Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke may be popular among some Utah Republicans, but the Klan itself has never been very welcome in Utah.
According to a new book titled "The Invisible Empire in the West," the KKK recognized early in the 1920s that the key to its success in the Intermountain West was Salt Lake City. And it failed, largely because of strong opposition by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In a chapter titled "A Battle of Empires: The Klan in Salt Lake City," Larry R. Gerlach suggests the fierce opposition was rooted both in religious ideology and in "the numerous acts of coercion, physical abuse and even murder suffered by Mormon missionaries in the post-Civil War South by persons acting under the name of the Klan."
"In short, Utah in the 1920s was a markedly homogenous state, one that was largely rural, overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon and Mormon, and attitudinally anti-Klan," Gerlach wrote.
Not that Salt Lake City was immune from racial and religious bigotry during the 1920s. Gerlach cites biases against Italians, Hispanics, blacks, Asians, Greeks and Jews.
But when the KKK announced in 1921 they would organize a branch in Salt Lake City, they were immediately denounced by the LDS Church as a contemptuous bunch. According to Gerlach, the Deseret News repeatedly took editorial aim at the KKK, calling its members a "cowardly and sinister" band of "night riders garbed in pillow slips and sheets" who "enraged race prejudice and fed upon religious intolerance."
"While perhaps correct in its assessment of the KKK, the News incorrectly went on to assert that no Utahns were favorably interested in the Ku Klux Klan or its method or purposes," Gerlach wrote.
National Klan organizer E.T. Cain arrived in Utah in the fall of 1921 to establish the first KKK order in the state. By 1922, the local chapter had secured an official charter from Imperial Headquarters. Salt Laker Alexander W. Christensen was appointed King Kleagle of Utah.
Facing fierce opposition from The Deseret News and the LDS Church, the Klan turned to advertising in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Salt Lake Telegram, arguing "the best citizens had associated themselves with us to further the sublime principles of pure Americanism."
Lack of interest in Utah, however, led to the virtual disintegration of the Salt Lake klavern by the summer of 1923. Disaffected Klansmen then organized the Minute Men of Utah in November 1923 as a "social, benevolent, charitable and patriotic" organization. That did not last either.
National Klansmen returned to Utah in 1924 and began aggressive campaigns to recruit new members. At one rally, a crowd estimated at 4,000 people showed up, and membership grew rapidly. Whereas earlier Klan activities had been relatively low-key, this time Klan activities included parades through Salt Lake City, the burning of crosses on Ensign Peak and public rallies.
Community leaders struck back by passing laws prohibiting masks or disguises in public places. "Torn by internal dissension, buffeted by negative publicity and handicapped by the anti-mask ordinance, Salt Lake Kluxers met only behind closed doors in 1926," Gerlach wrote, and by late 1927 "the Invisible Empire had expired as a viable organization in Salt Lake City."
Gerlach's chapter details exactly who was involved in the Utah KKK, quotes from diaries of local Klansmen, reveals the involvement of the local masonic order in Klan activities, and offers historical perspectives on the Klan in relation to Utah immigrants, organized labor and the LDS Church.
Gerlach concludes the downfall of the Salt Lake KKK "can be attributed to more than economic considerations. The chapter suffered from a lack of inspiring and effective leadership and never developed a wide-ranging following. Most important, the klavern failed to offer itself as an effective means of addressing community problems. The Klan simply seemed to have little reason to exist."
"The Invisible Empire in the West" is edited by Shawn Lay and will be published by the University of Illinois Press.