I have a terribly embarrassing secret, especially and remarkably for someone who lives in New York City, in the post 9/11 era, or any time for that matter.
My grandparents, on my father’s side, were members of the Ku Klux Klan for a short while in the 1920's.
How did this happen? How is it possible that my dad had a career as a well respected lawyer and judge for the US Navy and the US Coast Guard (more on this later; suffice it to say he served as an Appeals Court justice for both services, and served at the top of the US Naval trial judiciary), and never gave any hint of this? How was it that my mom came and lived, studied and worked for several years in the ‘40’s in New York City and never gave a hint of it either, although she did know that her in-laws had been Klan members?
And how have I ended up as a fairly typical New York City, Ivy-league-educated liberal, and have grandparents who were KKK members?
History is fascinating. How do I know my grandfolks were Klan members? Well, not only do we have a photo, but we have the robes and hoods. Yes, my Grandma’s robe is the really short one (she was about 5’2”), and Grandad’s is the really long one (he was tall, 6’). And hoods. In fact, when we found these artifacts, my sister’s husband (at the time; they have since divorced), who is Jewish, moved to try on one of the hoods. My sister and I both snatched it away from him, fearful of spontaneous combustion. Jokingly, but not totally so,
Is there any way I can accept this as part of my heritage historically, and still feel that I’m legitimate in the studies I've done of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany? This is a topic I have been working on since high school; it was my sub-major in college. I know more about the actual Holocaust than many Jews my age or younger, and I know much more about the circumstances and history which led to it. But, as a “shiksa,” my knowledge is often looked upon as just a bit of passing interest, nothing scholarly. I have a couple of book ideas, but I haven’t had the time or resources to pursue them, which is frustrating.
Why did my grandparents become KKK members, especially given the isolated corner of West Virginia they lived in (and where we still own property)? Frankly, there were none of the people against whom the Klan generally operates; there was no black population, no Jews, very few Catholics, no Irish. These were pretty much the only noticable ethnic groups in America in those days, although on the west coast there were Chinese and Mexicans. There were several reasons, in the decade from 1918 or so, until 1929, that many middle class people joined societies which ostensibly promoted Christian moralism, purity of family and locale, and a general xenophobia. These people had just been through what was at that time referred to as the “Great War,” World War I. These days, we hardly recognize this as a war, but it was a watershed event in the history of the US.
With its involvement in World War I, from 1917 to November 11, 1918, America for the first time demonstrated its true power to the rest of the world, as an amalgam of peoples and cultures. This was when the USA became a “world power,” though at the time, still a reluctant one. It’s always about war, isn’t it? But, in reaction to the country 's involvement in the war, a huge movement grew up that was against any further "foreign entanglements." Groups like the Klan fed on this fear of the outside world.
In addition to WW I, the United States had sustained a huge influx of immigrants from about 1890 to 1920 or so. In the immediate area of this inflow, New York City (yes, good old New York City, the easy target for the rest of the country!), the immigrants generally got along, but as they spread out across the country, other communities were not as open or enlightened as New York, or other coastal American cities were to these new residents. There was still the huge base of people who felt that, because they were born in this country, they had more right to the place than others.
Founded shortly after the end of the Civil War as a reaction to the South's loss, the membership and influence of the Ku Klux Klan waxed and waned over the years. The rise of the KKK in the 1920’s was really in response to this fear of a “de-Americanization” or perhaps the “de-Anglicization” of the USA. It also had much to do with the fear of the outside world that was fostered by America's involvement in WW I. Frankly, it’s not so much different from some of what’s going on now, with the Minutemen on the Mexican border, and a lot of the other anti-immigrant ranters being publicly and happily supported. The only things many of the current anti-immigrationists lack are the robes and hoods. I can share my little piece of history with them, if they want.
I will say in my grandparents' defense that in all of the time I knew them, I never heard a racist remark or anything said that was derogatory about anyone who was not a "WASP." The Klan membership was short-lived, and in America in general at the time, the Klan began to whither fairly rapidly after explosive growth in the early '20's.
My grandfolks were good, hardworking people, who really did try to live as they believed. My grandmother helped people who lived back up in the "hollers," with shoes and clothes for their kids so they could go to school, and even soap to get them cleaned up. She taught herself to play piano, then gave lessons. She and Grandad were gospel singers, and had a quartet that performed on the radio sometimes and went to tent revivals. Grandad had been a coal miner (it was West Virginia, after all) and also worked as a farmer. He had a wonderful strawberry patch, and was "King" of the Buckhannon, WV Strawberry Festival one year. I am not trying to excuse their KKK connection, but I don't think that was who they really WERE.
I readily acknowledge this association they had, but I choose to remember Grandma and Grandad as the loving, caring people they always were to me.
Thanks for reading,
Catbird
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