Portland Public Library

Not a Catholic nation, the Ku Klux Klan confronts New England in the 1920s, Mark Paul Richard

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Not a Catholic nation

bibliography

910596034

Mark Paul Richard

the Ku Klux Klan confronts New England in the 1920s

"During the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan experienced a remarkable resurgence, drawing millions of American men and women into its ranks. In 'Not a Catholic Nation', Mark Paul Richard examines the KKK's largely ignored growth in the six states of New England −Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont− and details the reactions of the region's Catholic population, the Klan's primary targets. Drawing on a wide range of previously untapped sources −French-language newspapers in the New England-Canadian borderlands; KKK documents scattered in local, university, and Catholic repositories; and previously undiscovered copies of the 'Maine Klansmen'− Richard challenges the increasingly prevalent view that the Ku Klux Klan became a mass movement during this period largely because it functioned as social, fraternal, or civic organization for many Protestants. He shows thet the politics of ethnicity and labor played a significant role in the Klan's growth in the region"-- from back cover

Introduction -- Arrival in New England -- Invasion of the Pine Tree State -- Confronting Franco-Americans in Maine -- Expansion in the Granite State -- Rebuff in the Green Mountain State -- Confronting Irish Catholic politicians in the Bay State -- Counterattack by Commonwealth Catholics -- Attempt to Americanize the Ocean State -- Infiltrating the Rhode Island militia and implication in the sentinelle affair -- Encountering secession in the Constitution State -- Reappearance in the late twentieth century -- Conclusion