Source: https://www.in.gov/library/2848.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 23:57:47+00:00

Document:
The Ku Klux Klan rose to prominence in Indiana politics and society after World War I. It was made up of native-born, white Protestants of many income and social levels. In the changing world of the 1920s, the group was against Catholics, Jews, African-Americans, immorality, and drinking. Nationally, Indiana was said to have the most powerful Ku Klux Klan. Though it counted a high number of members statewide, its importance peaked in the 1924 election of Edward Jackson for governor. A short time later, the scandal that surrounded D.C. Stephenson destroyed the image of the Ku Klux Klan as upholders of law and order. By 1926 the Ku Klux Klan was crippled and discredited. Later efforts to revive the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s and 1970s were attempted, but its message was not received in large numbers, as it had been forty years previously.
What follows is a nearly complete listing of the holdings on this subject available in the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library. Additional newspaper articles on both the Ku Klux Klan and D.C. Stephenson may be found in the Indianapolis Newspaper Index (1898-1978) card file index, which is located in the microforms area on the second floor of the Indiana State Library.
Fangmeier, Robert A. Murder in Irvington: A Reporter's Journal. Indianapolis: Guild Press of Indiana, 1993.
Frost, Stanley. The Challenge of the Klan.
Greenapple, H. R., editor. D.C. Stephenson, Irvington 0492: The Demise of the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. Plainfield, Ind.: SGS Publications, c1989.
Horowitz, David A. (editor). Inside the Klavern: The Secret History of a Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s.
Jackson, Kenneth T. The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.
Kirkpatrick, Lex. Fundamentals of Constitutional Government, including discussion of the 18th Amendment and Ku Klux Klan.
Likins, William M. The Trail of the Serpent.
Lutholtz, M. William. Grand Dragon: D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, c1991.
Mecklin, John Moffatt. The Ku Klux Klan: A Study of the American Mind.
Moore, Leonard J. Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
Newton, Michael. The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia.
Research Associates. Ku Klux Klan tokens, catalog, and price list.
Randel, William. The Ku Klux Klan: A Century of Infamy.
Scharlott, Bradford W. The Hoosier Newsman and the Hooded Order: Indiana Press Reaction to the Ku Klux Klan in the l920s. 1978.
Tolerance Library has negative photostat, v. 2, #18 (July 15, 1923).
Tucker, Richard K. The Dragon and the Cross: The Rise and Fall of the Ku Klux Klan in Middle America. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1991.
Weller, Worth. Under the Hood: Unmasking the Modern Ku Klux Klan.
Women of the Ku Klux Klan. Constitution and Laws of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Manuscript Section of the Indiana Division houses thousands of collections of personal papers, business records, and other primary source materials. The collections noted here have content describing the Klan or records about the Klan.
L33 Grace Julian Clarke Papers. Re: Klan part in politics in Indiana (6-23-1923).
To Carrie Chapman Catt, letter regarding report of Klan death blow, 11-17-1926.
L52 Lucius Embree Papers. Thomas B. Adams & investigation (2-2-1927).
L55 Harold C. Feightner Papers. Ku Klux Klan information.
Foulke on Klan (9-27-1922), (7-21-1921?), (9-23-1921), (8-1-1922).
L96 Gov. Warren T. McCray Papers. Ku Klux Klan mentioned in passing.
L100 Thomas Riley Marshall Papers. Thomas R. Marshall on Klan and extra-judicial means of law enforcement.
L113 Oliver P. Morton Papers. Letter written to Oliver Morton by G.C. Kniffin, Paris, Kentucky, regarding the Ku Klux Klan, 4-3-1871.
L128 Daniel D. Pratt Papers. James T. Bryer's [Logansport] opinion on Klan, 3-14-1871.
L208 United Klans of America. Correspondence, news clippings, newsletters, and miscellaneous papers of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan.
L246 & B158 D.C. Stephenson Collection.
S97 Cecil Beeson Collection. Speech tells of activities of Klan in Blackford County, 18 pages.
S472 Roscoe B. Fleming Collection. Articles written about Klan and D.C. Stephenson trial, 1927.
S521 J.H. Goldman Collection. Notes of sermon, pro-Klan.
S717 Randall Jehs Collection. Speech and notes for speech by Randall Jehs on "The Burning Cross: The Klan in Indiana politics" given at Indiana History Conference, 4-23-1971.
S964 William C. Miller Collection. Information on the Indiana Klan and its influence on Hoosier politics.
S1550 Women of the Ku Klux Klan, Elwood. Gold Seal of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan of Elwood.
S2543 "Copy of confidential orders and instructions to Klan officers," Parke County, Indiana.
Many of these oral histories provide the person's recollections and impressions of the Klan in their community or in the state. For more information, contact the Manuscript Section of the Indiana Division.
Chaney, William M. Grand Dragon of Indiana Klan, 1960s-1970s.
See also the oral history transcriptions from the Rushville Junior Historical Society.
The Indianapolis Newspapers Index, which covers 1898-1991, provides citations to articles found in the major newspapers in Indianapolis. There are many articles on the Ku Klux Klan and those associated with the Klan. These subject headings should be checked to locate articles on the Klan.
Selected newspaper articles are listed below. Only those articles that seemed to have the most information or were about the major events in Klan history are included. The articles are arranged roughly by subject, and sorted by newspaper. To obtain copies of these articles, you may visit the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library, or request a copy from the Newspaper Section (be sure to include the full citation, including the newspaper, date, page and column number, and the title of the article).
History of D.C. Stephenson's rise to power as Klan leader in Indiana given.
"Great Throng at Meeting at Mooresville" Reports that 50,000 people attended the Ladies of the Klan meeting.
WFYI TelePlex, J. Robert Cook, Director. Visible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928. Indianapolis: WFYI TelePlex Home Video, 1998.
The Manuscript Section of the Indiana Division provides access to thousands of photographs and other image of Indiana. The following subject headings should be checked in the Picture Index, to learn what photographs are available. For more information, contact the Manuscript Section.
The Supplementary Index is a card-file index, which provides access to publications with Indiana-related content. These articles were located using the Supplementary Index.
Race Relations at Indiana University (in the 1920s).
Human FEPC Relations, V.24 July 1959, p. 3.
Wilson, William E. "Long, Hot Summer in Indiana," American Heritage v. 16 #5, Aug. 1965.
Indiana Social Studies Quarterly, v. 19 #1. spring 1966 p. 29.
The People-Yes! "Rally and Protest March in Columbus," v. 8 #1, April 1977. p.1-3.
Parke Place, v. 3 #5, May 1983.
The Bulletin. "Whitley Co. survives the Ku Klux Klan," v. 24 #5, October 1986, pp.3-17.
Duneland Notes. "The Ku Klux Klan in the Calumet Region," v. 30 #10, October 1987.
Notre Dame Magazine. "1924 Notre Dame Collegians Clash with Kluxers," v. 17 #2, summer 1988.
Compiled by Jamie Bargeron, Indiana Division Intern, November 2000.

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