The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Arkansas by Kenneth C. Barnes

Author:Kenneth C. Barnes [Barnes, Kenneth C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Political Science, General, Social Science, Ethnic Studies, African American Studies
ISBN: 9781682261590
Google: hrIWEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: 2021-01-15T01:03:54+00:00

Original Arkansas flag approved in 1913. Courtesy Mike Keckhaver, Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

Arkansas state flag after the 1924 revision. Courtesy Mike Keckhaver, Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

Representative Neill Bohlinger of Little Rock. Courtesy Arkansas State Archives, Shrader Negatives, SH42–0483.

The KKK played a role in special elections in other locations in the state in 1923. Klan-anointed candidates won seats in school board elections in Camden and Bald Knob in May. Two months later, the Klan candidate for mayor of Bald Knob was able to oust his opponent after contesting the election where his opponent had been declared the victor by a majority of two votes. In a special election in Helena for mayor in August 1923, the Klan-endorsed candidate, Charles T. Wooten, won over Earle T. Wells by ninety-five votes. Both candidates were rumored to be Klansmen, but Wells had bolted from the Klan ticket.24 It is unclear to what extent throughout the state the Klan was organized as a political force or how many Klansmen simply were elected on their own to local offices. Mayors and half of the city councils in Monticello and Bentonville, as was noted in a previous chapter, were Klansmen.

The year 1924 brought new possibilities for the Invisible Empire in Arkansas. As the year began, the Klan was probably at the height of its power and had its greatest numbers, nationally and within Arkansas. After such success in managing the Little Rock and Pulaski County elections in 1922, James Comer and the Klan would see 1924 as an opportunity to manipulate state and presidential elections. First, Comer and the Little Rock Klan dealt with the county offices. In early February Comer mailed out a ballot to Klansmen in Pulaski County, listing Klan candidates for four county offices. This preferential primary chose Governor McRae’s secretary, Clarence P. Newton, to stand as the Klan candidate for county judge in the August Democratic primary. In such a manner, Comer continued in the spring to hold elimination primaries by mail for other county and district offices, producing a full slate of Klan candidates for the primary election. Similar elimination primaries were held in other parts of the state. In Phillips County, the Klan concluded a preferential primary for all county offices, and by the end of March the county had a Klan ticket and anti-Klan ticket in place for the August primary. Two candidates for county judge and tax assessor resigned from the Helena Klan No. 3 when they failed to receive the Klan nomination. The Klan of St. Francis County also fielded candidates for sheriff, county judge, treasurer, assessor, representative, and prosecuting attorney. In Bentonville, however, a mass meeting took place at the courthouse in March to choose the Democratic nominees for upcoming city elections. Here the Klan-endorsed candidates for mayor, recorder, and marshal failed to get the nomination. Following two Klan mayors of the town, Lee Seamster and Tom Curt, Sam Beasley defeated Klansmen T. W. McKown for the Democratic nomination and was subsequently elected mayor.25

The summer and fall were filled with nonstop political activity as the Klan prepared a ticket for the state constitutional offices.

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