Abstract:
This thesis examines the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s in Kansas City, Kansas. A nationwide phenomena which gathered as many as six million members, the order arrived in Kansas City in early 1921. Responding to perennial local social, civic, and political problems, the KKK quickly enrolled hundreds, possibly thousands, of civic-minded, middle-class supporters. Nearly 900 of those men were identified for this study. Drawn heavily from the ranks of the small-business owner, clerk, and skilled craftsman, Klansmen were generally middle-aged, mainline Protestants who voted Republican and frequented lodge meetings.
Conforming to the contours of Kansas City history, the Ku Klux Klan evolved into a vehicle of popular protest to challenge indifferent local elites. Despite defeating its political opponents, the KKK soon became the victim of its own contradictions and successes. Disagreement over "methods and operations," particularly the use of violence and economic boycott, forced 450 men out of the order in a single day. Still searching for a viable means of civic progress, ex-Klansmen organized "reform" Klans. These measures failed. By 1930, the order disappeared from public view.
