Women of the Ku Klux Klan

The WKKK (also known as the Women's Ku Klux Klan or Women of the Ku Klux Klan) was one of a number of auxiliaries of the Ku Klux Klan. While most women focused on the moral, civic, and educational agenda of the Klan, they also had considerable involvement in issues of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and religion (Feldman 2003, p. 25). The women in the WKKK fought for education and social reform like other Progressive reformers but with extreme racism and intolerance. Particularly prominent in the 1920s, the WKKK existed in every state, but their strongest chapters were in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Arkansas. White, native-born, Protestant women over age 16 were allowed to join the Klan. Women of the Klan differed from Klansmen primarily in their political agenda to incorporate racism, nationalism, traditional morality, and religious intolerance in everyday life through mostly non-violent tactics.

History

First Wave

The first wave of the WKKK began in the mid-1860s, co-founded by James C.N. Chambers and Rosie Chappell, and extended for about ten years. Although women were not participating members, women were often used as a symbol of racial and sexual supremacy protected by the men of the KKK. Some women assisted with sewing Klansmen's costumes and others even let the men borrow their own clothes to serve as a disguise. One of the stated purposes of the Klan in the first wave was that "females, friends, widows, and their households shall ever be special objects of our regard and protection," which only referred to white women. Black and low-class white women, and white women judged as promiscuous were often the victims of rape and assault as Klansmen deemed them to be "lacking in virtue." (Hodes 1993, pp. 409–410)