The KKK in Bremer County

 

Tripoli Leader September 26 1923

More than one thousand persons were at the park in Frederika Monday nigh to hear Captain Tom Roberts deliver a Ku Klux Klan address which he handled in a way that seemed to meet with the approval of a majority of those present. He explained the workings of the order and its purposes, saying that foreigners were welcomed to this country by the klan but that it insisted upon them being graded so that the lawless element be kept out, directing his remarks to Russian red, Italian Nihilists, and Greeks and Slave races who come to this country solely to spread their propaganda of dissatisfaction. Captain Roberts pointed out that the foreign element coming to this country today was, for most part, an agent of the governments named and that they had already got such a foothold among the working men that their influence was being seriously felt. The writer was unable to attend the meeting and our information comes from persons who were there and they state that there was nothing in what the speaker said which was not for the betterment of America and persons who are true Americans.

 

Tripoli Leader December 26, 1923

The burning of a large fiery-red cross in Keough’s pasture near the stock yards, no doubt placed there by some member of the order of Ku Klux Klan, attracted the curious attention of a great number of people on the streets here Saturday night. As the blaze could easily be seen from main street, there was no evidence of any meeting of any kind having been held. As the cross was wrapped with oil-soaked rags the blaze lasted for some time.

 

Contributed by Karlyn Armstrong
March 2009