The Rebirth of the KKK

The Rebirth of the KKK 1915-1930s 3-6 Million Members

Ku Klux Klan • America's oldest, most visible, and most infamous hate group • White supremacy and anti-immigration • Hostile towards Jews, Muslims, Immigrants to America, Asians, Homosexuals, Catholics,

End of 1st, Beginning of 2nd • Becoming disorganized • Started to be seen as the true criminals • Being suppressed by other groups • Ceased to exist for decades until William J. Simmons began a recreation with only 2 returning members of the original Klan

Events Leading to Rebirth • The film Birth of a Nation • Leo Frank’s 1913 • William J. Simmons at Stone Mountain

Birth of a Nation • Directed by D. W. Griffith • Based on the book and play, The Clansmen by Thomas Dixon Jr. • Glorified the original Klan and began a new Klan craze • Much of the Ku Klux Klan’s iconography are derived from the film • Influence and popularity were enhanced by a widely reported endorsement by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Leo Frank • Jewish man • Convicted of the rape and murder of Mary Phagan • After a 25 day trial, Frank was found guilty • Northern factory owners exploiting southerners • Knights of Mary Phagan • Lynched

Official founder of 2nd Klan Wrote his own prospectus for a reincarnation of the organization Involved with lynching of Leo Frank and Stone Mountain Organized 15 men to burn a cross on Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving of 1915 Declared himself the Imperial Wizard of the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan William J. Simmons

Stone Mountain, Georgia • Setting of the 1915 revival • Hooded mob bet November 25, 1915 • A cross was lit, and the oath was administered by Nathan Bedford Forrest II • Witnessed by the owner of Stone Mountain, Samuel Venable, who granted the Klan rights • "let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!" –Martin Luther King Jr. • Klan was able to influence the ideology of the carving

The New Klan • Emphasized the new costumes • Secret rituals and rallies • The Klan also organized to oppose the teaching of evolution in the schools

Burning of the cross: a symbol of intimidation Costume: “Glory Suit” regalia Symbol on the robe: red circle with a cross and a blood drop in the middle Violence was not uncommon Lynching: illegal execution of an accused person by a mob Southerners felt threatened after the Civil war Wanted to Maintain white supremacy Estimated that between 1880 and 1920, an average of two African Americans a week were lynched in the United States. Symbols and Activities

Political Influence • Spread from South to Midwest and Northern States • Turned Anaheim, California into model Klan State • Played a significant role at the 1924 Democratic National Convention • Worked for political and social reform • Members served in state legislatures and Congress, and were elected to the governorship in several states.

Fall and Resistance • The scandal surrounding the murder trial of D.C. Stephenson destroyed its image • By 1926 the Klan had weakened • Many groups began speaking out against the Klan • Attacked and referred to as violent and "un-American“

Springfeild, Ohio 1923

After the 2nd Klan • “Ku Klux Klan” used by many independent local groups opposing the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation • Several members of KKK groups were convicted of murder in the deaths of civil rights workers • Individual Klan groups in Birmingham, Alabama began to resist social change and blacks' improving their lives by bombing houses in transitional neighborhoods. • "Bombingham" • Current Klans across the nation hold about 5,000 members

The Rebirth of the KKK