Ohio Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Wood County Chapter records
Collection Overview
Abstract
The Wood County Ku Klux Klan records consist of membership and dues records, register of officers, Klan constitution, reports, and miscellaneous printed items, covering the period from 1921 to 1942.
Dates
- Creation: 1921-1942, 1990, undated
Extent
1.15 Cubic Feet (2 legal archive boxes, 1 half-legal archive box)
2 Reels (2 35mm microfilm reels)
Creator
- Ohio Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Wood County Klan (Organization)
Scope and Contents
This collection of records relating to the Ku Klux Klan in Wood County is a good resource relating directly to the membership of the local organization, but much weaker when it comes to documenting the actual activities of the group.
The strength of the various membership records is the depiction of the cross-section of the population that participated. The records provide information about individual's occupations, residence, and occasionally age and description which can be helpful in understanding the demographic of the group. With the exception of the membership records and cards, the only other major document in the grouping that relates specifically to the Wood County Klan is a typed copy of an Oath of Allegiance ceremony, which closely follows a printed version also in the collection.
The small grouping of printed material with the collection is more representative of the national Klan than of the local unit. Of interest in the various series are the three different constitutions (the Kloran), pamphlets and leaflets which attempt to explain Klan philosophies, and recruit new members, especially in appeals related to the rise of fascism, communism, and the Nazi movements on the eve of World War II, and the various forms and cards related to the secret nature of meetings where introductions from established members would be expected to gain admittance. One item of interest is the form sheets for the ordering of Klan robes, with the caution in the instructions that all measurements should be taken while wearing a coat.
In Wood County, where there wasn't a large Black, Jewish, or immigrant population, the appeal of membership was directed much more toward the quasi-patriotic appeal prevalent in the post-World War I period. In this vein, the documented activities of the Klan locally included presenting flags and Bibles to schools. While the other philosophic elements were still present, they didn't have the popular appeal that would result in new recruits.
Biographical / Historical
The Klan in Wood County seems to have been active from the early 1920's, although the material in this collection only documents memberships from 1924. Articles in the Perrysburg Journal (Dec. 23, 1923) and in the Bowling Green Daily Sentinel-Tribune (Oct. 5, 1923) indicate active Klan projects which would show a well established organization at the time. The records in this collection also show that growth in the Wood County Klan was successful enough for a separate Perrysburg Klan (no.200) to be founded, with many Wood County members transferring there.
Without supporting minutes or other proceedings, the activities of the local Klan are hard to track directly. The membership levels in the early years of the 1920's do show a growing and vibrant chapter, but by 1941 the Kligrapp (Secretary) reports show a membership of only 12 by the last quarter of the year.
From an article in Timeline (March/April 1994) John Marszalek wrote, "World War I and its aftermath had loosed a flood of fear and prejudice...emphasized the patriotism and morality of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, and anti-black themes....Americans were joiners; Americans were patriotic; Americans were disturbed by rapid social changes. Many felt helpless before the waves of European Catholic and Jewish immigrants, the black migrants seeking opportuity outside the rural South, and alleged invasion of Bolsheviks and assorted other radicals of the postwar Big Red Scare who seemed to menace all the nation's values."
In this context, the material found in this small collection is representative of the typical citizens who through prejudice or ignorance or misguided patriotism became part of the Klan movement in Wood County.
Conditions Governing Access
No known access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Copies
The entirety of the Wood County Ku Klux Klan records is also available on one microfilm reel (as well as a duplicate backup copy reel) at the Center for Archival Collections.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated to the Center for Archival Collections by Anthony Deiuliis on March 11, 1975.
Processing Information
Due to restrictions that the collection be closed to researchers until at least June 1982, processing of the collection did not occur immediately after donation. The collection was originally processed by Paul D. Yon and a preliminary inventory prepared; that inventory was revised and a finding aid created in October 1996 by Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts.
Subject
- Ohio Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Wood County Klan (Organization)
- Ku Klux Klan (1915-) -- Ohio -- Wood County (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Ohio Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Wood County Chapter records
- Author
- Paul D. Yon, Marilyn Levinson, Madeleine Williams, Nick Pavlik
- Date
- October 1996, October 2020, September 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Box: 1 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 2 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 3 (Mixed Materials)
- Reel: 1 (Microform)
- Reel: 1 (Copy 2) (Microform)