The Ku Klux Klan and Freemasonry in 1920s America: fighting fraternities

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Notes -- 1 Klanishness: brotherhood in the Invisible Empire -- The golden age of fraternity and the Roaring Twenties -- The Ku Klux Klan's role as a fraternity -- The Ku Klux Klan, fraternalism and militancy -- Notes -- 2 Freemasonry's fighting brother: militancy, fraternalism and the Ku Klux Klan -- The origins of the militant Masonic movement -- The Fellowship Forum and militant Protestant fraternalism -- "Whoring after the false gods" of Ku Kluxism -- Notes -- 3 Kluxing America: the use and abuse of the Masonic reputation -- Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan and secrecy in 1920s America -- Claiming links between the Klan and the Craft -- Appealing to Freemasons -- Notes -- 4 Hate at 10 a package: selling the Invisible Empire -- Edward Young Clarke and his kleagles -- Recruiting in Masonic lodges -- The role of the Propagation Department -- Notes -- 5 Hooded Freemasons: dual membership and conflict in local lodges -- Reports of the shared membership of the two fraternities -- Estimating the levels of dual membership -- Effects of dual membership in individual lodges -- Notes -- 6 Dallas Klan No. 66 and Anaheim Lodge No. 207: a case study of two communities -- The Ku Klux Klan in Dallas -- The Ku Klux Klan in Anaheim -- Comparing Anaheim and Dallas -- Notes -- 7 Friend or foe? Grand Masters' responses to the Ku Klux Klan -- Grand Masters' responses to the Ku Klux Klan -- Conflicting portrayals of the Ku Klux Klan -- Challenging the Klan's narrative -- Notes -- 8 The collapse of the Second Ku Klux Klan -- Notes -- Conclusion - an "Invisible" Empire? -- Notes -- Glossary -- Ku Klux Klan terms -- Masonic terms -- Index

The Second Ku Klux Klan's success in the 1920s remains one of the order's most enduring mysteries. Emerging first as a brotherhood dedicated to paying tribute to the original Southern organization of the Reconstruction period, the Second Invisible Empire developed into a mass movement with millions of members that influenced politics and culture throughout the early 1920s. This study explores the nature of fraternities, especially the overlap between the Klan and Freemasonry. Drawing on many previously untouched archival resources, it presents a detailed and nuanced analysis of the development and later decline of the Klan and the complex nature of its relationship with the traditions of American fraternalism.