Ku Klux Klan auxiliaries
The second Ku Klux Klan (KKK), often called the Klan of the 1920s, was officially the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Its membership was open to male, white, Protestant, native-born Americans “of good moral character” over the age of 18. It had chapters in European countries, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand and there were also KKK auxiliaries.
The Klan of the 1920s existed during the Progressive Era, a period of great optimism in the ability of people to improve society. It was a period during which eugenics was widely believed to hold promise for improving society by increasing desirable characteristics of the population and reducing crime, poverty and other social problems.
The 1920s were also characterized by profound social changes that disturbed many of the largely rural, white, Protestant citizens. They feared the potential power and influence of African-Americans, southern Europeans, Roman Catholics, Jews, Bolsheviks (communists), and labor unions. There was a resulting cultural conflict between the old and established and the new and different. The Klan saw itself as defending American culture against dangerous “foreign” people and ideas. It carried the American flag rather than the “rebel” flag as later Klans would.
The second Klan believed that it was defending traditional American values although in doing so it often violated some of those very values The Klan saw drinking alcoholic beverages as symbolic of southern Europeans, Catholics and Jews and not only strongly supported national prohibition of alcohol but actively enforced it, sometimes with bloody violence.
KKK auxiliaries included the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, the Junior Ku Klux Klan, the Tri-K Girls, the American Krusaders, the Ku Klux Kiddies, and the Klan’s Colored Man auxiliary.
The Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK) was open to white, Protestant, native-born American women “of good character” over the age of 18. It is estimated to have had over one million members, a quarter of which were in Indiana.
The Junior Ku Klux Klan was for white, Protestant, native American boys age 12 to 18.
The Tri-K Girls was for white, Protestant, native-born American girls age 12 to 18.
The American Krusaders was open to white, Protestant, naturalized American citizens of foreign birth.
The Ku Klux Kiddies was for pre-teens and the Klan’s Colored Man auxiliary was for African-American men. Little is known about these auxiliaries.
Violent acts member and scandals/crimes among the leadership contributed largely to public disgrace and downfall of the second KKK and its auxiliaries.
See also
Sources
- Blee, Kathleen M. Women of the Ku Klux Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s. Berkely: University of California Press, 1992.
- Gillette, Paul and Tillinger, Eugene. Inside the Ku Klux Klan. NY: Pyramis, 1965.
- Gusfield, Joseph R. Symbolic Crusade: Status Politics and the American Temperance Movement. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1963.