When most of us think of the Roaring Twenties-- the Jazz Age-- we think of flappers and frivolity, but it was also the height of the Ku Klux Klan, a uniquely American hate group. Their membership didn't just reside in the South, they were also strong in the Midwest and West. This group took radical steps to keep Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants "in their place", and one man spearheaded the group's attempt to take over America.
D.C. Stephenson was a charismatic charlatan; he knew just what people wanted to hear and was happy to reinforce their fears. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he became the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows. Their message was spread from church pulpits, family picnics, and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors, and senators across the country proudly proclaimed their membership.
But at the height of Stephenson's power, just at the moment he was going to be groomed for President of the United States, it was a seemingly powerless woman-- Madge Oberholtzer-- who would reveal the true D.C. Stephenson and bring the Ku Klux Klan to its knees.
~
When I came across a photocopied news article from the 1920s in my deceased mother's papers telling of a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan chapter in my own little (population 1700) hometown in central Illinois, my jaw dropped in total shock (just as I imagine my mother's did). I had no idea that the KKK had ever been anywhere near my hometown. When I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Timothy Egan, had written a book about the KKK in the 1920s, I knew I had to read it. To call A Fever in the Heartland eye-opening, compelling, and disturbing is the mere tip of the iceberg when describing the book's effect on me.
To learn of the presidents who either condoned or turned a blind eye to this hate group's actions was enlightening. To learn that the KKK had a group for everyone (the KKK for males, the KKK Women's Auxiliary, Ku Klux Kiddies, and Klan Klubs for high school students). To learn that there was a KKK chapter aboard a U.S. battleship and that there was Klan Day at the Indiana State Fair... all this was sobering. The Klan used Indiana's Horse Thief Brigades as its own morality police, and it had its own "poison squads" disseminating fake news. To learn how Indiana became the most saturated Klan state that passed the world's first eugenic sterilization law (which was later picked up by an additional thirty states) was chilling.
The Klan in Indiana had tentacles everywhere, from the governor's mansion to the smallest town, and the Grand Dragon of them all, D.C. Stephenson, was responsible for the huge upsurge in membership across the country. The man was a con man of the highest caliber-- and a violent sexual predator. After each scene in which Stephenson took center stage, I wanted to take a hot shower to wash him off. Repulsive isn't a strong enough word to describe this person. After all that Madge Oberholtzer suffered, it was wonderful to see that she, and she alone, was strong enough to take down this monster.
However, after finishing A Fever in the Heartland, I came away with a feeling of dread.
"Isn't it strange that with all our educational advantages," noted the Hoosier writer Meredith Nicholson, "so many Indiana citizens could be induced to pay $10 [the KKK membership fee] for the privilege of hating their neighbors and wearing a sheet?"
With the events of recent years, I can't help but think that many of us haven't moved very far away from the emotions that overwhelmed the people of Indiana in the 1920s. May we not be doomed to repeat such a dark chapter of our history.
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
by Timothy Egan
eISBN: 9780735225275
Penguin Publishing Group © 2023
432 pages
Non-Fiction
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
What a good review about a horrible person and vile organization. I agree with you, including the parallels to today, and I think of a former president and his bigotry which spread and spurred on horrible actions. From book banning to bigotry of all kinds, it's dangerous. Glad this book was published. Hope people read it and apply its lessons to today.
ReplyDeleteI hope they do, too.
DeleteIt's a real lesson, Cathy, that we need to remember and teach history if we have any chance of avoiding repeating it. What a scary time, and it shows, too, that we have to be vigilant. I'm glad this book was published for that reason.
ReplyDeleteSo am I, Margot.
DeleteGo Madge! This does sound like a fascinating book. I never realized how far across America the KKK spread back in the day; I always associate it more with the South. And it is sad that there's still so much hate in our society today.
ReplyDeleteSome people refuse to learn that hate has never ever solved anything; it's only made things worse.
DeleteI had no idea... This sounds like a book that needs to be read widely in this country.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Dorothy, just as I think the most virulent bigots should have their family history investigated. Almost every single one of them would learn that they're not "racially pure." We're all "mongrels" whether or not they want to admit it, and being mongrels is a Good Thing.
DeleteWhich is much easier said than done, unfortunately.
DeleteYes. If only there was a decent, true national curriculum on human history, its origins, where people traveled and why. Science, too, including evolution, history of the planet Earth, etc. Pie in the sky, I know. We learn more every day if only people did the reading.
DeleteI've been eyeing this one for a while - can't help but be drawn in by that great cover - and now I think I want to invest the time to read it for sure. Growing up in Texas and Louisiana in the fifties and sixties, I well remember that the KKK barely tried to stay under the radar, and that they managed it only with the collusion of some very powerful people in the counties and parishes I am familiar with. Honestly, they scared the hell out of me when I did spot their nasty selves. It was worse in Louisiana, but that's only a degree of evilness.
ReplyDeleteThat cover actually reminds me of the village where I grew up.
DeleteI already had this on my list, and need to move it up. I'm currently on The Wager, by David Grann (as good as advertised, so far), and nonfiction takes longer for me to read since I'm paying closer attention to learn as I go. But Egan's topic is unfortunately current, as you pointed out, and will need to be read sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteThe Wager is a good book. John Duck's fate still upsets me.
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