LITTLE ROCK — Last week I wrote about the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas, and this week we consider the women of the Klan. While Arkansas played an important role in the Klan, the state was even more prominent in the history of the women of the Ku Klux Klan.
America and Arkansas were ripe for the rebirth of the Klan after World War I. America was changing dramatically-much too rapidly for many people whose social standards were held over from the Victorian era. By 1922, after less than a year of effort, the Klan was well established in Arkansas, with almost every county having at least one chapter. Membership passed 50,000 during 1924. The chief organizer was the Grand Dragon of Arkansas, former Bull Moose Republican James A. Comer. Comer had plans to take the Invisible Empire into politics, and he also hoped to boost the income of his Little Rock law firm.
A native of Indiana-which would become a Klan stronghold-Comer got his start in Republican politics as an avid supporter of former President Theodore Roosevelt’s effort in 1912 towrest the presidency from his successor, William Howard Taft. With TR’s defeat, Comer was forced out of politics until the Klan arrived on the scene.
In 1922, Comer helped orchestrate a revolt within the national Klan, and this gave him great influence with the new Imperial Wizard. Thus, Comer emerged as a founder of the Women ofthe KKK. He incorporated the Women of the Ku Klux Klan in Little Rock circuit court on June 10, 1923, and he loaned the group $8,000 in startup cash. The women’s Klan also established its national headquarters in Little Rock, supposedly to demonstrate the autonomy of the women’s group from the national Klan headquarters in Atlanta. It was also convenient for Comer.
The Women of the KKK concerned itself with many matters, including a few topics not normally associated with the Klan: education, child welfare and delinquency, disarmament, and even world peace. Many WKKK leaders had a sincere interest in improving education, and they called for the creation of a federal department of education-admittedly, in part to undermine Catholic schools.
Many of the founders of the WKKK had been involved in the women’s suffrage movement, including the group’s first Imperial Commander, Lulu Boyers Markwell of Little Rock. A 57-year-old native of Indiana, Markwell’s marriage to a Little Rock physician allowed her the freedom to delve broadly into church, social and civic life. She had been a suffragette, was a member of the Little Rock board of censors, and was a loyal Democrat and Presbyterian. She was president of the Arkansas Women’s Christian Temperance Union for years. Lulu Markwell did not stay at home and bake cookies.
Markwell was a good organizer, and the WKKK grew rapidly. She traveled extensively, including through the West and Northwest. Borrowing a practice used by the Klan, Markwell hired agents (“kleagles”) to recruit members, paying a generous commission. By the end of its first year, the WKKK had chapters in 36 states and claimed a membership above 250,000.
Despite Markwell’s success and popularity, Grand Dragon Comer orchestrated a coup in which Markwell was replaced as Imperial Commander by Comer’s wife-to-be, Robbie Gill. The WKKK was worth controlling, as the financial stakes were high. The WKKK, like the Klan, charged dues and fees. The hooded robes and other regalia did not come cheaply, and the profits were substantial.
When some of Markwell’s supporters filed suit against Imperial Commander Comer and her husband, legal deliberations disclosed that in 1925 alone the WKKK took in $321,000 and spent almost all of it. Historian Kathleen Blee documented that the Comers fleeced the WKKK by collecting salaries, substantial additional fees, and more than $20,000 in travel expenses in one year.
According to the plaintiffs, James Comer sold a robe factory worth $23,000 to the WKKK for $72,000. The Comers were accused of squandering thousands of dollars equipping the WKKK headquarters in Little Rock with fancy goldfish, songbirds, a piano, and, most offensively of all, providing themselves with a $5,000 luxury automobile.
It was not long before the Women of the Ku Klux Klan went into decline, along with the Klan itself. The Comers held on to their titles, but they could no longer light up the night sky with burning crosses.
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Tom Dillard is an historian and retired archivist living in Farmington. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial, Pages 78 on 04/22/2012