People move all the time. Presently, on average a person in the United States will move 11.7 times in their lifetime. On St Patrick's Day, a comment on the radio got me thinking about the migration of my grandparents from the deep soils of northcentral Iowa to Sun Prairie, WI. In a blog post of January 16, 2021 about my Grandmother Ida (nee Pitzenberger) Hovel, I explored some hints for why the family moved from Iowa to Wisconsin. My grandparents were living in northcentral Iowa during the 1920's when the second KKK was forming and being active. Married in 1914 in Winneshiek County, IA, my grandfather had already taken on the farm purchased by his father southeast of Manly, IA. Except for a time in Los Angeles, they lived on that farm until permanently moving to Sun Prairie, WI in 1930. This post will explore the possible role of the KKK in my paternal grandparents decision to move from Manly, IA to Sun Prairie, WI.
 |
| Decorah Journal article on the KKK 6 Aug 1924 |
On St Patrick's Day, a radio announcer noted that the Fighting Irish nickname for the University of Notre Dame was in part due to Irish attendees of the University fighting the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. That took my mind back to my brother's comments about overhearing a conversation between my grandfather and his brother Ed discussing KKK activity in Iowa. That weekend, I did some more research. A few years ago an older brother commented that the Netflix Damnation television show rekindled his memory of Rudy and Ida talking with Rudy's brother Ed about the KKK in Iowa. While Damnation takes place in the 1930's, KKK activity was starting to subside in Iowa by about that time. As we will see, the KKK was active in the 1920's. As an interesting aside, Ed Hovel is the first recorded baptism for Sacred Heart Parish of Manly, IA. Ed was baptized in 1882 in a school house on the north side of town. It remains the only Catholic Church in the 402 sq mi of Worth County, IA.
The build up of the KKK in the 1920's is known as the Second KKK. It actually dates back to 1915 with the release of Birth of a Nation which built on the "Lost Cause" interpretation which followed the Civil War. Let me specifically deal with the Klan in the Midwest. Professor James H Madison from Indiana University noted some general information on the Klan in the Midwest from a talk he presented at Grand Valley State University. First, the Klan in the Midwest was not, he said, composed of those in the despicable class, but generally those of solid middle class values. They viewed themselves as 100% American, white (pure white), Native born, Protestant and Patriotic. In the Midwest the Klan's main activities were presented against Roman Catholics. Secondary focus was on Jews and African-Americans. Catholics were more prevalent in the rural Midwest than the other two groups. Prejudice was strong against Roman Catholics in the nation. It grew worse as Irish, and Eastern and Southern European immigrants arrived setting off a firestorm in the predominantly White, Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) population dynamic. Fr Jim Martin, in a 2000 article said that historian "Arthur Schlesinger Sr. called anti-Catholicism 'the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people.'" Such that, we see today that anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice.
 |
| Klan in Manly, IA. Decorah Journal |
The anti-Catholic movement in the nation led to the second KKK. Josh Zeitz notes that "immigrant Catholics faced the brunt of Protestant America's rage." The Klan retained and built on this anti-Catholic fervor. Prejudice against Catholics was well before the Know Nothing party in the mid-19th century. In fact, it was prevalent in the founding of Jamestown and became widespread in most all of the American colonies. The revival of the Klan, according to Josh Zeitz was due to Roman Catholic and Jewish immigrants. He recalls how "No Irish Need Apply" was the common sign at places of employment in Boston and New York. The US was agreeable to immigrants as long as they were WASP's. Madison notes that congress essentially codified immigration favoring northern European and Protestants in its 1924 immigration act. The second KKK was heavily involved in politics, and this was one of their successful measures.
 |
| KKK at St James Lutheran Church, Verona, WI |
 |
| VCU Map of KKK in Mason City, IA area No Klan is shown in Manly, although the Klan is reported to have been in Manly, by a Riceville newspaper |
We have a tendency to think of the KKK as backwards, but they were on the cutting edge of messaging through use of radio and marketing schemes in the 1920's. They were active in recruiting at State Fairs, and often tried to make inroads with the local Masonic chapter. Miguel Hernandez, in a PhD thesis at the University of Exeter, noted that: "This study will also discuss how the Klan interacted with other fraternities, particularly the Freemasons. These two fraternities shared a complex relationship with elements of both cooperation and conflict, and their interactions will help us comprehend how the Ku Klux Klan managed to become the foremost fraternal movement of the 1920s."
The second KKK activity in the Midwest was generally not violent, per James H Madison, as he noted only two cases of known documented violence in the Midwest. However, he did note that their main tactics were threats and intimidation generally by burning crosses, soaping window and door screens with KKK, or other messages. But, the larger question is were activities purposely undercounted? For example, the KKK disavowed knocking over headstones in a Catholic Cemetery in Iowa. They may or may not have done such, but even today, without cameras or eyewitnesses it would be hard to prove. I suspect much of their activity was underhanded it would be difficult to prove the level of total activity. Further, given how they were active among the strong middle class of Protestants, would such violence be reported and acted on? The KKK had a strong presence at the funeral of a Dane County law officer, at St James Lutheran Church in Verona. I believe the makeup of the KKK resulted in their activities as being underreported, much less acted on. Their actions in northcentral Iowa must have been sufficiently prevalent and threatening to bring about discussion years later by my grandparents and my great uncle Ed Hovel many years later. Not only that, but the discussion between them was sufficient to have made an impression on my sibling, and for him to take notice of the conversation sixty or more years later.
 |
| 1939 Air Photo of Hovel farm, Sun Prairie, WI |
My grandfather's family lived near and around Manly, Iowa predominantly in Worth and Cerro Gordo Counties. Manly saw exceptional growth between 1910 and 1920, seeing its population increase from 346 to 1,476 persons. Rapid growth and change sometimes causes different anxieties. My grandfather, in the 1920's was farming land his father had bought and broke the prairie sod in the late 1870's just southeast of Manly, IA. The family was Catholic, with my great grandfather having arrived in the United States in 1868 from Bohemia. My grandparents first date was to Vespers at the local Catholic Church in Manly. Their first child, my Dad, was born in 1918. Five years later the Klan was organizing in Iowa. (Decorah Journal 7 Feb 1923.) By April 25th, 1923 the Decorah Journal reported that, according to the "Riceville Recorder", "the Klan has reached Manly." Riceville sits about 30 miles east of Manly. The Klan being active in Manly, is also verified by Iowa PBS in this statement: "But it had followers in smaller communities too—Centerville, Manly, Cherokee and Red Oak."
A few sources provide information on what life was like in Manly in the 1920's. That same PBS report had this to say about Manly: "In the little town of Manly in north central Iowa where blacks and Catholics had come to work on the railroads in the years before World War I, the Klan tried to intimidate both groups. Others in the town fought back, ridiculing the Klan." My second cousin married an Irish Catholic who worked for many years with the railroad in Manly. In 1922, when my Dad was about 3 or 4 years old, there was a national railroad strike and William Maddix reports that:
When the strike ended, the Ku Klux Klan remained as a political force in Manly that was anti-Catholic as well as anti-black. Klansmen often appeared in public, a dozen or so at a time, wearing hoods and robes. Many whites were intrigued by the Klan and attended cross burnings, not necessarily because they sympathized with the Klan, but because they were attracted by the inevitable fistfights that occurred between white Catholics and the Klansmen.
Manly is about a half dozen miles north of Mason City, and the Virginia Commonwealth University website notes that the Betsy Ross Klan was established in Mason City in 1923. Local Iowa papers seemed to support the KKK. The "Hampton Chronicle" favored the Klan per a snip in the "Northwoods Anchor" on 22 Nov 1922. Part of the article reads: "The Klan has done a lot of good even if some of the members do get a little too active sometimes." In a Sept 26, 1923 issue, the same paper noted how a large contingent went to Austin (MN) to "witness the initiation into the Ku Klux Klan." That same article noted that 12,000 to 15,000 persons viewed the initiation of about 400. Austin, by air, is about 20 miles north of Manly, IA.
 |
| "Northwood Anchor" quoting Hampton Chronicle 22 Nov 1922 |
The "Northwood Anchor" reported on school board races, being influenced by the Klan, with the issue centering around dry and wet candidates. The dry candidates did not support the sale of alcohol and were reported to likely be connected to the KKK. The dry candidates won. An opinion in the "Manly Globe Gazette" is quoted which noted the Klan did not figure in the election, but an opinion writer in the "Anchor" thought otherwise, given, as they said, that the Klan members were first taught to deny their membership in the group. The Anchor article from 25 March 1926 may be found, under Voice of the People, here. While the election seemed to swirl around dry and wet, I suspect those were euphemisms (or actors) for other things, most likely pro-Protestant if not anti-Catholic messaging in the schools. If such was not part of the campaign, it likely would become apparent with later action.
 |
| Ida (Pitzenberger) Hovel with children, Anita and Roy Los Angeles, CA |
The timing here is instructive. My grandparents moved, or took a long trip to the Los Angeles area for a time leaving on 29 Dec 1923. My Aunt, their second and last child, was born in Los Angeles in April 1924. I have not located information that noted their return. News reports indicate that Rudy had broken his leg which delayed their leaving. We lack information on the purpose for this extended trip. Migration is made up of push and pull factors, so an interplay of the KKK in north central Iowa cannot be discarded. As noted earlier, my grandpa talked to his brother about it, and my brother also recalls both grandparents, Rudy and Ida, discussing the KKK. This was likely forty years after the events. I have to think the KKK made an impression on them to engage in discussions decades later. Both Rudy and Ida were strong Catholics, and held well to the faith. They also had strong values such that my grandfather helped organize a peace march in 1939 against the brewing winds of war in Europe.
 |
| KKK marching on King St, Madison, WI |
In March 1929, my grandparents closed on a farm just north of Sun Prairie. However, the 28 Nov 1929 "Manly Signal" contained a piece about a pending 12 Dec 1929 auction of 64 head of livestock and equipment on Rudy's farm near Manly, IA due to their pending move to Wisconsin. Rudy's mother's family had moved from her place of birth in Jefferson County, WI to a farm also just north of Sun Prairie, WI, but a mile or so further east from the farm my grandparents bought. One reason for the move was so the children could be educated at a Catholic school, meaning Sacred Hearts. My Dad would have been eleven at the time of the move, but my Aunt just entering school age.
 |
| Ida Pitzenberger, first communion Festina, Winneshiek County, IA |
Sun Prairie was settled by many German (also Bohemian) and Irish immigrants, who established Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish. While the KKK was in Madison, and Fort Atkinson I have yet to find evidence of the Klan in Sun Prairie, although I suspect some Sun Prairie residents may well have been members of Madison Klans. There were also many Klans in Los Angeles, so Rudy and Ida were not getting away from the Klan presence for their stint on the west coast. The KKK was pretty much everywhere in the US at the time.
Winneshiek County, Iowa, however, was noted by one Iowa historian as being one of the few places to push back against the Klan. On Aug 6, 1924 an editorial in the Decorah Journal asked people to consider the ramifications of joining the Klan and if a member, to resign. It concluded with these words: "Ten year hence, we venture to predict, everyone will be ashamed he belonged." The same newspaper, less than twenty days later, had an account of a KKK meeting in the Aug 24 1924 edition. The editor was invited to attend, but while there was invited to leave. In an article on the meeting the editor noted: "If a Klan is organized here this community will suffer in unnecessary enmity and strife long after membership fees have dissipated and long after the organizers have departed for parts unknown." Governmental authorities in Winneshiek County banned KKK parades and cross burnings. Authorities argued that by allowing the Klan, the free speech rights of others were jeopardized. Hence, they viewed these regulations as a counter balance to the KKK. My Dad's mom, born Ida Pitzenberger, was born in 1890 and raised in Winneshiek County. While she moved to Manly, IA sometime before 1914 to work in a store owned by some of her brothers, she had many relatives who remained in the Winneshiek County. Both her parents were immigrants--and both Catholic. Her father from Austria and her mother from Bohemia.
 |
| KKK in Mason City, IA, Apr 1924 Source: See last source noted at end of this post |
After review of the evidence, I do think that the KKK in Northcentral Iowa played a part in my grandparents moving their family to Sun Prairie. It may not have been the only reason, but I have to think it played a part. A brief review, may be in order. First, it is documented that sympathetic if not actual KKK members were elected to the Manly school board in 1926. While debate may have focused on liquor, other actions of the KKK would also come into play as the board moved on its agenda. The KKK actions may have only further added to their desire to send the children to a parochial school. My grandfather had relatives in Sun Prairie. Sending their children to Catholic schools allowed their children to integrate well into the fabric of the nation. Second, the KKK must have made a strong impression on my grandparents. After all they discussed the issue with my grandfather's brother, Ed, in the 1950's or 1960's. The conversation was sufficiently notable that my brothers memory of the event was triggered by the series Damnation. Third, KKK activity was reported in Manly, and persons from that part of Iowa were among the 12,000 to 15,000 persons who attended the induction of 400 Klansmen, and some may well have been the inductees. The KKK was active in Manly, and in nearby Mason City. It would be hard to accept that the KKK did not undertake some questionable activities given their strong presence in Northcentral Iowa. Fourth, the KKK was a secretive organization and imbedded in the community such that many of their activities were likely underreported, and even not reported. Fifth, given my grandparents values, I have to think they did not like the climate that was developing in Iowa due to the KKK. My grandfather was 42 years of age, and they had a strong well developed farm enterprise. The move could not have been made without significant calculation and thought.
In, or about January 1930 my grandparents departed the deep prairie soils of the family farm (farmed by two generations for 52 years) in Manly, IA for Sun Prairie, WI. A typical migration decision is not based on one factor, but generally involves a series of competing push and pull factors. Definitive reasons for the move do not appear to exist, or have not been found. However, family lore has the move to Sun Prairie for the children to attend Catholic schools. The presence of the KKK in Manly, and their presence on the school board may well have been two push factors. Whatever the reasons for my grandparents decision of migration, one can say it set the family on a different path. While I cannot definitively say the move was due to the KKK, the presence and actions of the KKK in Northcentral Iowa cannot be ruled out.
Sources:
https://decorahnewspapers.com/Content/News/Local-News/Article/Forgotten-Northeast-Iowa-social-history-1914-34-what-went-wrong-and-what-went-right/2/10/44983https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/when-america-hated-catholics-213177/
https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2587/story-ku-klux-klan-america-and-iowa
Page 4 of Decorah Journal, published in Decorah, Iowa on Wednesday, February 7th, 1923Page 7 of Decorah Journal, published in Decorah, Iowa on Wednesday, April 25th, 1923
No comments:
Post a Comment