Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s

by Kathleen M. Blee

Ignorant. Brutal. Male. One of these stereotypes of the Ku Klux Klan offers a misleading picture. In Women of the Klan, sociologist Kathleen M. Blee dismantles the popular notion that politically involved women are always inspired by pacifism, equality, and justice. In her new preface, Blee reflects on how recent scholarship on gender and right-wing extremism suggests new ways to understand women's place in the 1920s Klan's crusade for white and Christian supremacy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, American History, Politics, Sociology, Gender Studies

258 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 1992

About the author

Kathleen M. Blee is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Reviews

[Stefania Dzhanamova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen M. Blee’s book dispels one of the misleading stereotypes regarding the Ku-Klux-Klan – the exclusively male gender of its members.

In 1920s half a million or more women joined the Women of the Ku Klux Klan. In some states, they constituted nearly half of the Klan membership and were a considerable minority in others.

The story of the immense and politically powerful Invisible Empire of the 20s is incomplete without paying attention to the role of Klanswomen. Their activities and ideologies differed substantially from those of the Klansmen and, by examining the WKKK, Blee changed my outlook on the Klan as a whole.

In the early twentieth century American political order was in a state of flux. Under the conditions of the 1920s, odd, contradictory agendas weren’t uncommon in political movements. Many social reformers strove to discipline immigrants; some of the women’s rights advocates adhered to racism and nativism. Thus, the fluctuating political climate, it was possible for the WKKK to create a gender ideology neither progressive nor reactionary. Klanswomen mixed support for white Protestant women’s rights with anti-Semitism, racism, and anti-Catholicism.

The WKKK also gradually changed the gender ideology of the KKK itself. While the Klansmen envisioned white women only as a symbol of purity and motherhood, the Klanswomen actively involved themselves in Klan’s politics. Women of the Klan drew on familial and community ties; traditions of kin reunions, church suppers, and social celebrations spread the KKK’s messages of racial, religious, and national bigotry.

The inclusion of the Junior KKK and the Tri-K Klub – the respective boys’ and girls’ KKK organisations – also extended the order’s influence. Klanswomen and Klanschildren contributed to the normalization of the Klan, strengthening the members’ claim that their events were just “a way to get together and have fun”. Kathleen M. Blee notes that the nonchalant, even proud and unrepentant, manner in which the former WKKK members she has interviewed speak of their membership underscores the Klan’s success in becoming a part of ordinary Protestant life.

“Women of the Klan” is a compelling, in-depth study of the complexity of women’s role in the Invisible Empire of the 1920s, which has been overlooked by many scholars. Very detailed, brilliantly written, and inarguably useful for the efficient understanding of the Ku Klux Klan in general. Five stars.

[Thomas Ray]

My wife's great-aunt (1885-1975) was a KKK member. A farmer in Henry County, Illinois https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hen... , she had never /met/ a black person. When in 1967 at age 82 she finally did meet a family of them socially, she said afterward, in astonishment, "They were nice /people/!"

The family she met was that of a then-high-school-senior and first violin in the high-school orchestra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_...

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes the kkk look like amway on a teetotaler hate binge- the hordes of jews, papists, sex perverts, drinkers, and of course the blacks threatened the very fate of our beloved country but Klan stood alone against them, at least until in fighting and haggling over who stole all the join up fees and robe fees drove them all crazy.
The idea of feminists being just a taken for granted source of progress is here seriously challenged, and these crack pot freaks were just as bad as their men.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mildly interesting look back on a horrifying piece of America's history. In my opinion, the title of the book is misleading because I never felt that its sole emphasis was truly on the women who participated in this atrocious hate group; rather, it seemed to touch on certain historical aspects of the KKK itself with few supporting details on how & why the women eventually became involved. In fact, I felt like those details were regurgitated throughout the book in an attempt to fill space.

I don't regret reading it but I would not necessarily recommend it either.

[Caroline Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a study of the Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK) in the period of the second KKK (1920s) - first, national history of both the KKK and WKKK and then, a case study of the Indiana WKKK.

My primary takeaway was the conclusion that the KKK/WKKK embodied already-existent nationalist, racist, anti-semitic, and xenophobic sentiments that are part of the national colonial psyche and were already latent prior to the second KKK boom. The movement was able to exponentially grow because of these pre-existent norms but also because the ideals of the group were so closely aligned with the psychology of the white-supremacist settler state. In other words, the Klan experienced very little state repression compared to any other organization focused on increasing power of a demographic group. Klan members included doctors, lawyers, teachers, judges, police, politicians, petty-bourgeoisie and working class people and in some towns, the vast majority of the population.

Additionally, the women of the WKKK were attracted to a mix of both reactionary and progressive politics within the organization.The KKK/WKKK offered protections to Protestant white women not guaranteed in larger society and even a promise of what WKKK members saw as equality between (white and Protestant) men and women in the home. The groups held a pro-temperance and women’s suffrage stance. They were opposed to domestic violence toward white Protestant women and at times forcibly returned wayward husbands to their families, threatening them into finding a job and supporting their family. These principles attracted white Protestant women to the organization, who easily accepted the racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism, etc. sentiments in return for their own isolated power.

This study forces one to contend with the fact that violence and white supremacy are latent and embedded in national US history and psyche. It also illustrates that progressive stances on particular issues do not guarantee an overall politics. This is especially important to consider now, 100 years later, when imperialist parties attempt to convince voters of their progressivism by zeroing in on specific policies, promoting token representatives as an example of overall progressivism, etc. This study shows that white Protestant women could easily resolve political contradictions when their personal power was guaranteed.

The KKK and WKKK were not fringe societies of unhinged wackos. They were normal patriotic white Americans. This book compels the reader to consider what “normal” means in a white settler colonial state. It compels the reader to rethink how progressive a politic can be when it is embedded in this widespread normalcy that the KKK/WKKK highlighted.

[Ashley Piekarski · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The women's Klan [of the 1920s] was contradictory: a reactionary, hate-based movement with progressive moments." Blee sums up her argument perfectly in this quote. On top of archival research, Blee interviewed women who were once involved in the WKKK or the Tri-K club (white protestant supremacist Girl Scouts) and what they had to say was extremely strange and deeply uncomfortable. Apparently, housewives saw the KKK as just a fun club, just another hobby to justify spending time with the girls. They saw the Klan as a fun way to get involved in the community Klan parades and weekend KKK cookouts with friends. Racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic friends.

Blee focused largely on the Indiana WKK. I learned that the women's Klan in Indiana wasn't big on physical violence like the men's Klan, but they had huge influence when it came to minorities' economic ruin (i.e. refusing to shop at the local Jewish man's grocery store) and social exclusion via the weapons of gossip and rumors.

This book so clearly lays out the origins of a dangerous white feminism. Blee reveals to us that racist women who wanted to fight for white women's right to work, vote, lead, preach, open a bank account without their husband's signature and the right to be independent collected and formed the WKKK. "Rights for us, but not for them" they seemed to shout.

What's weirder is that the WKKK's fight for women's rights pissed off their Klan husbands who hated the WKKK because the WKKK wasn't keeping women domestically tied to home. Men believed that the WKKK were dirty, immoral women who were not the pure perfect women the KKK claimed to protect. The WKK women were involved in politics instead of being submissive. They were racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic rebels defying their racist husbands, I guess?? If it all sounds insane, it's because it's all insane. It's insane that this story is true.

I'm shocked at how much the KKK hated Catholics... Catholics are white middle-class Christians. You'd think the Klan would want to recruit them, but no, they just burned down Catholic hospitals and Catholic schools, apparently.

This textbook-like read was beyond disturbing - telling us that white supremacists are hidden in plain sight and they might seem totally normal, and how white supremacists can corrupt those people who aren't exposed to different cultural groups, and so might fear them. Those people can and will be mobilized into a dangerous swarm.

Published in 1991, this book is DISTURBINGLY applicable to today's politics. THE NAZIS ARE BACK. We have literal anti-Semitic, racist Nazis that marched in Charlottesville and supremacists that waved Nazi flags at the insurrection on January 6th. THIS IS OUR PRESENT as well as our past.

Side note on the quality of the writing: Blee eventually finds her narrative stride at the end of the book, but the structure of the first half jumps around a lot and is very hard to follow.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and chilling look at the Women's Ku Klux Klan in Indiana during the 1920s. Katherine Blee challenges the traditional view that the Klan was made up of uneducated and poor whites. The Klan that Blee presents is full of middle class and professional people that have been involved in a variety of political and social movements, including many progressive movements like women's suffrage and temperance. They are brought together with an idea of what America should be and how Catholics, Jews, blacks, immigrants and others make up a threat to their way of life, even in a very heterogeneous place like 1920s Indiana. The thought I kept having while reading is how relate able the former Klan members that Blee interviews are one moment and then so otherworldly the next. I think that Blee sums up her entire book very with the following:
"Far from the popular media image of people with weaknesses of character or temperament or intellect as the Klan's only adherents, the Klanswomen and Klansmen of the 1920s were more often-and perhaps more frighteningly-normal. They were women and men who loved their families, acted kindly and sympathetically to amny other people, and even held progressive views on a number of issues.".

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be an essential US feminist text.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

It sometimes gets lost in the larger narratives, but, apparently, women participate in the pivotal and mundane moments in history as well. Who knew right?

Women of the Klan is an important document then because it's an opportunity to observe how gender operated in one of the strangest and darkest moments in American history, specifically the resurgence of the KKK in the 1920s. Looking at the role of women in society, and specifically in the national and local organizations of the KKK, Kathleen M. Blee has written a wonderful and insightful history of women. While not an uplifting topic, Blee manages to try to understand who these women were, why they joined the KKK, what they did once they joined, and how their role reflected the larger goals and ambitions of the Invisible Empire. Blee is able to see how the Indiana chapter of the KKK was strengthened and supported by several notable women who took it upon themselves too often leaders of the organization, and their identity as women was further impacted by their decisions and choices.

Blee's book was frustrating to me because it is focused solely upon the Indiana klan chapters rather than the nation as a whole. This is frustrating because, as I'm researching this movement, I would have liked to see a more macro approach overall.

Still, Blee's history is a strong contribution Klan research, and anyone and everyone who approaches this period and movement should take the time to read Blee's history. The role of women in society, whether it be for benevolent or malevolent organizations, is an important narrative, and Blee's book demonstrates that women always have a part to play in the culture.

[Patrick Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

the most efficient grad school reading i’ve done so far. This was a groundbreaking work when it was first published and it holds up, it’s a fascinating example of the use of oral history.

It’s a fairly short work and very comprehensible to the layman.

[aloveiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good thesis, poor supporting text. As with so many femme centric historical theories we are talking about the the efferent system of action vs the afferent system -how these Systems are inseparable and how their balance is key to the understanding of social structure. This is the basic concept here with a focus on the midwestern protestant population that joined the KKK for political or sociopolitical reasons in the 1920s. I'll tell you that, in general, there's a great paucity of usable information about the Klan available in written form. Authors with the most scholarly intentions use their prefaces to apologize about what they sought but did not find in the hearts and minds of these iconic cultists. I'm still reading on the topic wondering who will offer forth the keystone speculation that brings us from stupor to salience.

[Lisa]

I cannot rate this book. It is a scholarly work and I am not an historian so I cannot comment on the methods she used to compile it. To rate it on readability would be wrong because this isn't supposed to be a read-in-the-tub kind of book. It's dry and not fun to read but it isn't intended to be. The content is amazing and frightening. It has taught me that religion has always informed politics in this country and I hate that. It taught me that hate groups based on false morality have existed way before the tea party and I hate that. It reinforced misogyny covered up by religious zeal has always been an issue and I hate that. I learned a lot and it isn't pretty. So the book is great for educating us about the past and I love that.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting but limited read not readily damning the women of the Klan but painting them in a nearly sympathetic light, as much of White Feminism tends to do in regards to white women in history, but criticism is not the point of this book I suppose. A fascinating history and a good read for anyone looking to see how white supremacy has always reigned supreme in white womanhood.

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really interesting subject - how women became leaders in a group that discriminated aggressively in every way possible but tried to retained their feminism. Unfortunately, not very engaging and not written in an interesting fashion, which made it hard to get through!

[Les Vogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew about the KKK

Really surprising how similar many of the techniques of the past are still with us. And how easy it is for good people to be seduced by these ideas.

[Beckie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to help me prepare for a research paper for graduate school. I found that Blee conducted extensive research to better understand the motivations and practices of the WKKK.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book as much about the Klan as the Women of the Klan. By laying claim to moral righteousness and adopting patriotic and religious symbols the allied groups normalized fear and hatred of minorities. What is amazing is the strength of the Klan in Indiana, in 1920 it was 95% native born, 97% white and 97% Protestant. The leaders used inflammatory rhetoric, innuendos, partial truths, lies, and fake news to garner support and incite 'normal' people. They were known for their theatrical presentations and on the surface as being progressive, at least for their own kind. Financial squabbles and other scandals led to its eventual demise (tho' one can see its remnants in modern white supremacist groups). The males in the Klan were the main committers of violence but the women caused as much if not more damage by their "Poison Squad of Whispering Women." Through rumor, gossip, and boycott they destroyed lives and livelihoods. A lot of people don't understand the political power of gossip. An interesting point made was the connection between "Christian" churchmen and the Klan. And some of the leaders of the Women of the Klan gain their political experience through the WCTU and evangelicalism.

[Bristol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that a common misconception about white supremacists is that women are unwilling participants, or that they're less ideologically motivated compared to their male counterparts. While there isn't a lot of discussion on the subject, partly because typically women inside these groups are unlikely to have the opportunity to be interviewed about their motivations, Kathleen Blee does a fantastic job, disproving the claim that women inside of these groups are not willing participants. I found this book very interesting, and well put together! I've read numerous works by Kathleen Blee and she really does a phenomenal job putting together interviews, with theory, and other information on a subject that is purposely ignored inside of the academic community focused on extremists.

I'd give it a 4.5 if I had half stars!

[Jessica Layman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quoted from this in my work in grad school, but never read it cover to cover. I am really glad I went back to do so. It confirmed a lot of things I knew, but from the women's perspective.

It was valuable to think about the many layers of the men of the Klan wanting women to be involved, but not too involved, up on a pedestal, but not too idealistic, political, but only if they agree with the men. And on and on.

The details of this were good. It wasn't the most engaging book I've ever read, it was definitely academic, but someone interested in learning about the Klan movement would find value in it.

[Cheryl Wilfong]

Fascinating.
At first, i thought Oh, no, but the author walked the razor's edge of helping me see how women were co-opted in the early days of women's rights.

Same thing happens today (I'm thinking QAnon). Take white supremacy and wrap it in morality (the opposition is child trafficking), fire up the grass roots, and your issue moves. Back in the 1920s, blame was on the Catholics (read: new immigrants)--leading to anti-immigration bias.

[HF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a research paper I was writing. Her primary sources were the women who were apart of the WKKK. Every single scholar I found cited this book multiple times. Thank you for your work Dr. Blee.

[Judy Hyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not great writing but really important topic on the quest to understanding the current state of affairs vis a vis race in the U.S. I’m glad I read it and learned a lot of new information.

[Jen Mikkelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While extremely well researched and succinct in its analysis, I frequently struggled to maintain interest.

[Melissa Salsgiver · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much information packed into those few pages. I learned things of which I have never heard. I was amazed. I just had no idea. Glad that I have expanded my education.

[B Panther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply insightful and unpacks a lot of complicated complications without being too dense.

[i ;) · Rating 4 out of 5]

se me olvidó ponerlo al acabar la evi pero bueno ha sido interesante leerlo la verdad

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent sociological classic on the 1920s women's Ku Klux Klan, explaining the social ties and community effects that draw participants into right-wing movements. Blee is struck by how sympathetic she often finds her interviewees and provides an early rejection of the idea that only irrational, marginal individuals join extreme movements. It's less the ideology that initially draws women into the organization, though the racism and nativism is also natural to their white Protestant mentality at the time. Also an interesting discussion of how women deployed tactics like state-wide rumor networks ("poison" squads) and boycotts to wield political power and undermine non-white businesses.

[MaryAlice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Women of the Klan reminded me of a High School History textbook and it did not hold my attention.
I did not read it all.

Yet I was fascinated about this unknown, to me, history. I learned, among other things:

Mary King, Mary Goodwin and Mary Weygandt were kleages in Pennsylvania and Ohio WKKK organizations. Kleages were paid organizers who worked to increase Klan memberships. The Fiery Cross , a Klan newspaper urged readers to vote for Mary Turch, "a 100% American Christian girl" in a popularity contest run by the Indianapolis News.

[Count Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality social science, right down to direct commentary on evidence-gathering and analysis techniques, and the problematic reliability of sources often self-reported by Fiery Cross and other internal information-dissemination organs. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the early twentieth century, Protestant social life in the US, or women's suffrage activism and the often disparate factions within the overall Feminist movement.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.
This book is a little creepy. It shows how manipulative people can be. What makes it so disturbing is that these women were spreading such hate to their children, and the children ended up with those remains with them.