1922:  D. C. Stephenson Comes to Town

David Curtis Stephenson (D. C. Stephenson) was sent to Indiana by the Atlanta, Georgia, Ku Klux Klan to establish Klan chapters throughout the state. Stephenson was one of the most successful Klan “salesmen” in the nation.  He also was one of the wealthiest.  Whenever Indiana received Klan membership dues, Stephenson would be paid a fourth of those dues.  Between June 25, 1922, and July 21, 1923, 117,969 new Ku Klux Klan memberships were sold.  Stephenson also received profits from the sale of Klan robes, handbooks, and other paraphernalia.

Cited by:  L.C. Rudolph, Hoosier Faiths: A History of Indiana Churches and Religious Groups (Bloomington and Indianapolis:  Indiana University Press, 1995): section: “Ku Klux Klan,” 546-550, 557. [6pp.]