The Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana, 1920-1930. Kenneth Earl Harrell Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1966 The Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana, 1920-1930. Kenneth Earl Harrell Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Harrell, Kenneth Earl, "The uK Klux Klan in Louisiana, 1920-1930." (1966). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1153. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1153 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-10,903 HARRELL, Kenneth Earl, 1932- THE KU KLUX KLAN IN LOUISIANA, 1920—1930. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1966 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana, 1920 -- 1930 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana .State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Kenneth Earl Harrell B. A., Southeastern Louisiana College, 1955 M. A., Louisiana State University, 1959 May, 1966 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Sincere thanks to Dr. T. Harry Williams and to Ellen. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE The emergence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920's is one of the most interesting developments of that complex decade. Because the Klan was a secret organization much of its history is shrouded in mystery. Precious few records have been left to aid the historian in reconstructing an accurate picture of the secret order. Most former members are dead. Those still living are often reluctant to discuss the Klan. Many who are willing to relate information regarding,their activity in the Klan are victims of a clouded memory. Only a few former Klansmen are capable of providing the student of the Klan with useful material. The Klan compounded the historian's problem by purposely employing its secrecy to mislead the public and inquir ing newspapers. It was standard Klan policy to exaggerate the size of its membership and thus its influence. Newspapers discovered early that the hooded order was good copy, and they printed the Klan's declarations as fact. The New York World's expose of 1921 not only accepted Klan declarations, it built on them, and thus further dis torted the image of the masked organization. Other contemporary exposes, published as books or in magazines, followed the path hewn by the New York World. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Louisiana Klan presents an interesting area for intensive study. It was regarded as one of the Invisible Empire's more important Realms. Hiram Wesley Evans, the Klan's Imperial Wizard, included the Louisiana Realm among the nation's fifteen strongest. One of the most sensational Klan acts of violence occurred in Morehouse Parish, located in northeastern Louisiana. Louisiana was a Southern state, but it presented a peculiar problem to the Klan in the South because of the cultural and religious dif ferences of its population. North Louisiana was Protestant, Anglo- Saxon, and bound to Victorian morality. South Louisiana was largely French, Catholic, and less concerned with the stern morality of north Louisiana. But in south Louisiana there were Anglo-Saxon, Protestant "islands, " which were sources of Klan strength, although hard to organize. The period covered in this study is 1920-1930. Although the twentieth century Klan was organized in 1915, it did not expand into Louisiana until 1920. It reached the peak of its in fluence in 1923 and steadily declined after that date. By 1930 it was ■im — » no longer a force of any consequence in the state. The records of Klan activity in Louisiana are not extensive, but those which are available are quite valuable. The best sources are the W.D. Robinson Papers, and the John M. Parker Papers. Both are located in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. North Carolina. The Parker Papers, which are still incomplete, contain a number of letters from Klansmen, Klan sympathizers, Klan opponents, and public officials that relate much about the or ganization in Louisiana. The Robinson Papers are also rich in Klan material. They contain scattered minutes of Klan meetings of the New Orleans chapter, two Bureau of Investigation reports on Klan activities in Morehouse Parish, reports that Robinson made to the New Orleans Times -Picayune, and a number of charter membership lists for various chapters in Louisiana. The New Orleans Times- Picayune, the Baton Rouge State Times, and the Shreveport Journal are the best newspaper sources for material an the Louisiana Klan. This study partially parallels a book, recently completed by Charles C. Alexander, entitled The Ku Klux Klan in the Southwest (1965). It agrees with Mr. Alexander's concision that the abiding concern of Louisiana Klansmen was moral reform. But it contests several of his conclusions. First, Louisiana Klansmen were more concerned with the so-called "Catholic menace" than Mr. Alexander is willing to admit. An examination of The Winnfield News American, published by a Klansman, reveals a violent anti-Catholic viewpoint. The Louisiana Klan employed anti-Catholicism to expand membership and to satisfy the prejudices of members. Occasionally Klansmen forced the removal of Catholic teachers and school officials. The v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "Catholic menace" was constantly used to justify the necessity of the Klan. Secondly, the Louisiana Klan was not nearly as powerful as Mr. Alexander imagines. He claims that there were 54,000 Klans men in Louisiana. Actually, the number was closer to 25, 000. Finally, Mr. Alexander claims the Louisiana Klan was in an "enviable" position after the gubernatorial election of 1924. To the contrary, the Louisiana Klan was in a desperate position after that election. The inability of the Louisiana Realm to unite on one candidate pro duced a serious rupture in Klan unity. The organization divided into two factions, one of which later helped pass legislation requiring an annual filing of Klan membership lists and the abandonment of the mask. The rupture was never healed, and the Louisiana Klan rapidly declined. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT...................................................................... ii PREFACE ...................................................................................... i i i ABSTRACT.......................................................................................... vi'ii Chapter I. RENDEZVOUS AT STONE MOUNTAIN................ 1 II. EXPANSION AND ALTERATION IN THE TWENTIES . 29 III. SEEDBED ................................................................. 75 IV. THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE COMES TO LOUISIANA . 107 V. THE BIG PUSH, 1922 151 VI. THE MER ROUGE MURDERS: THE KLAN IN FULL FLOWER....................................................................... 183 VII. THE MER ROUGE MURDERS: A FAILURE OF JUSTICE....................................................................... 215 VHI. THE KLAN IN THE COMMUNITY: ILLUSION AND REALITY......................................................................... 263 IX. POLITICS: THE ROAD TO RUIN......................... 303 X. THE FOLDING OF THE SHEETS.......................... 348 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................ 363 VITA ............................................................................................. 377 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Representatives of the Invisible Empire arrived in Louisiana in November, 1920. Chapters of the Klan were established in New Orleans and Shreveport before the year ended. During 1921 approximately seventy-three other units were chartered. Organization of the Klan in the Bayou State was accomplished with considerable secrecy. Operations of the Invisible Empire in Louisiana did not attract significant public attention until September, 1921, when the New Orleans Times -Picayune carried the New York World's expose of the Klan. After the expos£ Klan secrecy in Louisiana was seriously compromised. Klan organizers utilized the whole spectrum of national Klan themes in recruiting Louisiana Knights; however, the secret society's potential as a counterforce to postwar lawlessness, Catholicism, and petty moral violations was the most appealing feature of the Invisible Empire to Louisianians. The Louisiana Klan was never as powerful or as violent as contemporaries suggested. At its peak the Louisiana Realm had about