When fascism came to Lenawee: The Klan in Lenawee
The 1920s Lenawee Klan, with its chapters, events and cross-burnings in Adrian, Blissfield, Tecumseh, Hudson, Morenci, and other towns, is well documented in the Lenawee Historical Society Archives and other places (“Klan in Five Towns, Organizer States,” Adrian Daily Telegram, July 20, 1923).
Originally introduced here by a Methodist preacher in Tecumseh and promoted by members of local fraternal organizations (just like William Simmons in Part 1), the most notorious was the charismatic and kindly Rev. Frank Lewis of the Methodist Protestant Church, the home church of Adrian College.
Rev. Lewis was active in several charity and community organizations. Despite his civic presence, Lewis’ Klan support did not sit well with Dr. Feeman, president of Adrian College, and there was a split in the congregation. Lewis was removed from the pulpit, but not deterred. He and his followers set up shop at 132 S. Winter St. in Adrian as the Community Congregational Church (Lindquist, “Klan had Decade of Activity in Lenawee County,” Feb. 18, 1989). Their men’s group, the Lenawee County Club, and ladies’ auxiliary, the Olivewood Club, also met at this location.
Possibly the most fascinating but overlooked items in reports of all the cross burnings, scuffles, picnics, speeches, parades and hooded intimidation performances, are a set of Telegram articles beginning on July 14, 1923, written by a then-Telegram reporter who found himself mysteriously invited to a secret Klan recruiting meeting that was held in an upper room so typical of Lenawee County’s downtown buildings of that era, where invitation-only meetings were held and plans and decisions were and still are made (“Ku Klux Klan forming Adrian organization,” Adrian Daily Telegram, July 14, 1923).
There’s a plot twist years later, as this reporter — by then, retired Telegram editor Don Frazier — reveals how he came to be invited to this meeting, and in the end, what happened to Lenawee’s rebooted Klan movement (Frazier, “Ku Klux Klan activity in Adrian short-lived,” The Daily Telegram, Nov. 16, 1973).
More: When fascism came to Lenawee: The lost cause and the Ku Klux Klan
It’s tempting to think of various lodges and some civic groups as harmless, sometimes hapless but always well-intended bro-groups, parodied by Jackie Gleason’s “Honeymooners” skits with Ralph Kramden’s and Ed Norton’s Raccoon Lodge, or perhaps its cartoon knock-off, the Flintstones and the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo. Or maybe another favorite, Canadian Red Green and his Possum Lodge. White-males-only social clubs.
The Klan that came to Lenawee wasn’t like that. It was a racist hate group that promoted a segregated society, defined by its perverted view of Christianity and the U.S. Constitution, an extension of the Lost Cause of traitors during the American Civil War.
It marketed itself as a family-friendly, civic-minded group of joiners, American patriots promoting Christian values and white, Protestant, native-born superiority. The modus operandi of this second version of the Klan was show of intimidation. It specialized in large, mass gatherings, secret meetings and initiation rites, and the use of costumes, insignias and regalia to create fear. It supported itself financially through grift by its hustlers — membership dues and selling swag. Once the Depression hit, this financial tribute from members stopped and the whole scheme collapsed.
The great migration from southern states to northern cities like Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan with its budding auto industry grew to flood stage once the Great Depression set in. In addition to Lost Causers, I-75 brought Blacks from the South seeking work and their families. Immigrants from Eastern and Western Europe, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants alike, each came with their own customs, language and religions. They came through Ellis Island, the Port of Detroit, and from Mexico, Cuba and other places in the Caribbean.
The Klan was and is a threat to democracy, but something far worse came to Lenawee a little later. The Klan was a show pony. One of its spawn groups was far more sinister and far more dangerous, and it came gunning for Lenawee.
To be continued ...
— Pam Taylor is a retired Lenawee County teacher and an environmental activist. She can be reached at ptaylor001@msn.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: When fascism came to Lenawee: The Klan in Lenawee
