Ku Klux Klan wedding portrait   Save
Ku Klux Klan in Ohio Small Picture Collection
Description: This wedding portrait shows Ku Klux Klan members in full regalia. The portrait is meant to be a testament to the members' commitment to the organization and the ideas of the "100% Americanism" campaign. After a period of decline during the Jim Crow years, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) emerged again during the 1910s. This reversal was partly due to the Great Migration, when hundreds of thousands of African Americans moved from the South to the North, seeking jobs in industrialized cities, including many in Ohio. In addition, many people in the United States became involved in reform movements during the first decades of the 20th century. Some of these movements supported middle-class, Protestant values and believed that non-whites and foreigners were a danger to these beliefs. Because of these fears and concerns, the Ku Klux Klan was able to find new supporters. The Ku Klux Klan was especially strong in Ohio during the 1910s and 1920s. In Summit County the Klan claimed to have fifty thousand members, making it the largest local chapter in the United States. Many of the county's officials were members, including the sheriff, the Akron mayor, several judges and county commissioners, and most members of Akron's school board. The Klan was also very popular in Licking County, where the group held its state konklave (convention) in 1923 and 1925. More than 70,000 people attended each event. By the mid 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan began to decline in popularity, but saw a revival once again during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The Ku Klux Klan continues to exist in the twenty-first century. It is, however, at present quite small in both numbers and influence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC359_03
Subjects: Ku Klux Klan (1915- ); Racism--United States--History--20th century; Race relations; Discrimination; Weddings
Places: Richland County (Ohio)