Indiana Klan facts for kids

The Indiana Klan was a part of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in the United States. This group formed in 1915. It aimed to promote ideas of racial superiority. It also tried to influence public matters like Prohibition (the ban on alcohol), education, and morality.

The Indiana Klan was strongly against African Americans and Chinese Americans. They also opposed Catholics and Jews. These faiths were often linked to immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe. In Indiana, the Klan usually did not use violence. Instead, they used threats to scare people. Across the country, however, the group did commit illegal acts against minority groups.

The Indiana Klan became very powerful in the early 1920s. This was after World War I. Many white Protestants felt worried by social and political changes. These changes included many immigrants arriving from southern and eastern Europe. By 1922, Indiana had the largest Klan group in the country. Its membership grew quickly under D.C. Stephenson. He was appointed the Grand Dragon of Indiana in 1923. He led the Indiana Klan to break away from the national group later that year.

Indiana's Klan reached its highest power in the years that followed. It had 250,000 members. By 1925, many elected officials in Indiana were Klan members. This included more than half of the Indiana General Assembly and the Governor of Indiana. Politicians learned they needed Klan support to win elections.

In 1925, Stephenson was found guilty of a serious crime. This caused Klan membership to drop sharply. His actions and later revelations about secret deals and bribery further hurt the Klan. Stephenson later shared lists of people paid by the Klan with the Indianapolis Times newspaper. This investigation showed that many Klan members were not law-abiding. It ended the group's power. By the end of the 1920s, the Klan in Indiana had very few members. Attempts to restart it in the 1960s and 1970s did not succeed.

How the Indiana Klan Started

In 1920, the national leader of the Ku Klux Klan, William J. Simmons, chose Joe Huffington. He wanted Huffington to start an official Klan chapter in Indiana. Huffington went to Indiana and set up his first office in Evansville.

Huffington met D.C. Stephenson, a former soldier. Stephenson quickly became a top member of the Indiana chapter. He moved to Evansville, Indiana in 1920. He worked for a coal company there. Stephenson was very good at finding and organizing new members. He kept a part of the fees from new members. This helped him become very wealthy.

Stephenson told people the Klan was a friendly group. He said it was for helping the poor and defending good behavior. Many religious leaders supported him. The Klan grew very fast in Indiana because of these messages.

Rise to Power: 1922-1925

The Evansville Klan group became the strongest in Indiana. Stephenson helped bring in many new members. Over 5,400 men in Vanderburgh County joined the Klan. This was 23 percent of the white men born in the area.

Stephenson then moved his base to Indianapolis. He helped start the Klan's state newspaper, Fiery Cross. He quickly hired new organizers. Protestant ministers were offered free memberships. From July 1922 to July 1923, about 2,000 new members joined the Klan in Indiana each week.

Hiram Wesley Evans was a national leader for the Klan. He worked closely with Stephenson. Indiana had the largest state Klan group by then. Stephenson supported Evans in 1922. Evans then became the new national leader, called Imperial Wizard. Evans wanted the Klan to be a major political force.

In 1922, Klan members in the Indiana General Assembly tried to pass a bill. It would create a Klan Day at the Indiana State Fair. Governor Warren T. McCray stopped the bill. He was the highest-ranking official to oppose the Klan. That same year, Edward L. Jackson, a Klan member, became the Secretary of State. He officially recognized the Klan as a state group. Governor McCray asked Jackson to cancel this recognition. Jackson refused.

In November 1922, Hiram Wesley Evans became the new national leader. Stephenson supported him. As a reward, Evans made Stephenson the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Klan. He also put Stephenson in charge of recruiting in seven other states. This happened at a big Klan meeting in Kokomo, Indiana in 1923. More than 100,000 people attended.

In September 1923, Stephenson broke away from the national Klan. He formed his own rival Klan group. This new group included the chapters he led. Stephenson also changed his political party. He joined the Republican Party. This party was very strong in Indiana. He supported Edward L. Jackson for governor in 1924. Jackson, who was rumored to be a Klan member, won the election.

Klan's Goals and Messages

The Klan's messages during these years were against Catholics and Jews. Many immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were coming to Indiana. These immigrants were mostly Catholic or Jewish. The Klan claimed they were secretly plotting against the government.

The Indiana Klan focused more on social issues than just race. It promised to uphold moral standards. It also promised to help enforce Prohibition. The Klan also said it would end political corruption. They attacked gamblers and young people who caused trouble. This focus on morals attracted support from religious leaders. Daisy Douglas Barr became a strong supporter of the Indiana Klan. Stephenson made her a leader for women in the Klan in 1923. Her public role helped the Klan get more women members.

The Klan wanted to stop funding for Catholic schools. They also wanted to remove Catholic influence from public schools. They did not fully achieve these goals. However, they gained support from important leaders. Samuel Ralston gave a speech against Catholics in 1922. The Klan printed and spread this speech. With their support, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1923.

Peak of Influence

At its strongest, the Klan had over 250,000 members. Most members were in cities in the central part of Indiana. In some cities, like New Albany, leaders spoke out against the Klan. They told people not to join. But other cities, like Indianapolis, were almost completely controlled by the Klan. It was very hard to get elected to public office without their support.

With so many members, the Indiana Klan became very powerful in state politics. If the Klan leaders publicly supported someone, that person was almost guaranteed to win an election. This led many politicians in Indiana to join the Klan. They wanted to get the Klan's support.

The Klan had a large amount of money. This came from membership fees and dues. With over 50,000 members in Indianapolis paying dues, the Klan had a lot of money. Much of this money went to helping the poor. But millions were also used to influence public officials and political campaigns. The Klan became so powerful that by 1925, Stephenson boasted, "I am the law in Indiana."

What Happened Next

The scandal involving Stephenson greatly damaged the Klan's image. Many Klan members left the group. The Indianapolis Times newspaper investigated the Klan. They won a Pulitzer Prize in 1928 for their work. Other newspapers also showed that many state lawmakers were Klan members. Most of these lawmakers quickly said they were no longer part of the Klan. Their white robes and membership lists quickly disappeared.

The Klan did not completely vanish from Indiana. From 1929 to 1933, Roy Davis lived in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Davis was a key person in the Klan's restart in 1915. He later became a national leader of another Klan group in 1959.

There were attempts to bring back the Klan in Indiana in the 1960s and 1970s. This was a time of big social changes and economic problems. However, the group never got back the members or power it had in the 1920s. Still, a Klan office near Indianapolis kept printing recruiting materials for many years.

Historian James H. Madison warns that the Klan was not just a strange event. He says it was not just a few extreme people. But he also says the Klan did not completely control the state. It did not mean that all people in Indiana always held racist or violent beliefs.

See Also

• History of Indiana
• Ku Klux Klan
• Tulsa race massacre

Images for kids

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  Women of the Ku Klux Klan, Muncie, Indiana, 1924