Ku Klux Klan, Tillamook

After WWI the Ku Klux Klan, which had been largely suppressed since the 1870s, underwent a national resurgence under the leadership of William Joseph Simons. The re-established Klan retained its former goals of white supremacy and sectional patriotism, but added new targets of religious, cultural and social bigotry to its agenda. During the 1920s the Klan grew into the largest anti-Negro, anti-Semitic, anti-Roman Catholic and anti-immigrant organization in the history of the US. This growth reached Oregon in 1921 when out-of-state Klan organizers arrived in Medford and began enrolling members around the state. According to Eckard Vance Toy, “The peak of Klan power in Oregon was reached during 1922 and 1923 when the Klan’s lobbyists and political organization applied continual pressure upon legislative and law enforcement officials. Klan influence was still important during the legislative assemblies of 1925 and 1927, but by then it had lost its hold over the people and even its own members” (Toy 34).

One of the major agenda items adopted by the Oregon Klan was the Compulsory Education Bill of 1922, which required all Oregon children to attend public schools and ordered the closure of all private and parochial schools. Although the bill was passed by popular vote, the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1924 and the law never took effect.

Religion dominated the Klan’s activities in Tillamook, although they were opposed by a vocal Roman Catholic minority. Recruits were found among local ministers and members of churches, most notably the Nazarene, Baptist, United Brethren and Christian; and among fraternal organizations including the Masons, the I.O.O.F., and the Elks. Klan membership in the early 1920s peaked at 600 to 800, although at any given time there were rarely more than 200 actively participating members. Nevertheless, from 1922 through 1932, most city, county and state officials from Tillamook were either Klansmen or former Klansmen. The mayor of Tillamook was a Klansman, as was the editor of the Tillamook Headlight; his newspaper often backed Klan positions.

By the end of the 1920s, however, the Tillamook Klan had lost much of its aggressive political power, and had deteriorated into “a social organization on the fringes of respectable fraternalism” (Toy 84). By 1938 the Depression, public disgust at Klan tactics, and lack of substantive issues had combined to render the Oregon Klan all but obsolete.

Work cited: Toy, Eckard Vance Jr. The Ku Klux Klan in Oregon; Its Character and Program . Thesis, M.A. University of Oregon: June 1959.

From the guide to the Ku Klux Klan Tillamook, Oregon Chapter No. 8 records, 1922-1929, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)