by Lisa Carney

Kathleen M. Blee. Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s. Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford: University of California Press. 1991. Pp. viii, 228.

In Women of the Klan, Kathleen M. Blee attempts to redress the lack of serious research that exists concerning women’s involvement in the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Focusing primarily on the Klan in the state of Indiana, Blee pro vides a thorough and fascinating account of women’s participation in and enthusiasm for one of the most notorious reactionary movements in America.

Blee had several obstacles to overcome in preparing this project. A significant impediment lay in the fact that the Klan prided itself on its mystery and secrecy, which meant that it left behind limited records and documents. Also , the surviving WKKK members that Blee did manage to track down were all elderly, and in some cases reluctant to talk about their involvement in the organization. Finally, Blee brought her own prejudices into her research. Coming from a politically libe ral background, she admits "I was prepared to hate and fear my informants." (6) This bias, however, while not completely erased, was significantly diminished, as she interviewed former Klanswomen and examined the activities and ideologies that made up the WKKK. The result of Blee’s research is a well-written, well-documented, highly readable study of Klanswomen and their organization. Drawing on surviving Klan publications and records, newspaper articles, oral histories, and other miscellaneo us Klan-related information, she provides the reader with a clear and detailed picture of the WKKK in 1920s Indiana, including relevant background information about the WKKK’s role in the greater Klan structure and its often tense relationship with its ma le counterpart.

In 1923, with the creation of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, women made their official entrance into Klan culture. Though women had been involved, to some extent, in the men’s Klan, the WKKK was viewed by its members not merely as an auxiliary organization, but as a society "by women, for women, and of women [that] no man is exploiting for his individual gain." (28). Though Klansmen continued to have differing views on what the exact role of the WKKK should be within the entire Klan structure, Blee indicates that Klanswomen did not view themselves as dependent on the men’s organization for guidance. Although much of the ritual and belief observed by the WKKK was similar to that of the men’s Klan, Klanswomen adapted thes e practices to suit their own ideologies, and furthermore introduced into Klan culture the controversial issue of women’s rights and a redefinition of gender roles and ideals. The inclusion of gender ideology into the WKKK’s agenda was a key factor in th e recruitment of Klanswomen, as were the issues of temperance and religion. Tracing the life histories of roughly one hundred WKKK members, Blee found that both female Klan leaders and "rank and file" members often had been active participants in civic and political movements prior to becoming Klanswomen. While Blee notes that "the bulk of membership recruiting for the WKKK, as for the KKK, was done through personal contacts." (125), the appeal to civic activism contributed greatly t o the WKKK’s membership.

Blee states that WKKK membership in the 1920s was considerable, with estimates indicating that roughly 250,000 women participated in Indiana Klan life. What made the WKKK so powerful, however, was not merely its size, but also its extensive political, social, and civic involvement. Klanswomen spread their message of white supremacy, morality, and patriotism not only within the secret and ritualistic environment of their private meetings, but into the public sphere as well. Virtua lly all aspects of community life fell under the WKKK’s influence. Klanswomen organized such civic-minded activities as charitable fund-raisers, social events, and large picnics and parades. They were also responsible, however, for more overtly hate-bas ed movements, such as economic boycotts against Jewish businesses, and efforts to remove non-Protestant teachers from Indiana public schools. With its strength of membership and community influence, the WKKK proved an insidious yet forceful proponent of racist and nativist ideology.

Yet Blee argues that in order to fully understand the women’s Klan and its significance, attention must be paid to all the ways in which it appealed to its members, not merely the appeal to racist sentiment. For, as she points out, racism and intolerance were widespread throughout the country in the 1920s, especially in Indiana. Yet to view racism as the sole cause of Klan membership is to ignore the other motivations at work within Klan members. It is Blee’s contention that wome n joined the WKKK not merely because of bigoted tendencies, but also because the Klan provided a women’s rights-based agenda, the recognition of civic activism, and the chance to be heard collectively as women. At a time when suffrage, temperance, morali ty, and patriotism were causing political tensions to run high, the WKKK gave women a political voice with which to articulate their gender ideology, as well as a means of legitimizing their civic and social organizations. To further add to the strength of this appeal, Blee notes that much of this activism was carried out within the comfortable confines of normal, everyday community life. The chapter entitled "A Poison Squad of Whispering Women", discusses, in depth, the strength of the WKKK’s subtle tactics. Blee points out that while Klanswomen did not participate in the more visible forms of intimidation employed by the KKK (such as nightriding and lynching), their less blatant menacing was just as powerful. The fact that WKKK members co uld enjoy various degrees of public visibility therefore enabled both politically active women, and women content to remain in traditional arenas, to find a niche within the organization.

Perhaps the book’s most significant achievement, however, is the way in which it contributes to the understanding of extremist organizations and their members. The image of the Klanswoman is expanded through Blee’s research, and in stead of the one-dimensional, narrow-minded racist that the reader expects to find, the Klanswoman is, instead, often a complex, multi-faceted person, frequently embracing ideas that would today be considered progressive. The Klanswoman did not exist on the outskirts of community life, but rather in the center of it, exemplifying the ease with which reactionary politics can gain entrance and standing within society. It is the author’s view that there is an important lesson to be learned in the study of both Klanswomen and the WKKK as a whole, a lesson that applies to the reactionary, hate-based political movements of today. Departing from the assumptions that the appeal of such organizations lies solely in their white supremacist agenda, and that member s of such movements are "marginal" or "irrational" (102), Blee contends that the WKKK is a prime example of how extremist groups often possess not only intelligent, articulate members, but also powerful sub-agendas (like the attention to gender awareness that existed in the WKKK) that add to the attractiveness and persuasiveness of the movement. The author feels that the existence of such alternative agendas should be viewed as evidence that "contradictory interactions of gender politics with the politics of race, religion, and class" (178) can exist within reactionary movements, adding to the complexity of their appeal. It is a mistake, Blee argues, to assume that women in right-wing movements are necessarily non-political , or to assume that women active in the quest for gender equality are non-racist. Rather, such assumptions must give way to a close examination of hate-based politics if its consequences and significance are to be more fully understood.