The Fall of Oklahoma Klanswomen
Political Activities of Oklahoma Women in the Early Twentieth Century.
(PRWEB) September 29, 2004 -- Women belonged to numerous patriotic
organizations in the 1920s, but perhaps none as conservative as the Knights of
Kamelia and the Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).
The WKKK is one of only a
number of early Oklahoma women’s political organizations discussed in a new
book, “Who’s Rocking the Cradle? Women Pioneers of Oklahoma Politics from
Socialism to the KKK, 1900-1930,” by Suzanne H. Schrems, Ph.D.
The first
women activists in Oklahoma were Socialists, but by 1920, far-right
organizations such as the WKKK attracted many Oklahoma women. According to the
author, “Many civic-minded women … found the Women of the Ku Klux Klan to be the
organization that best represented their political ideals.
The WKKK roots
were in the White American Protestant Study Club in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,
where an organizer for the KKK convinced the all women membership to form an
organization patterned over the Ku Klux Klan. The Women of the Ku Klux spread to
other communities across the state where women found it “quite easy to move from
their patriotic clubs into a secret organization because from behind their mask
of anonymity, they believed they could better enforce traditional American
values.”
By 1921, WKKK announced that Oklahoma had 291 chapters and
23,859 members. Not every woman was eligible for membership in the WKKK. Only if
a woman could adhere to the policies numerated on an official invitation could
they qualify for membership. Policies that a good Klanswoman should support
were, “Tenets of the Christian religion, just laws and liberty, upholding the
Constitution of the United States, preventing the causes of mob violence and
lynching, limitation on foreign immigration and to understand the relations of
home and duty.”
WKKK members considered their organization a
separate entity and not an auxiliary to the KKK. The women, like the men, “were
white supremacists who stood against foreign immigration, internationalism and
Roman Catholicism,” and “The women of the Ku Klux Klan were impatient with the
slow-grinding wheels of justice. To them, there was a litany of societal
problems, including corrupt public officials, cultural decay and religious
contamination that needed their attention.”
But, looking out for others
also was part of the WKKK program. “Klanswomen helped those in need in their
communities by providing necessary items such as clothing, food baskets and, in
some cases, money. A family in need very seldom saw its benefactor.”
The
Oklahoma WKKK lasted only about five years. Violence by the KKK men damaged the
WKKK, as well as internal divisions among the leadership, and a strong anti-Klan
bill passed by the Oklahoma legislature; all contributed to the decline of both
the KKK and the WKKK in 1925.
Who’s Rocking the Cradle? Women Pioneers of
Oklahoma Politics from Socialism to the KKK, 1900-1930. By Suzanne H. Schrems,
Ph.D. www.horsecreekpublications.com, 405-364-9647
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/9/prweb162266.htm