group, it soon evolved into something more. Seeing how much money lay in organizing such organization, Simmons, Tyler, and Clarke soon reshaped the Klan into a money-making scheme. They collected initiation fees and taxes, sold robes and other regalia and hence made enormous amount of money.

Their clever tactics brought millions of new members in a relatively short amount of time.

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The Klan employed a number of different techniques to lure people into the fraternity. They published advertisements in the newspaper, they organized parades or lectures. Their approach was systematic and to address as many potential recruits as possible, individual chapters adjusted their rhetoric to local problems – in the

South, they focused on African-Americans, in other places, they targeted Jews or

Catholics.

However, soon some Klansmen started having doubts about the dubious financing. With the exchange of leadership, the matters calmed down for some time.

Nevertheless, with the growing number of scandals, the membership started declining in mid-1920s.

But what was the appeal of the second Ku Klux Klan in its prime? There is no simple answer to this question. The Klan preyed on people‘s fears and prejudice.

They also made people think they would be part of a special group superior to others.

Some people joined because of the fraternity character of the organization, others were attracted by the vast assortment of the Klan‘s rituals. Some men became members because of the vigilant side of the group – they could be the heroes like the original Klansmen of ―The Birth of a Nation.‖

Women joined the Klan for similar reasons as men did, but their roles were slightly different. The Women of the Ku Klux Klan set to bring family values back to the high politics. They saw political activism as a responsibility for their families. They wanted to reform public school system, naturally according to their White Protestant

Supremacist standards; they participated in charity (only for the ―worthy‖), or organized pageants to allure more Klanspeople.

The Ku Klux Klan is often considered a right-wing populist movement along with fascists. Indeed, they had much in common and the Klansmen supported

62

Mussolini‘s regime in Italy. Both groups liked to parade themselves through the streets dressed in their uniforms, they both preyed on people‘s fears, and their rhetoric was similar. They demonized their enemies and praised nationalism.

Although not to such extremes, the Klan can be compared to today‘s right-wing populist parties and politicians. As an example, the Czech political party SPD was mentioned. SPD uses similar methods to gain wider following: they demonize their enemies (in their case Muslim immigrants), they call for patriotism, which is only nationalism in disguise, and they play victims of the media when timely.

This thesis tried to explain why millions of Americans joined the Klan in the

1920s, why it had such great success with a wide variety of people, and also why this success turned into a rapid failure. The Klan paid for the greed of its leaders, perhaps if it didn‘t grow as rapidly, or if its corruption was not as extensive, it would not decline as rapidly, for a lot of disillusioned members probably left only because of the Klan‘s scandals and not because they stopped believing in its cause.

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―The Birth of a Nation (1915).‖ An Award-Winning, Unique Resource of Film

Reference Material for Film Buffs and Others, with Reviews of Classic American-

Hollywood Films, Academy Awards History, Film Posters., www.filmsite.org/birt.html.

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Anotace

Diplomová práce ―The Appeal of the Second Ku Klux Klan‖ se zaměřuje na společenství, které bylo založeno v roce 1915 Williamem J. Simmonsem. Na rozdíl od prvního a třetího Ku Klux Klanu se druhý Klan rozšířil po celých Spojených státech. Na rozdíl od prvního klanu, ten druhý nesoustředil svou zášť pouze na Afro-

Američany, ale v podstatě na kohokoliv, kdo nebyl protestantský běloch narozený v USA. To umožnilo Klanu získat velké množství přívrženců.

Společenství Rytíři Ku Klux Klanu bylo založeno jen několik měsíců po premiéře filmu Zrození národa, jež líčí členy Klanu jako kavalírské a galantní muže, kteří chrání svou zem. Tento film později sloužil jako náborový film do řádu.

Tato práce se zároveň snaží vysvětlit, proč KKK byl natolik úspěšný a rozšířený ve 20. letech 20. století.

Klíčová slova

Ku Klux Klan, KKK, USA, 20. léta 20. století, William Joseph Simmons, Hiram

W. Evans, David W. Griffith, Zrození národa

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Abstract

The Diploma Thesis ―The Appeal of the Second Ku Klux Klan‖ focuses on the fraternity order established in 1915 by William J. Simmons. Unlike the first and third

Ku Klux Klan, the second Klan was widespread across the whole USA. Unlike the first Klan, the second one didn‘t focus its malice only on African-Americans, but essentially on everybody who wasn‘t a white Protestant native-born American. This enabled the Klan to gain a vast following.

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was established in 1915, only several months after the premiere of the film The Birth of a Nation which depicts Klansmen as chivalrous men protecting their country. The movie served as one of the recruitment tools for the Klan.

This thesis attempts to explain why KKK was so successful in the 1920s and to clarify its appeal to widespread audience.

Key Words

Ku Klux Klan, KKK, the USA, 1920s, William Joseph Simmons, Hiram W.

Evans, David W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation

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Appendices

Picture 1 – Dummy of John Slaton hung in Marietta

Source: ―John Slaton.‖ The Leo Frank Case Research Library RSS, www.leofrank.org/image-gallery/john-slaton/.

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Picture 2 – A poster for the movie ―The Birth of a Nation‖

Source: ―Birth Nation Poster.‖ Internet Archive, archive.org/details/150313BirthNationPoster.jpg.CROP.originalOriginal.

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Picture 3 – Lynching site of Leo Frank.

Source: ―Lynching Site August 17, 1915, and Aftermath.‖ The Leo Frank Case

Research Library RSS, www.leofrank.org/image-gallery/lynching/.

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Picture 4 – ―In December 1924, Ku Klux Klan members paraded in Madison,

Wis., to attend the funeral of a slain police officer.‖ (Shapira)

Source: Shapira, Ian. ―No, Dinesh D'Souza, That Photo Isn't the KKK Marching to the Democratic National Convention.‖ The Washington Post, WP Company, 26

Sept. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/26/no-dinesh- dsouza-that-photo-isnt-the-kkk-marching-to-the-democratic-national- convention/?utm_term=.38a268bc1e61. 77

Picture 5 – ―A contingent of women Ku Klux Klan members from Pennsylvania arrive in Washington D.C. for a march in 1926.‖ (Smith)

Source: Smith, Laura. ―The KKK Started a Branch Just for Women in the

1920s, and Half a Million Joined.‖ Timeline, Timeline, 28 June 2017, timeline.com/the-kkk-started-a-branch-just-for-women-in-the-1920s-and-half-a- million-joined-72ab1439b78b.

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Picture 6 – ―KKK burning of an 80-foot cross on August 9, 1925. Location unknown. (Library of Congress)‖ (Dundon)

Source: Dundon, Rian. ―Why Does the Ku Klux Klan Burn Crosses? They Got the Idea from a Movie.‖ Timeline, Timeline, 16 Mar. 2017, timeline.com/why-does- the-ku-klux-klan-burn-crosses-they-got-the-idea-from-a-movie-75a70f7ab135.

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Picture 7 – William J. Simmons in 1921.

Source: Smith, Laura. ―The KKK Might Have Died in Obscurity If This Sinister,

Racist Woman Didn't Come Along.‖ Timeline, Timeline, 12 Dec. 2017, timeline.com/did-you-know-that-the-brains-behind-the-kkk-was-a-woman- a23d7d361d1d.

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Picture 8 – Hiram Wesley Evans during a march in Washington DC, 1926

Source: Phillips, Michael. ―The Elite Roots of Richard Spencer's Racism.‖

Jacobin, 29 Dec. 2016, www.jacobinmag.com/2016/12/richard-spencer-alt-right- dallas-texas/.

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