Ku Klux Klan Archives - Bob on Books

A Klan rally in Youngstown. Public Domain

It was November 1923. Youngstown had just elected a mayor and five of seven councilmen who had been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan (only Wards One and Two did not). Likewise, all four of the Klan endorsed school board members were elected. Many churches throughout the Valley embraced the “hundred percent American” rhetoric of the Klan that denigrated the eastern and southern Europeans as well as Blacks streaming into the Valley that would provide the manpower for Youngstown’s steel industry. On November 10, 1923, between 50,000 and 100,000 people gathered at a Klan Konclave at what was then known as “Dead Man’s Curve,” a meadow near the location of the Newport Theatre. It was a celebration of the election victories in Youngstown. A portion of the group paraded throughout the South Side singing songs like “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The following year, Niles also elected a Klan mayor who appointed a number of Klan members to law enforcement positions.

It wasn’t just happening in Youngstown. After the reign of terror of the Klan against Black citizens in the 1870’s it went underground for a period. It was refounded in 1915, a response to “Red Scare” fears during World War I and the surge of immigrants coming into the country from eastern and southern Europe, many of whom were Catholics. By the early 1920’s, it was a national movement, electing Klan candidates in many cities and infiltrating numerous Protestant churchs and this is what happened in Youngstown.

Two notable exceptions to the wave of Klan activity in the Valley were Reverend William H. Hudnut, Sr. pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Hudnut spent significant time among the Valley’s steel workers and he and his congregation stood against this movement. So did the Youngstown Vindicator, which cost the paper circulation. Remember, over half of Youngstown’s voters supported Klan candidates.

The rally in November of 1923 may have been the movement’s high water mark. A year later, after the Klan gained control of the Mayor’s office and police force, they planned a parade on November 1. A rival group of Italians and Irish, calling themselves the Knights of the Flaming Circle, were denied a permit, and rioted, intimidating the Klansmen. Also, the primary leader of Klan activity, “Colonel” Evan A. Watkins was found both to be a fraud, himself not being born in America, and a womanizer, resulting in him fleeing the Valley. Klan activity dwindled, leaving only a hard core of members.

The best documented study of the Klan in the Mahoning Valley was done by a former Youngstown State history professor, William D. Jenkins, is titled Steel Valley Klan, and reviewed on this blog. It is one of the darker stories in Youngstown’s history. I like to focus on what is good about Youngstown and this episode was not. I hope we’ve learned and changed although that doesn’t always seem to be the case. My wife is from a family that at one time wouldn’t have been considered “100 percent American.” People from the backgrounds that the Klan incited fear and hatred toward built Youngstown into a major steel-making and manufacturing center.

Sadly, those who would have us fear “them” are still with us. The “them” has changed but this episode from Youngstown history shows me what a tired and tawdry narrative this is. Those who were different helped make Youngstown great. Despite our suspicions and animosity toward those different from us, the “secret sauce” of this country’s greatness is that it takes all of us to make it work. Our experience in Youngstown during its greatest years taught us that.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Steel Valley Klan, William D. Jenkins. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1990.

Summary: A study of Ku Klux Klan activity in the Mahoning Valley in the early 1920’s, its composition, and factors contributing to the rise and decline of its influence.

Beginning with the refounding of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915, there was a rapid rise in Klan activity throughout the United States in the early 1920’s, organized around fraternalism, nativism, and law and order, themes appealing to a broader cross-section of white Americans of northern European descent. Klan endorsements of political candidates played a significant role in many local elections. Historical studies have looked at this movement on a national basis and also looked at local manifestations–their distinct character, and the influences between local and national organizations.

Wlliam D. Jenkins, a professor of history at Youngstown State University researched Klan activity in the Mahoning Valley, in the cities lining the Mahoning River from Warren to Niles through Youngstown and Struthers, Ohio. At one time, in 1923 Klan activity in the Youngstown area reached a peak represented in a rally of 50,000 at “Dead Man’s Curve, celebrating victories in which Klan endorsed candidates won the mayor’s race, most of the city council seats, and all four school board seats.

Jenkins traces the rise of the Klan in the Mahoning Valley. Conditions were ripe for the Klan with the influx of both immigrants and blacks into the Valley seeking jobs in the rapidly growing steel industry. This was the time of Prohibition and the “blue laws,” and enforcement of such laws in immigrant and black communities became an issue in the city. Enter “Colonel” Evan A. Watkins, who became pastor of First Baptist Church in Girard, welcoming the Klan into his church. Jenkins traces the rise of his influence as pastor, and as editor of the Citizen newspaper, and a sought-after speaker at “100 percent” American functions. He advocated for a strong law and order emphasis throughout the Valley, a kind of moral crusade that was a response to the eastern and southern European Catholic and Jewish populations and the black populations coming into the Valley. The growing Klan presence identified candidates for the 1923 election who would pursue these values, and taking advantage of a non-partisan election, a result of a home rule initiative, succeeded in electing most of their candidates by uniting behind them in a crowded field.

Jenkins highlights several key findings in his research. One was that, contrary to previous scholarly opinion, Klan membership was not confined to working classes but crossed class and occupational boundaries. Also, Klan support was strongest among churches with a pietistic emphasis, not only fundamentalist churches but also many in the mainline denominations. It was sobering to discover that among these was the church I grew up in (thirty-some years earlier). Watkins skill in playing up the moral crusade aspects of the Klan and downplaying racist elements seemed key in lining up such support across such a wide cross-section of churches, organizations, and individuals. A notable opponent was the city’s major newspaper, the Youngstown Vindicator, whose opposition was pretty consistent throughout.

Jenkins also chronicles the decline of the Klan. A riot in Niles in 1924 between the Klan and the Knights of the Flaming Circle, an alliance of Irish and Italian opposition to the Klan served to intimidate the local Klan. Also, Watkins was shown up to be a ladies man and a fraud, was removed from his newspaper, and eventually fled the Valley. These events led all but the more extreme elements to disavow the Klan and from late 1924 on, their influence rapidly waned.

One always needs to exercise caution drawing parallels between historic events and the present. The rise of political movements that combine promises of moral advance with anti-immigrant and nativist appeals seems a perennial issue, and in other parts of the world as well as America. Is there a parallel between the support of the Klan’s efforts by a broad swath of the church establishment in the Valley for pietistic motivations, and the support of 81 percent of white evangelicals for a presidential campaign that was anti-immigrant, supported by nativist groups, and that promised court appointments and religious liberty protections?

I find it troubling that a former pastor from the 1920’s of the church in which I grew up was not troubled by “100 percent American” rhetoric and what this insinuated about Jews, Catholics, immigrant citizens and blacks in the Valley. Did law and order platforms and moral crusades for Prohibition and sabbath-keeping warrant turning a blind eye to the invidious elements that have always been a part of nativist groups?

Jenkins’ book raises those questions for me while casting light on a darker aspect of the local history of my home town. Sadly, I wonder if we will learn anything from these lessons of history.