Abstract:

Based on archive examination in the Grand Lodge of Topeka, this paper
seeks to examine the connection between masonry and the Klan at the
peak of the Klan’s expansion in the 1920s. What emerges is a tangled
relationship. While the Klan recruited strongly from among masons
in these years: while it got support from masons—financially, in the
courts and in local politics—some leading masons were among the most
outspoken and effective of anti-Klan activists in this and other States. In
spite of these high profile exceptions, it appears that the relationship was
essentially predicated on individual conscience. What it shows is that this
is a fruitful area for further research in this divided decade in other regions
of America.

Author: Kristofer Mark Allerfeldt