Peddlers of Hate author talks about the Klan plan for Oregon

Sep 10

Parents of students at Catholic schools in Oregon in November 1922 woke up the day after election day that year to learn that their fellow citizens had voted to shut down all private schools; had determined by popular vote that public schools would be the only educational option for the children of Oregon.

Thousands of families were affected; as were hundreds of teachers and administrators. The very existence of the Catholic Church in Oregon was threatened. It was Archbishop Alexander Christie who once said, “If the Catholic schools aren’t full today, our churches will be empty tomorrow.”

Fortunately for the local Catholics, the men who wrote and promoted the ballot measure, hoping to create a government monopoly in education, made a fatal mistake: As written, the Compulsory Schools Measure wouldn’t go into effect until 1926. By then, Archbishop Christie, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and some smart Irish Catholic attorneys would fight back in the courts until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the ballot measure to close the schools was unconstitutional.

“The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” Associate Justice James McReynolds of the Taft Court in 1925 - Nine white Protestant Justices.

The ruling in the Oregon case is known as the Magna Carta of the parochial school system.

A story Oregonians should hear

How that happened has become a “hot topic” a century after private schools were almost shut down in Oregon by order of the electorate. Steve Law, a diligent journalist with the work ethic of ten men, assembles the story in his first book: Peddlers of Hate – How the Ku Klux Klan Seized Power in 1920s Oregon. He’s already spoken to packed houses in Ashland and at Powell’s Books on Burnside. There have been several reviews published. All are positive, and all note how remarkable it is that most Oregonians are unaware of this chapter in the state’s history. The reviews also point out the similarities between the politics of then and now. Archbishop Christie said it best, “Know nothings never go away.”

Meet Steve Law

Steve Law had already arrived, by bike, at the Grand Central Bakery store in Sellwood on the morning of August 27. He’d pedaled over from his home near Mt. Tabor. It was when he heard that the Ku Klux Klan once burned crosses at the summit of Tabor, which he could see from his window, that he was hooked. We spent an hour and a half talking about his new book and his career as a local newspaper reporter. We swapped gossip. Ears must have been burning. The chat rambled. You can follow up by asking Steve questions at Kells on Thursday, September 17 at Seven P.M.

The Klan Plan

The Klan that came to power in Oregon politics in the 1920s was a kinder, gentler version of the Klan that terrorized those who were neither white nor Protestant after the Civil War. Warren Simmons was the Georgia flim flam man who rebranded the Klan for its second run around 1915. He copyrighted all things Klan and made a ton of money.

SL - “Masonic Lodges were huge then. Simmons belonged to 15 of them in the South. He sold the Masons insurance. Then he started the Klan as a way to make money. He was clearly after money. He had tied to become a locker club operator; these were private places for people evading Prohibition in Atlanta. This guy was a failure. He tried making it as a pastor but couldn’t draw a decent congregation. He was a corset salesman.”

Once he had revived the Klan with Masons as members, Simmons knew he needed help.

SL - “He outsourced business operations to two public relations professionals. The idea was to not juts target Blacks, but Jews and Catholics too. They knew the Catholic and immigrant populations in Oregon were small. So, they went to Oregon. You don’t go to New York or Boston where the Mayors and Chiefs of Police are Irish Catholics.”

They hired 200 salesmen and sent them across America to peddle ten-dollar Klan memberships. They worked on commission. Forty percent. Four of every ten dollars went into their wallets. A not insignificant sum of money in 1922.

SL - “’Money was rolling in. The Klan was about ten dollars and selling hate.’ That’s what the second Imperial Wizard of the Klan said. I think they clearly exploited white supremacy and bigotry to make money.”

Meanwhile at the Masonic Lodges

SL - “All the leaders in the Klan in Oregon and nationally were members of the Scottish Rite Masons.

“Masons were mainstream. David Horowitz (PSU Professor and author of Inside the Klavern) will argue correctly that the Masons were mainstream because they were white supremacists and anti-Catholic. He calls that mainstream.

“The Klan was a hate group. They made their money and their membership and climb to power promoting hate.”

Aftermath

Is it fair to say that the Oregon school measure was the most significant thing the Klan did during its brief reign in Oregon?

SL - “I think it’s fair to say that. Because it’s the only state that did that. In several states it was on the ballot and it was defeated.

“There was some ruing about the measure in Oregon and some of it came out after it passed. There were some residual questions. “Did they do the right thing in Oregon or were they really just trying to attack Catholics?’”

Klan Kollapse

Corruption. Infighting. Hypocrisy. Perhaps inevitably a privately owned business doing double duty as a social movement grew tarnished by missteps of leaders out to pad their own pockets. FromPeddlers of Hate.