Women’s KKK - So Much I Didn’t Know
A research thread led me to connect with the story of Laurena Senter who lived and was extremely influential in Denver and Colorado thru much of the 1900s. She was also the head (Excellent Commander) of the Women’s KKK for Colorado and Utah. I hadn’t known that there was a WKKK. I spent 4 hours yesterday at the Denver Public Library reading through decades of her WKKK files. I learned a lot and will share here across a few posts. It’s too much for this platform really but if I don’t share now, I might not. My motivation for this research is to look critically at the role White women play in hate movements. I also am really interested in how inaccurate my understanding of the KKK and other vigilante hate groups have been...primarily how mainstream and nearly consistent they have been throughout our history. There are really only a couple small windows of time where it has been seen as broadly unfavorable let alone repugnant to be a part of these groups.
I shared more via Instagram with accompanying pictures but I also wanted to share a few things.
Breaking off from the main KKK - leverage of women’s suffrage movement
One of the more twisted and intriguing but also typical aspects of this story is that Laurena Senter’s move to break off from the KKK and form a women’s version of it was inspired by the women’s suffrage movement at the time. She had risen in the KKK ranks to run all the women’s work but then wanted more autonomy and power. The records I read begin as the split was made as previous work records were held by the main organization. She was held in very high esteem by the local KKK male leader who expressed regret at her departure but also gave her an excellent recommendation. Ultimately this split made the WKKK forever tenuous in status and resulted in multiple long and drawn out lawsuits of naming rights and property claims. The local male leader lost his national support for supporting Laurena and ultimately the national org moved to replace him. This resulted in a turnout of 50,000 people (read that again) at the meeting where his leadership was being challenged. All of these organizations were legally registered, formally banked, and arbitrated through the legal system. That powerful white women pick and choose to selectively leverage advocacy and freedom movements for the advancement of their own power and solidification of their ability to oppress and exclude others is not surprising but maybe the most important legacy for me to heed.
Bureaucracy and power
It should surprise no one that a hate group is not organized around the principles of democracy and egalitarianism. What is astounding is the level of detail invested in the organization’s structure, hierarchy, rules, procedures, and practices. The codification of roles probably rivals any large corporate institution - vice-chair of the picnic committee, for example. And the level of creative detail rivals any great fantasy, world-building writer - as in “exalted cyclops” is a real position. The intense culture building and level of rules and organization is overwhelming...and effective in drawing intense in/out boundaries and creating hundreds of rituals of commitment and loyalty (more on that next) in a single meeting. What’s worth noting is that Laurena Senter went on to operate and work for decades as a Parliamentarian. Meaning she advised countless other organizations on procedure and process creation. These processes and procedures are likely very recognizable to anyone who has served on a board of directors or in government. The level of codification and processes used in the klan were designed to squash dissent, cement power over, and prove loyalty to leaders and institutions. It’s a really explicit example of white supremacy norms that actually most of our systems operate under. I’m spending some time thinking about that.
Disloyalty and autocratic leadership
It was startling (but I guess not surprising) to see the degree and amount of autocratic leadership. Pledging and demonstrating loyalty not just to the cause but to the leader in power seemed one of the most prominent threads in the official business. I think I expected the meeting minutes to be full of disgusting and hateful language and sentiments. They were not. What I read was primarily about the maintenance and consolidation of power. Which I think is really important to reflect on. Hate and oppressive forces can be maintained primarily with a preoccupation of power and control.This runs counter to a common stereotype but reflects a very real truth about “the way things work.” Harmful institutions and policies are not always or often even explicitly hateful but they are often intensely focused on the control of their own power. There was a lot of communication and record keeping about disloyal members who were then expelled from the organization. A frequent “charge” against them was patronage of an unauthorized and forbidden vendor - often a Jewish-owned business. The other frequent “charge” of which people were “found guilty” was questioning Laurena, “our Dear Excellent Commander.” These charges were usually filed under conspiracy or disloyalty.
Anti-Cathiolic and Anti-Semetic Sentiments
I expected to encounter a lot of anti-black sentiment because that fits with my understanding of the role the KKK has played, particularly across the deep south. In these files, whiteness is a given, but Protestantism is not. The preoccupation was religion. It was extremely anti-semitic and anti-catholic. That there is so little mention of race is a place for further research for me. At this same time there were important burgeoning Black neighborhoods and establishments, such as the Five Points neighborhood. There is literally no mention of what was happening for Black Coloradians at the time. On the other hand, patronage of Jewish-owned stores was fiercely policed. There are letters from members reporting others for shopping or eating at Jewish-owned establishments. There was also extreme anti-cathloic sentiment and propaganda, particularly about a alleged “Make America Catholic” campaign. At one point this group of women, went so far to adopt a baby (!) who was reported to be in the process of being adopted by a Catholic family. His name (Richard) appears in many unofficial notes but officially was talked about as “the baby” or “the baby klan fund.” There were grandiose visions of providing klan education for children in need, and the seeds of this plan began with a fund for Richard’s education after age 14. It appears the group collectively paid for him to live in a group home but he was largely attended to by one particular woman, who did not at first legally adopt him because he “belonged” to the klan. Later as the club faced more challenges and dissension and began to lose money, the group had to renegotiate their financial commitments to Richard, and the woman moved into a formal adoptive relationship (and resigned from the group, angry and hurt.)
Advertising and deals for businesses
I was surprised by a perhaps extremely effective organizing campaign from this group. There are HUNDREDS of thank you letters from government officials, business owners, and community leaders thanking the WKKK (and Laurena often by name) for their words of comfort and bouquets of flowers after an illness or death in the family. These letters specifically name the organization and include many complimentary phrases for their work. They thank them for their care and gift during their time of sorrow, illness, loss, etc. Perhaps it explains in part perhaps why there was a “sick committee” although that group also would VERIFY reported illnesses of members who didn’t attend meetings. Unexcused absences were definitely followed up on. These thank you letters came from all sorts of organizations - from the mayor himself, all the way to local plumbers and grocers. There are also HUNDREDS of notes, specials, business cards, etc that would be given to the women to read out at their meetings during the “announcements” section of the meeting. These meetings were significant advertising and promotional vehicles for local businesses and leaders. Klansmembers were often given a discount at various establishments. It’s unclear what they would say to redeem them (more on that later.)
Influence over formal power
It was well known and reported that the klan and the WKKK had a GREAT amount of influence in the installation of public and government leaders, including the mayor and governor. They ran candidates and leaned heavily on those in office. The WKKK was successful in petitioning the Governor in releasing / granting clemency to a young woman who was a klan member before the WKKK split from prison after her conviction of BANK ROBBERY (she was the car driver.) She was indeed pardoned, and the newspapers reported that he could no longer sustain the pressure from the groups who required his compliance whatever the cost to his reputation. At the same time however, the city council vote in favor of the release resolution was unanimous. He was hardly operating against much opposition. That the klan controlled the state and city was well reported at the time and in various articles run decades later. It seems like it has largely been forgotten now.
Secrecy and Clandestine Nature
Despite their relative power and size there is some evidence that klan members had to exercise some caution about their views and membership - or at least pretended to in some instances. There are indications in meeting notes about occasions where klan members should be reserved about their opinions because the beliefs of all present at specific future events was unknown. Nearly every ritual in the meeting emphasizes strict secrecy. It’s confusing to square this with the rash of public media and newspaper articles in which Laurena’s identity in particular is named. The papers report marches where klan members marched unveiled. And then of course there are hundreds of women klan members conducting business about town, revealing their affiliations in exchange for a discount or preferential treatment. They openly lobbied and petitioned government leaders. The clandestine (that word connection is interesting…) language and oaths are interesting to reconcile what otherwise seems like acting with impunity. I wonder how this disconnect really played out and how it perhaps fuels a false narrative about how underground these groups were - they were not. It’s also worth noting just how many partner organizations they interacted with publicly and behind the scenes - the minute men for example. One member submitted a resignation note citing how over extended they were with similar organizations. I have a hard time believing that the identities of most involved weren’t widely known. I have a few books to follow this up further.