This is a guest blog post by Evelyn Daigneault, a rising senior studying history and English at Brown University. Evelyn is a 2025 Buchanan Burnham Fellow.
On Saturday, March 1st, 1924, Newport Mayor Mortimer A. Sullivan declared that “Any attempt on the part of the organization known as the Ku Klux Klan to operate publicly or to hold any meeting in the city of Newport, will not be tolerated and orders to that effect have been issued by me to the local police department.” He stated emphatically that his city would not “become a sewer for the filth, foulness, and dirt which issues from the diseased and polluted mouths and minds” of the hooded order because “the people of Newport, who have lived with their neighbors in peace, good feeling and happiness, will resist any endeavor on the part of any group to throw into our community and into our faces the vitrol of suspicion and hatred.”[1] At first, it might seem strange that Mayor Sullivan would have felt the need to make any such statement. After all, it seems unlikely that a racist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic organization like the Klan could find purchase in a city with such a history of religious freedom as Newport.
The dedication of the Short Line Bus Terminal, 1931. Mayor Mortimer H. Sullivan is the man in the bow tie, second from left. From the Newport History Society, P9436.
However, Mayor Sullivan was responding to a very real threat. The original Southern Klan had largely died out in the 1870s, but by the early 1920s, the order, revived by William J. Simmons in 1915, was more prominent than ever.[2] Simmons’ new Klan mixed its predecessor’s staunch commitment to upholding white supremacy with puritanical moral beliefs, ultra-nationalism, and fierce hatred of immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. When Simmons hired professional marketing agents Elizabeth Tyler and Edward Young Clarke to launch a nationwide publicity campaign, all three were struck by the speed with which the movement took hold.[3] Unlike its predecessor, this new “Invisible Empire” was not solely a Southern phenomenon; people from across the country, including the Northeast, Midwest, and far West were drawn to its ideology of “100% Americanism.” Traveling “kleagles” (recruiters) emphasized the order’s patriotism, its religousness, and its associations with more mainstream fraternal organizations, such as the Odd Fellows and Free Masons. They found many willing recruits; at the order’s peak in 1925, it claimed 5 million Americans as members.
A Ku Klux Klan gathering at Oaklawn Cemetery, Broad Street, near the Providence/Cranston line, 1920s. Collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society, G 9007 Subject Files – KKK In Rhode Island, RhiX31920. Courtesy of the Rhode Island Historical Society.
This figure included thousands of Rhode Islanders, a sizable number of whom resided in Newport County.[4] Long before any confirmed Klan activity took place in the city, Newporters were paranoid about the hooded order. On October 22, 1921, the Newport Mercury and Weekly News made reference to “rumors connecting a prominent business man and a leading professional man of Newport with the activities of the Ku Klux Klan,” which were, apparently, “emphatically denied in the public press.” The identities of these men are not stated, and this appears to be the paper’s first reference to such rumors.[5] On February 3, 1923, the Mercury reported that “several prominent business men have received typewritten notices warning them to leave the city” which “purport to come from the Klan”; although Newport’s police assumed the threats to most likely be “the work of some awfully funny joker,” that they were reported in the paper suggests a certain degree of anxiety about the possibility of Klan activity in Newport.[6] Indeed, although nothing came of these early rumors, they foreshadowed what was to come.
The first serious rumors of attempts to organize a Klan in Newport came in early 1924. On February 16, it was reported in the “Local Matters” section of the Mercury that “Rumor has it that a branch of the Ku Klux Klan is in process of organization in Newport;” however, as was customary for the “Invisible Empire,” the Mercury found that “Nobody admits knowing anything about it.”[7] The following Saturday, the 23rd, brought another reference to rumors of Klan organizing in Newport as the Mercury printed “It had been rumored that there would be a semi-public meeting in this city late last week to form a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, but apparently it failed to materialize.”[8] Although this report might have given some Newporters hope that the Klan phenomenon which was sweeping the nation would pass their city by, such hope would have been misplaced, as this week’s edition was printed just a few hours too early. Merely one week later, on March 1, the Mercury printed the following, ominously short, statement: “It is understood that a branch of the Ku Klux Klan held a meeting in Newport last Saturday evening,” the 23rd, marking the first known instance of Klan organizing in the city.[9]
A postcard of St. Mary’s Church. Catholics, such as those who would have attended Mass at St. Mary’s, were a particular target of the 1920s Klan, along with people of color, Jews, and immigrants, particularly from Southern and Eastern Europe. From the Newport Historical Society, 2009.3.107.
This first meeting was apparently small and private, receiving only a small note in the Mercury. The following week, however, newspapers across the city and the state reported on Newport’s first very public confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan. According to the Providence Journal, on the evening of Friday, February 29, word got out to the Newport post of the American Legion that the hooded order was to hold a meeting in the hall of the Newport Odd Fellows, located on Washington Square. Not inclined to allow an intolerant group like the Klan to act openly in their community, the Legionnaires and other “non-sympathizers” gathered in Washington Square, intent on making sure that the meeting would not take place under any circumstances.[10] As the crowd grew, its attitude turned “ominous,” and bystanders, fearing that the “threatening conditions” would produce a riot, notified the police.[11] The Chief of Police, Patrick L. Sweeney, and Captain James J. Palmer arrived with a squadron of reserves to prevent mob action and break up the crowd, which by this point had coalesced around the entrance to the Odd Fellows Hall. Once the crowd had been scattered, the two officers entered the hall to find a strange gathering in progress. They were not refused entrance by the roughly 75 men who had gathered in the hall, most of them reportedly active-duty or former military, but the assembly was apparently surprised by their arrival.[12] The meeting proved quite short; the congregation elected a Newport veteran as their chairman and appointed a committee for the promotion of their apparently unnamed organization, which they claimed was dedicated to “the promotion of sports for service and ex-service men and for the promotion of the men’s welfare,” before adjourning.[13] Two attendees of the meeting from out-of-town who were later interviewed by the Mercury at the Perry House admitted that they had attended Klan meetings elsewhere but emphatically denied any attempt to organize a branch of the Klan in Newport.[14] Their denials rang hollow in the minds of many Newporters; it was clear that this spectre of racism and intolerance was lurking in their midst.
An undated photograph of Washington Square, facing northeast. The Odd Fellows Hall is the large building on the left side of the image. From the Newport Historical Society, P9590.
Even as it became clear that the “Invisible Empire” was now trying to claim Newport as part of its domain, it is remarkable how quickly the community organized to protect the values of tolerance and freedom which their city stood for. In the days following the meeting, Newport Post, 406, of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) worked to remove suspected Klan sympathizers from its ranks. In particular, the former soldier who had chaired the “athletics” meeting on the 29th was called before the VFW, of which he was an officer, to explain his actions; his claims that he “was not a member of the Klan and probably never would be,” were not satisfactory to his comrades, and he was expelled from the organization.[15] At the same time, the municipal government was also moving against the Klan. The day after the reported meeting, Mayor Sullivan convened a special session of the Board of Aldermen in which the Board passed a resolution condemning the Klan and all similar organizations, providing for the revocation of the license of any licensed hall used for Klan meetings, and giving the mayor the power to order the police to break up any future gatherings. The resolution was accompanied by Mayor Sullivan’s statement, referenced at the start of the post, which was printed in full in local newspapers.[16]
In his statement, Mayor Sullivan declared, “I am prepared to take every and all legitimate means to maintain the glorious reputation of the city as one of its first settlements in the United States where freedom in religious beliefs was accorded to all. In this effort the conviction is with me that I have the support and confidence and the good will of the people of Newport, irrespective of race and religion.”[17] The immediacy with which the city responded to the Klan’s presence would seem to prove Mayor Sullivan’s statement true. While the Klan would remain active and significant elsewhere in Newport County and Rhode Island—reportedly counting numerous state officials, including Portsmouth state Senator Arthur A. Sherman, among its sympathizers—references to Klan gatherings in the city of Newport are remarkably rare after March of 1924.[18] This is not to claim that the Klan was not active in the city at all during this time—its presence elsewhere in the county and the state was too significant for this to be feasible. This is also not to claim that significant racial and religious prejudice did not exist in Newport at this time. However, that the Klan felt the need to act secretly in Newport, when elsewhere in the state it was comfortable holding public lectures, field days, and cross-burnings, shows that it may have found it difficult to organize in a city with such a history of diversity as Newport.
A 1924 photograph of four Rhode Island state senators preparing to go on a fox hunt. Arthur A. Sherman, at the time a senator from Portsmouth, is the middle-right figure. From the Boston Sunday Globe, October 19, 1924, p. 73, as archived online by Newspapers.com.
[1] Providence Journal (Providence, Rhode Island), March 2, 1924: 6. Readex: Readex AllSearch. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX-NB&req_dat=89FA074906254BCBBD2155FAF86574AD&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A14728889532D3B69%2540EANX-NB-1632003ADD8B3E9E%25402423847-162F6B2E49BAD5ED%25405-162F6B2E49BAD5ED%2540/hlterms%3A.
[2] Nancy Maclean, Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 5.
[3] MacLean, Behind the Mask of Chivalry, 5-6.
[4] Norman W. Smith, “The Ku Klux Klan in Rhode Island,” Rhode Island History 37, no. 2 (May 1978): 43.
[5] Newport Mercury (Newport, Rhode Island), October 22, 1921: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16209495/.
[6] Newport Mercury, February 3, 1923: 4. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16377394/.
[7] Newport Mercury, February 16, 1924: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16378008/.
[8] Newport Mercury, February 23, 1924: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16378101/.
[9] Newport Mercury, March 1, 1924: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16378222/.
[10] Providence Journal, March 1, 1924: 4. Readex: Readex AllSearch. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX-NB&req_dat=89FA074906254BCBBD2155FAF86574AD&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A14728889532D3B69%2540EANX-NB-163200268768D04F%25402423846-162F6B2E0D611362%25403-162F6B2E0D611362%2540/hlterms%3AKlan%253B%2520Newport.
[11] Newport Mercury, March 8, 1924: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16378341/.
[12] Providence Journal, March 1, 1924: 4. Readex: Readex AllSearch. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX-NB&req_dat=89FA074906254BCBBD2155FAF86574AD&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A14728889532D3B69%2540EANX-NB-163200268768D04F%25402423846-162F6B2E0D611362%25403-162F6B2E0D611362%2540/hlterms%3AKlan%253B%2520Newport.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Newport Mercury, March 8, 1924: 1. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/16378341/.
[15] Providence Journal, March 4, 1924: 4. Readex: Readex AllSearch. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX-NB&req_dat=89FA074906254BCBBD2155FAF86574AD&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A14728889532D3B69%2540EANX-NB-1632004BA3B9084A%25402423849-162F6B2F32F535AF%25403-162F6B2F32F535AF%2540/hlterms%3AKlan%253B%2520Newport.
[16] Providence Journal, March 2, 1924: 6. Readex: Readex AllSearch. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX-NB&req_dat=89FA074906254BCBBD2155FAF86574AD&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A14728889532D3B69%2540EANX-NB-1632003ADD8B3E9E%25402423847-162F6B2E49BAD5ED%25405-162F6B2E49BAD5ED%2540/hlterms%3A.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Newport Journal-Weekly News (Newport, Rhode Island), April 13, 1928: 8. Newspapers.com, https://newscomno.newspapers.com/image/36854481/.