Trudy Gold
Ku Klux Klan and the Frank Trial

Trudy Gold - Ku Klux Klan and the Frank Trial

- All right everyone, well, good evening. And welcome. 1913, 110 years ago. There was a terrible incident in Atlanta, Georgia that galvanised the Jewish world, that shocked the Jewish world. It ironically also coincided with another terrible story in Russia. Now of course, what I’m referring to first of all, is the trial of Leo Frank. What happens is April, 1913, a young girl, Mary Phagan was murdered, was molested and murdered. And it happened around Easter/Passover. Leo Frank, who was the Jewish manager of a pencil factory was accused. And what’s going to happen out of that trial, is not only accusations of ritual murder, but also the whole seaming apart of racism. It’s going to lead along with the film “The Birth of a Nation,” to the second great Klan, Ku Klux Klan, the sign of the rifle. And it’s going to, after the murder of Mary Phagan, and the film, it’s going to actually, the Klan’s membership is going to hit four million people. And it’s also going to show us the divisions in a society. So, I’m hoping to get through all of these ideas. Can we see the first slide, please? If you don’t mind. There’s Leo Frank. Now, what I’m going to do first of all, is to give you the background to the trial. It becomes very, very famous, this trial. And it coincides in Russia with the story of Mendel Ballas. Which I know many of you know. Mendel Beilis was a Jew living outside the settlement near Kiev in a brick factory; near a brick factory in Kiev. Now what was fascinating about that trial? Again, it was Easter/Passover.

A young boy was murdered. Mendel Beilis was accused. He was imprisoned by the Czarist officials for over two years. Ironically, that case, a jury of Russian people found Beilis innocent. Even though the Czar himself gave a medal to the prosecuting attorney, Czar Nicholas the Second. Then what happened to Beilis, is he came to America. And ironically, he’s buried in the same cemetery as Leo Frank. So but in Russia, terribly antisemitic Russia, you have a case where at least the man is acquitted. With Leo Frank, we’re going to see a completely different outcome. And can I say from the beginning, it is now proven that he was completely innocent. So, who was Leo Frank? His dates are 1884 to 1915. He was born in Paris, Texas. His father was a German-born physician. And we’ve already established how many Germans went to live in America between 18, about 1815 and 1871. Whilst he still is a baby, the family moved to Brooklyn. He came from pretty prosperous family. He took an engineering degree at Cornell University, and after, he came from a very wealthy family. After working in several companies, he went to his work, for his Uncle Moses Frank, who was the main shareholder in the National Pencil Company, which had a factory in Atlanta. He travelled to Germany to learn the business. And in 1907, he moves to Atlanta, a superintendent of the pencil company. Think pencils, think modality, think Jews at the sharp edge of modality. Now, the Jewish community in Atlanta, it was quite small, but it was mainly German. And they were under the leadership of course, of a reformed Rabbi.

And already we’ve begun to look at religion just in America, with Rabbi Rosen. And of course, reform becomes the majority religion of American Jews at this period. Because if you think about it, reform is born in Germany. They bring their rabbis with them to America. And, it was much easier in America for American Jews to adopt to reform, particularly because of the kind of structures. Particularly think out West. Think about how impossible it was always to observe Shabbat. It was completely strictly how important it was, how impossible it was to get a minion. So basically reform and conservative suited America far more than in the East. Now so, the Rabbi is David Marks. It’s small, it’s only a small community. But its got its roots in the history of the city. In 1911, Frank marries Lucille Selig. She also came from a wealthy industrial family. And in fact her family, were the founders of Atlanta’s first synagogue two generations early. So what are we talking about in Atlanta? A small, Jewish society that in the main, they’re wealthy. They’re very cultured, they’re very privileged. They love the arts, they go to the opera. They go to the country clubs, they have a Jewish country club. They play bridge, they play tennis. And something else that was very much a feature, an American way of life, the B'nai B'rith lodges. And he was in fact, head of the B'nai B'rith chapter in Atlanta.

Also, an uncle of Frank’s was a confederate veteran. And he, himself, had been president of the chapter. Now Leo, he had a very good salary working at the pencil factory. His earnings were $180 a month, plus a share in the company. Now, who was the victim in this terrible case? Can we see her? This is Mary Phagan. She was born in 1899 to a family in a town called Marietta. To a family of Georgian-Texas potato farmers. Her father died before she was born. Her mother opened a boarding house to try and support the family. And Mary left school when she was only 10 years old to work in a textile mill. And in 1912, her mother remarried, and the family moved to Atlanta. And she takes a job with the pencil company. Think about, she is just 13 years old. She works 55 hours a week inserting rubber erasers into pencils. She operates a machine in a section of the factory, opposite to Frank’s office. So this very pretty young girl, working 55 hours a week. Think about her life in opposition to the luxurious life of the owner of the factory. Because this is all going to be very important in the case. So three o'clock in the morning, this is the crime itself. In three o'clock in the morning of April the 27th, police received the call from the factory’s night watchman. A man called Newt Lee, reporting the discovery of a body. She was found in a dark basement. She’d been stripped, she’d been raped and strangled with a strip torn from her petticoat. The crime scene was very inappropriately handled. Footprints were never identified. There was no real forensic evidence.

Now, both Newt Lee, who was the night watchman, and he was also a friend of Mary Phagan, they were, and another friend were arrested, but the police let them go. Now, the murder of Mary Phagan, just imagine a pretty, young white girl, shocked the city. It’s already real Atlanta. Think about it, Atlanta, Georgia, post-American Civil War. It’s already reeling from violence, crime, and desperate working conditions. There’s huge poverty. And it also had experienced the terrible race riot. And had the highest arrest rate of any major city in America. So, you’re looking at a city that’s on a tinder box. It was an era of huge competition between newspapers, for sensationalism. As many as 40 extra editions were printed on the day of the murder. This is a young English girl, was kidnapped from her family home in, when they were on holiday in Portugal. Some of you might know about this. And this completely galvanised a nation. It took a long time for the culprit to be found. And sometimes a story can completely galvanise. And the story of this very pretty young, hardworking girl, 40 extra editions on the day of the murder. And then, a huge reward was offered, $1,800. Which led to a lot of false leads to the police. Two notes were found at the plant. Supposedly written by Frank later, it was said written by Frank, accusing a Negro of murdering her.

Jim Conley, the plant’s Black janitor. Can we see a picture of Jim Conley, please? Now, there you see Jim Conley. The murder unleashed the most incredible pent-up fury. There’s a pretty, young blond victim. Child labour was widely ignored. She’s sympathetic. And when she was buried, 10,000 mourners lined to view the body, and angry citizens were whipped up by the press demanding revenge. The mayor of Atlanta, himself, order the police “Find this murderer fast, "or you’re going to be fired.” This huge resentment also against bosses, and particularly bosses from New York. Go back to the American Civil War, which I’ll be talking about later. After the Civil War, America really opened up and industrialised in a hurry. And you had a lot of people known as carpetbaggers coming to the South to take up positions, and really to buy up the South. Not only had the South been humiliated, they lost their way of life. They lost their plantations. Think “Gone With the Wind.” The freeing, of course, of the slaves. And this is the reaction to it all. And a friend of Mary’s, so there’s a lot of resentment against bosses, and there’s a lot of resentment against New Yorkers, and also a lot of resentment against Jews. And also, the police were very wary of accusing a Black man, because there have already been race riots. They didn’t want to set light to the kindle. And a friend of Mary’s told the police that Mary had informed her that Frank had made advances to her. And also, Nina Gormley, who was the owner of a rooming house, actually it was a brothel, she had claimed Frank had made calls on the day of murder, asking for a room himself, and a girl.

Later proved to be completely fallacious. And it’s later contradicted by a maid who said that on that day, that no callers where made on that day, as her job was to answer the telephone. And reports were surfacing the Black sweeper, Jim Conley’s job was actually to sweep up the scrapings from the pencils. He admitted to writing the notes. And also, he’d been observed washing blood from a shirt by a foreman at the plant. And this evidence was ignored by the police. Conley claimed that he wrote the murder notes at the behest of Frank. And claimed he had guarded the door while Frank had sex with her. But things went wrong, Mary fell against a machine, and was killed. And they then dragged her body to the cellar. In fact in 1982, Alonzo Mann, who then been a 13-year-old office boy, admitted that he’d seen Conley drag Mary’s body. He kept silent because of death threats from Conley. He swore an affidavit to these facts before he died. So important that you know this is a completely fallacious accusation. Frank was not guilty. Now the problem was, it’s going to be totally stirred up by the press. Now, Frank is arrested. He produces alibis for the time of the crime. He employed pinkertons, but they were seen as enforcers for the Yank, quote, quote in the papers, the Yankee Jewish industrialists. And even though the witness incriminated Conley, neither testified in court. It’s later emerged that Nina Gormley, the brothel owner, had not only been coerced, he’d been paid.

The police did, and remember, I’ve already told you the most important thing, the police want a result, but they don’t want race riots. The trial is set for July, 1913. The unbelievable coverage in the newspapers. Just think, I supposed think “National Enquirer” kind of newspapers. Sensational coverage. The sentiment in Atlanta turned against the Yankee Jew. And the prosecutor was a man called Hugh Dorsey. And, can we go on, please? And the man that was so involved with all of this was, and I’ll come onto Dorsey in a minute. But I wanted to talk more now about Thomas E. Watson. Because he is the proprietor of the newspaper. And he’s very important in the case. He’d been born into a family of English descent. He went to university because he, he had to leave because of family finances. He became a school teacher. He later studied law. And became a member of the Georgia bar in 1875. He joined the democratic party in 1882, was elected to the legislator. And as a state legislator, he struggled to curb the abuses of the powerful railroad operations. And he was a man of the people. He wanted to help the poor white farmers against the big corporations. And because he wasn’t successful, he returns to his law practise. What he supports is the Farmer’s Alliance. And through that, he’s elected to the House of Representatives, as an Alliance democrat in 1890. At this stage, the democrats were the more right-wing party in terms of how we see it today. He was instrumental in founding the Georgia populist party in 1892. He advocated public ownership of the railways, the steamship lines, the telephone, the telegraph, abolition of national banks. On one level, at this stage he’s moving towards helping the people.

But, what he wants is to create a big agrarian movement across class lines. At this stage, he did support the right of Blacks to vote. He’s defeated in 1892, and he returns to work as a lawyer. Gradually, his views on Black vote completely changes. He’s no longer viewing the populist movement of being racially inclusive. By 1908, he has switched to becoming a white supremacist. And he even ran for Presidency, using his highly-influential paper and magazine as a tool. He becomes very anti-Black. He never received more than 1% of the national vote, but he did very well in Georgia. In the election of 1904, he pulled 18% of the vote. 1908, 12%. He, from having sort of socialist views, he denounced socialism, and also he become vigorously anti-Catholic. And he is the man who is actually really pushing, pushing, inflaming public opinion against the New Yorker, the Jew. And of course, ironically when Frank was first arrested, he was a lawyer, remember. His wealthy family, asked Watson to take the case, he declined. Now this is Albert Lindermann, a very interesting historian, he said: “Frank’s friends and family would not had approached Watson "to defend Frank, "if Watson had been known to be antisemitic.” But in during the trial, and during the appeals process, he refrained from comment. Then, what happens is, in March 1914, the editor demanded a new trial. What happens is, at first he’s inflaming the public. But it’s actually at the second trial that he really begins to spew out antisemitism. Because one of his most bitter rivals, a man called Senator Hope Smith. He had a paper. It’s like I suppose in England, it would be “The Daily Mirror,” versus “The Sun.” And he developed a blinding session against Hope Smith, who is being more pro-Frank.

And he becomes more, he began, so he begins his campaign in earnest against Jews, Northerners, who were trying to free a murderer. And he begins to speil out this absolutely appalling antisemitism. And this is what he, this is one of the things he wrote. He wrote “Frank belongs to the Jews. "And it was determined by the rich Jews "that no aristocratic they raised, "should die for the death of a working-class Gentile.” And he also said “Another Ku Klux Klan may be organised "to restore home rule.” So what happens is, the prosecutor, can we see the next slide, please? The prosecutor a man called Hugh Manson Dorsey. He was the proc Dorsey, he was a prosecuting lawyer. He was twice elected governor of Georgia. He was a jurist who served for more than a decade as a superior court judge. And the tragedy was, that they were all, even though the evidence was completely tainted. And even though two witnesses incriminated calmly, neither one of them had testified in court. And it later emerged that the woman I mentioned, Nina Gormley, the brothel owner, had been bribed and coerced. So basically when the trial is set, the defence believed the jurors were being intimidated and asked for a mistrial. The judge feared for the safety of Frank and his lawyers of acquitted. So, he brokered a deal that they wouldn’t be present when the verdict was announced. The trial was totally, skillfully manipulated by Watson. And later on, of course, Watson is going to be a very important leader in the Ku Klux Klan. He is found guilty. He then appeals to the Georgia Supreme Court in November 1913, it fails.

The Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who is so famous as a great giver of justice in America, those that many of you will note the film, or read the book “Inherit the Wind.” Which is the Scopes Trial. It’s actually the story of a teacher in the Southern states, is accused of blasphemy, because he teaches the theory of evolution in his class. And Oliver Wendell Holmes is his defence lawyer. It’s brilliantly, if you could get hold of the film, “Inherit the Wind,” the original version. Where it’s Spencer Tracy, he’s absolutely superb. But this gives you an atmosphere of what was going on in the South at the time. A teacher is put on trial for teaching evolution. Anyway, the Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, he said, he had a very serious doubt that if the petitioner has had due process of law. I’m quoting, “The trial took place in the presence of "hostile demonstrations, "and a seemingly dangerous crowd. "It was thought by the presiding judge "to be ready for violence "unless a verdict of guilty was rendered.” So basically, even though it goes to the Supreme, finishes up at the Supreme Court in April 1915, it’s denied. Even though Holmes and Charles Evan’s descent, citing a terrorised jury. Nevertheless, seven to two, seven thought that he, in fact, was guilty. Watson wrote in “The Jeffersonian.” This is interesting, in his paper, “If Frank’s rich connections keep on lying about the case, "then something bad will happen.”

So Frank, he’s been turned down. Remember, he could be executed. He then appeals for clemency from the Deputy Governor of Georgia, a man called John Slayton. Who reviewed 10,000 pages of testimony, and then commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. So Frank has been found guilty. You cannot imagine the sensationalism of the trial. Just think mob, it was absolutely mobs at the court house, all the time, baying for Frank’s blood. It was a terrible, terrible, terrible story. And can we go on to have a look at the family of Frank. There you see his mother and his father. Let’s see the next slide, please. There’s his sister. It’s a terrible, terrible story. So, what then happens, this is what John Slayton, later when he was interviewed in “Time Magazine.” This is what he wrote. “Years later, assuming that Frank’s innocence "would eventually be fully established.” Having read 10,000 pages, he realises there has been a miscarriage of justice. So this is, in an interview, because he destroyed John Slayton, who was a very, very, he could of had a huge political career, he really destroyed his career over this. Because he is going to commute his sentence of death for life imprisonment, because he knows that eventually, he hopes eventually the real facts will come to light. “Assuming that Frank’s innocence will eventually be "fully-established, and that he will be set free. "I can enjoy misconstruction abuse, condemnation, "but not an accusing conscious would remind me that "I, as a Governor of Georgia failed to do "what I thought to be right.

"If it means I must live in obscurity "the rest of my life, "but I would rather be ploughing the fields, "then to feel I have blood on my hands.” You see that either way, he is the hero of this case, John Slayton. And in a mini-series that came in 1988, and I’ll show you an extract from it, the part is played by Jack Lemon. It’s called “The Murder of Mary Phagan.” And I know you can get it on Prime and Netflix. It’s well worth the watch. So remember, John Slayton, the governor of Georgia, he later says, he commutes the sentence, and he later says “I believe him to be innocent,” in this interview. What he said at the end, it’s very important. Let me repeat it, because this is so important. “Assuming that Frank’s innocence "would eventually be fully established, "and that he would be set free, "I can enjoy misconstruction, abuse, and condemnation, "but not an accusing conscious. "Which would remind me, I, as Governor of Georgia, "failed to do what I thought to be right. "It means, if it means I must live in obscurity "the rest of my life, but I’d rather be ploughing the fields, "then to feel that I have blood on my hands.” Now, Watson stirs it all up. He rails against the decision, and urged the lynching of both Frank and Stanton. So here you have Watson, actually stirring up hatred, and doing everything he can to get the mob going. The mob actually threatens to attack the governor at home, and the detachment of the National Guard, along with the Police, and a group of Stanton’s friends, who’d been sworn in as deputies, manage to disperse the mob.

And it’s at this stage, a group calling itself The Knights of Mary Phagan, began openly organising a campaign to kidnap Frank from the State Prison, and to transport him on a bed to lynch him in Marietta, which was the former home of Mary Phagan. 28 men recruited with six as ringleaders. Now, I want to go through the characters. Because you need to see it’s not gutter-up. We often make that mistake. And quite often when I have to teach subjects like Nazism, I think there is this dream that it’s the great unwashed. On the contrary, it is quite often people who inverted commas, have high standing in society. So, who were recruited? Six ringleaders. Joseph Mackie Brown, former Governor, who threatened lynchings during the clemency appeal. Judge Newt Morris, Eugene Clay, the son of U.S. Senator Clay, and a former mayor of Marietta. John Dorsey, a lawyer and a state legislator. Fred Morris, a lawyer. Bowlen Farr Brumsley, the owner of a huge factory, a furniture factory. Other people who were named, Georgian Baxter, later mayor of Marietta. Former sheriff of Cobb County, John Tucker Dorsey, who was also solicitor general for the area. And would theoretically be in charge of prosecuting the lynchers. The group also included another lawyer and a doctor. So, these are the people. So what happens is, August the 17th, 1915. There was a highly-organized break from the prison farm, where Frank is being held. And they take him to the lynching site. Can we see the next slide, please? That, by the way, is his wife.

Can you imagine what she went through? His wife and him at the trial. Just a young couple. Yep. This is the lynching. Okay. So, they take him to Marietta, the original home of Mary Phagan. It’s three kilometres east, outside of Marietta. A site has been prepared with a rope by the sheriff of Marietta, a man called William Grey. And after the murder, so he’s lynched, and after the murder everyone’s looking quite happy about it. After the murder, crowds descended on the site like vultures, snatching souvenirs. Frank’s body was eventually taken down to an undertaker. And as a result of this, you’re going to see a huge resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan, which I’m going to talk about in a minute. And Watson, of course, is going to be one of the leaders in the re-creation of the Klan. And by the 1920s, I said right at the beginning, the Klan had four million members. And the Klan is going to be inaugurated in the second Klan in 1915, on top of Stone Mountain. Where a few ageing members of the old Klan attended with the Knights of Mary Phagan. After the lynching, what happens is, half of Georgia’s Jews left. Many American Jews to this day, still see it as the American Dreyfus Affair. And also, it’s going to lead to the formation of the Anti-Defamation League, which I’ll also talk about. He was given a posthumous pardon on March 11, 1986. This is a very interesting historian, Clifford Coon. “People sometimes think that the world "is changing too fast.

"And we latch upon symbols to vent our confusion, "our frustration or anger, of things "that are outside of our control. "It’s very easy to find convenience scape goats, "and Frank was certainly a scape goat.” We can talk a lot about scape goats, can’t we? Because I think one of the problems, and funny enough, I was discussing this with Wendy today. One of the problems is, unfortunately because of our strange role in history, particularly in the history of the West and the Middle East, which is the home of the other two great monotheism religions, which see us as in some sort of way, as the parent religion. We have, but there are many scape goats. Don’t forget the scape goat is a Jewish invention from Yom Kipper. We take the black goat out of the herd, we put all our sins onto the goat, who we sacrifice. That’s very interesting, psychological ploy. But the one of the horrible ironies is that the Jew becomes the scape goat. And of course, The Knights of Mary Phagan, newly-anointed themselves The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain. So, the case is important for so many, many different reasons. And of course, it’s resident today, isn’t it? Because we’re talking again, again you have, let me read again. Let me read Coon. “Because people sometimes think "the world is changing too fast.” Think modernity. Remember, I’m talking about 1915. I remember I had a brilliant tutor in history. And she said to me, “Imagine you were born in 1800, "and you died in 1900.” “What would you had seen in your life?” “If you were born in 1900, and you died in 2000?

"What would you see in your life? "If you’re born in 2000, and you live to 2100?” And, can you all cope with modern technology? I can’t. And this is what Coon said. I’m repeating it, because it’s terribly important. Look, history doesn’t repeat itself, people’s actions do, in my view. “People sometimes think that "the world is changing too fast. "And we latch upon symbols to vent our confusion, "our frustration, or anger that things are outside "of our control. "It is very easy to find convenient scape goats. "And Frank was certainly a scape goat.” Now, what I want to do now, is to go back to the American Civil War, and the Ku Klux Klan, because it all ties together with the Frank trial. So, can we see the next slide? That of course, is the grave of Leo Frank. And what is ironic is, as I said, he is buried in the same cemetery of that of Mendel Beilis, which you actually believe, his body was recovered, and his wife was allowed to bury him. Okay, there are similarities to the Dreyfus case. They needed a scape goat. Can we go on, please? Okay, the American Civil War. We’d already talked about that, and I know we’ve had lectures on it from wonderful William. It absolutely split American society. The South is defeated. And the South is humiliated. It becomes, this terrible ravaging of ideas, everything they believed in. And I want to go back, though. What? Where?

Somebody said to me “Where did the white sheets come from?” I want to go back to the Great Awakening of late, the 18th century, which has already been discussed in other lectures. The Colonies, Church of England. Many people refused to pay taxes to the Church of England, because they were finding their services meaningless. There was an eruption, what we call Evangelic fervour. They’re crossed about the tax. And who are crossed about the taxes? Catholics, Quakers, intenerate preachers, it’s really the burgeoning of Methodism, baptism, and also baptism accepted anyone as did the Methodists. So Blacks could be C. They couldn’t be C of E. Blacks could not be members of the Church of England. But if, and if they’re freed, they still have to pay tax to the state church, which they don’t belong to. And of course, these new movements, and think whites, this is the baptism, you come out purified, so you bare white. So the the first awakening in the South and Colonies, demanding the manumission of all Blacks, which is interesting. In fact, Robert Carter III, who came from a great old Virginian family, freed all his slaves. Then you have the second great awakening. It’s born after the Civil War. And this is where it gets more complicated. Because Christians have to stand up against this government. America is meant to be a white Christian nation. Because don’t forget, also. You see, sometimes it’s the Catholics who are problems, sometimes they’re not. Now you have the situation where America North, the victorious North is advertising for immigrants. And they are flooding in. We’ve already looked at the number of Jews who go in. But think of the figures. Millions of millions of people coming to America. And, but what kind of nation will it be? There’s no state religion. Is it going to be a white Christian nation?

And there’s a reversal against the manumission of the Blacks. They begin to attack the new government and laws they don’t believe in. They start talking about the taint of Black blood. They are violently against sexual relations between Black and white. They begin to burn crosses. This is a symbol of fear. Now the Klan itself, can we see the first, next slide? No, the first Klan, ‘cause it’s going to have three embodiments. The second after Mary Phagan. The Ku Klux Klan, I already told you, the sound of a gun. You cock it, you aim, and then you shoot. The first Klan was founded in Pulaski in Tennessee. It’s named for a general, a Polish general, who fought in the American Revolution. It was founded on the 24th of December 1895, but six officers of the Confederate Army. At first, there was no formal structure. It was a movement born out of defeat and despair, and to return to the old ways. And it emerges as more and more white supremacists. It was a secret vigilante group. They had their own rituals, such as the wearing of a white hood to hide their faces. They targeted freed men, and their allies. They targeted politically-active Blacks, and white Northern leaders. Anyone who had destroyed the way of life of the old South. In 1870 to 1871, can we see the next slide, please?

The government passed the Enforcement Acts, which actually protected the rights of African Americans devote to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protection of the law. It was passes by Ulysses S. Grant. And also, allowed the federal government to intervene when states didn’t act. So basically, the North, is there still a North and South? The victorious government in the North passes this act. And of course, the major goal of the Ku Klux Klan, why did they do it? Because they wanted to fight the Klan. The Klan is becoming important. But many states were reluctant in the South. Sometimes politicians themselves were actually members of the Klan. The idea behind the Act was a quality before the law, which is the last thing that the Klan wanted. However, this particular Klan, this particular manifestation begins to decline. And this is the historian, George Robert. “The Klan declined in strength in part "because of internal weaknesses. "It lacked a central organisation, "and the fate of its leaders to control criminal elements, "and sadists.” There were some very, very dodgy characters, who were getting publicity, and gradually the Klan begins to diminish.

But he says “More fundamentally declined, "because it failed to achieve its central objective, "the overthrow of the republican state governments "in the South.” What they really wanted was to bring back the old ways and the old South. So, then you have the Mary Phagan case, and then something else. Can we see the next slide, please? There you see The Knights of Mary Phagan. Go on. “Birth of a Nation.” Before I show you a clip, this film is going to be so important. The “Birth of a Nation,” it’s seen as a masterpiece by D.W. Griffith. It was released on the February 8th, 1915. It’s about the Civil War, and reconstruction. And it depicts the Klan as heroes. They are the valiant saviours of a post-war South. Which has been ravaged by the carpet baggers and the Black. It becomes an instant blockbuster. And the movie itself, becomes a recruiting tool for the Klan. It was actually adopted from the book, “The Klansman” by Thomas Dixon, who by the way, a class friend was Woodrow Wilson. It showed radical republicans encouraging equality for Black people. And in the film they are represented, it is a deeply racist film. They are represented as intellectually inferior, and predators of white women. Quite often, if you look at how state voters created an enemy, often the whole notion of sexuality, the pollution of the race. The actual founder of the Klan is a man called, of the second Klan, William Joseph Simmons. He’s considered to be the founder of the 1915 Klan. Now, his background. He was a local preacher in Georgia. And he seized on the film’s popularity to bolster the film’s appeal to the Klan. Because what you’re going to see in the film, I’m going to show you an extract, it’s a silence, of course. The galloping Klan riding to the rescue.

Now those of you who seen “Gone With the Wind,” Margaret Mitchell’s, based on Margaret Mitchell’s great book of the South. When she wrote the book she said as a girl she never realised the South had lost. And of course, when Scarlet refers to a political meeting, it’s Klan. And of course, there’s many problems with “Gone With the Wind” today. What it does, what this film does, it really propagates the racist myth. And when Simmons heard that the film was due to be released in Atlanta on December the 6th, 1915, ten days before the premiere, he gathered a group with The Knights of Mary Phagan, they climbed Stone Mountain, which is outside of Atlanta to burn a large cross, Thanksgiving Day. So on Thanksgiving Day, 1915, The Knights of Mary Phagan, plus some members of the old Klan, lead by Simmons, they climb the mountain, and they take out adverts in the newspapers about the revival of the Klan. And on the opening night of the film, “Birth of a Nation,” set in Atlanta, Simmons and his fellow Klansmen, dressed in white sheets, Confederate uniforms, parade down the main street with hooded horses, firing rifle salutes in front of the theatre. It was unbelievably powerful. And don’t forget that “Gone with the Wind” was premiered in Atlanta.

And it’s fascinating, because Hattie McDaniel, who of course, was the first Black to win an Oscar, she couldn’t stay in the same hotel as the rest of them, because of segregation in the South. So you got to imagine the huge effect. There were more and more screenings in different cities in the South. Echoing the display, sometimes even the ushers in the cinema donned white sheets. The Klansman had the news that it’s recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. They hand out literature before and after the screenings. Let’s have a quick look just at the beginning, I think. Otherwise we won’t have the time. Let’s just see the beginning of “Birth of a Nation.” Violent film, it’s a brilliantly constructed film, by the way. Those of you who love film, if you can forget the content. The heroes are the South, the villains are the Blacks. And the Northerners, who are polluting. See, they’re all in Confederate Union, in uniform. The hero and the beautiful heroine, of course. The poor white woman, all the stereotypes. I think we’ll stop it there. And of course, there were lots of protests. There you see William Joseph Simmons, the first Klansman of the second Klan. Now, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, NAACP, can we see that please? This is the premiere of “Birth of a Nation.” This was set up in the North to really do something to help the community, which of course at that time were called “Colour People.” Later on, both Eleanor Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein in the '30s, were very involved in all of this. And it had been established in 1909. And it’s the first American Civil Rights organisation. It was formed in New York, of course.

Now, of course don’t forget to actually add to the mix the post World War I racial tensions. And you also got to think what is happening after 1915? How was it that this organisation manages to attract four million members? And the Klan also had success in regions where the Black population was very small. For example, only 2.3% in the Northeast. And under 1% in the West. It becomes a strategic move. Because it’s violently racist, it’s as violently racist as its ancestor. But it aligns itself with anti-immigrant campaigns that begin around the turn of the century. And, I’m going to talk about this in much more detail in a subsequent presentation. It focused it’s bigotry in other places on immigrants, Catholics, particularly Catholics coming from Southern Europe and Jews. Who are the real Americans? The whites. Who are the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Americans? Who should rule? Who should rule in America? The whiteness also begins to be understood as pure Americanism. And don’t forget you must add to that the growth of eugenics, that movement that divided people into superior and inferior categories. And that at that time was accepted as good science. And health policies. It was taken on by many academics and taught in many biology textbooks of the period. Providing actual scientific basis for bigotry and hatred. And of course, from the Jewish experience, you just have to look at the experiments at Auschwitz to see the end of it. That’s where it lead, eugenics. Believe it or not, Mengele, was actually working for a eugenics organisation in Berlin.

He was performing medical experiments. It’s the declassification of people. In America it lead to the sterilisation of numerous Blacks. And the same thing was going on in Sweden. In England, it never really took in England. But nevertheless, many prominent Englishman were in favour of eugenics. The notion that the colour of your skin, the country you were born in, the whole, that is what deemed your place in the world, in the universe. So, and also there was a religious side to the second Klan. And Evangelical revival. 40,000 ministers were members of the Klan. And thousands and thousands, they eulogised the Klan in their sermons. It lead to great radio evangelists. They learned, firmly enough, though in many ways, they’re anti-modern, they began to use the tools of modernity. Like for example, the radio. Robert Schiller and Bob Jones, who was the founder of the Bob Jones University. Were demagogues, Klan demagogues on the radio. They, of course, denounced any evolutionary theory. They supported prohibition. Of course they are against liquor. They called prohibition, believe it or not, Jew, because they said Jews supply the booze, it’s drunk by Catholics. They also spent a lot of their writings on talking about sexuality. Jews in many ways become the worse enemies, because they tie into the myth of Jewish power. Jews build Hollywood. It’s a dishonest conspiracy to poison the morals of pure, white women. These are the evil Jews who pull all the strings.

Don’t forget the protocols that come out of Russia. It spreads to America. All sorts of groups screaming that the moguls were perverting the morality of America. Ironically, and I’ll be covering this in other presentations, the moguls themselves, were so insecure in their Americanism, that when it became really bad, they never stood up against it. They never stood up against all this horror. Particularly one of their most violent enemies was Charlie Chaplin, and he wasn’t even Jewish. But he refused to say he wasn’t. He lived with a Jewish woman, Paulette Golard. They were very successfully. And literally 16 American Senators, scores of Congressmen, 11 state Governors, local officials, were overtly Klan supporters. Two major victories in 1924, just shows how powerful they are. And please don’t worry, I’m going to be dealing with this in detail. The 1924 Johnson Reed Immigration Act. It installed the Klan’s hierarchy of racist into law. It was much easier to get into America if you were English or Nordic. They restricting the number coming from the south, the south of Europe Catholics, and also Jewish immigration is going to go really, really down. They set quotas, remember. So the Nordics, the Scandinavians, tiny quotas for what they considered undesirables. And a man called Albert Johnson, who I’ll be talking about, he was the Chair of the House Immigration Committee, he shepherded the bill. And it was law until 1965.

Even in the, during the Shoal, when America had evidence, they still didn’t open the doors. Now one of the problems was, the opponents of the Klan, depicts them as uneducated rural and backward. Un-modern and un-sophisticated. The irony is that many of the Klan were well-educated, they were middle class, and they were by no means, mainly rural. They thrived in many of the big cities. And in fact, the secrecy of the Klan and their rituals, it was a wonderful way to become upwardly mobile. If you belong to a chapter of the Klan, your fellows would help them. However, it go, by the end of the 1920s, it goes on the way. Mainly again, because of corruption. And one of the leaders, one grand goblin, was convicted of a vicious murder, he got national coverage. The ideas didn’t die, though. And of course, it is going to mute again, into people like Father Coklin in the 30s, and also the growth of the German and the Nazi party in America. Another, can we go on, please? Next slide, please? This is another film made in 1937. About the Mary Phagan phase, “They Won’t Forget.” Claude Rains stars in it, and actually its the first time that Lana Turner appeared on the screen, wearing a very tight sweater. Not a very good film, unless you love Claude Rains, as I do. And then, let’s go on. There was another film. There you see the mini-series. We haven’t got time to look at it, but as I said, you can get it. It stars the wonderful Jack Lemon. And there was another, the next slide please.

“Parade,” the musical, “Parade” in 1998. And went on its tour in the year 2000 in America. That is also about the Trial of Leo Frank. There was another outcome, though. Can we see the last slide? The Anti-Defamation League. It’s founded in 1913 by B'nai B'rith Fraternal Lodge. Which in itself had been founded, B'nai B'rith had been founded in 1843 by German Jewish immigrants to fight, quote, “The deplorable conditions of Jews "in our newly adopted country.” The function at the time, visiting and attending the sick, protecting and assisting the widow and the orphan. B'nai B'rith, brothers of the covenant. And from the beginning, they begin to speak out for Jewish rights worldwide. For example, in 1851, they petitioned the American Secretary of State to demand the ending of Jewish disabilities in Switzerland during trade negotiations. And it spreads worldwide. By 1875, there’s a B'nai B'rith in Toronto. 1882, in Berlin.

Then, in Cairo. It’s one of the problems that I think the world has with Jews, we’re everywhere. Jerusalem in 1888. First to hold its meetings in Hebrew. Very active during the of 1903. They met with Roosevelt to demand action. Now the ADL itself, came out of B'nai B'rith with a man called Sigmund Livingston, as its first leader. He, himself, was a German-born, American Jewish lawyer in Chicago. And he was a great champion fighting antisemitism all his life. And in fact the most, I think in many ways, the most important thing he managed to do, in 1930, the ADL persuaded the compilers of Roget’s Thesaurus, to remove its definition of Jew. Now, this is 1930. Jew, the definition: Cunning, rich, user, extortioner and heretic. He also in 1944 wrote a book called “Men Must Hide.” Now, it was created by him. And by Adolph Krauss in response to the conviction of Leo Frank. So out of it, ironically came the Anti-Defamation League. But many of these threads we’ll be picking up, as we go deeper into America. So I’ll stop there. Let’s have a look at questions.

Q&A and Comments:

Lots of nice, thank you. Thank you, thank you so much. To the It’s lovely, we really are a family. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, thank you.

The Beilis trial is best commemorated in the movie “The Fixers,” says Shelly. Yes, of course, Shelly. I don’t know if “The Fixer” is online. One of the things I’m going to do in the holidays, years ago we made the lockdown team with Wendy, we made a list of our favourite hundred films, which we circulated. I’m sure it’s still in existence. But I think it’s time to make a list of the hundred great Jewish films.

Yes, “The Parade,” as you said, counts yeah. Yes, Arlene is saying sadly there are still some states which do not allow the teaching of evolution. You got to remember, the world is very fractured at the moment, isn’t it? And when we’re fractured, we go to certainties. Freedom of thought, you know, is dangerous. It’s difficult. I’m talking, I’m being ironic here. Just think, you have to make a decision every day of your life about some, about one thing, or another. And it’s particularly difficult when the world fractures. How much easier if you give into a closed system? This is something that we have to get beyond in my view. Clarence Darrow, sorry, I made this mistake. Thank you, Mike.

Serina Kapinski, mob’s a door bang for blood. Sounds eerie like today’s Palestinian riots all over the U.S., Britain and Europe. Scary moulds psychology. Yes, Serina, I totally agree with you. Things, this is the tragedy. People’s reactions, we might, we think we’re becoming more sophisticated. We’re not, we just have much more sophisticated tools.

Yes, thank you, Arlene. You know if ever I make a mistake, or don’t know something, this is what I love about lockdowns, somebody else always knows. Clarence Darrow, yes, yes of course. Clarence Darrow was the lawyer who defended the teacher. You offered selfie of the lynching. Where are the grandchildren of those murders now? And don’t forget, there were lots of selfies taken on the 7th of October.

Q: Were the lynches ever prosecuted?

A: No, Myrna. I mean, I went through some of those lynches with you. The people who actually orchestrated it were judges, incredibly important politicians. No, no, nobody was prosecuted. These KKK thought Jews were more threatening than Blacks. By the way, I’ve been to Stone Mountain. It’s the Confederate Mt. Rushmore. Created after the Civil War, and after Mt. Rushmore was built. Yeah, yes. Those did, they did gradually, particularly after the development of Hollywood. You see, I can’t, I think it was Will Hayes who said “Hollywood was a Jewish dream and a Gentile tragedy.” Because the majority of the moguls were Jewish, you get this notion of Hollywood becoming a Jewish conspiracy. The fact was, they all were incredibly insecure, the moguls. They all wanted to be American. And what is fascinating is, how they create the American dream. How America sees itself. Their Jewishness was something that many of them found a problem. One or two of them.

No, Colin never saw himself as a proud Jew. So did the oldest Warner brothers, of the Warner brothers. But in the main, it becomes an embarrassment to them. It’s no wonder the Klan in full regalia marched in perfect formation down Pennsylvania Avenue, pretty mainstream. I would say “Yes, Johnathan.”

Yes, Rita is saying white supremacy ideals are still active in America. Sure. Quoting from a historian. Yes, there were Jews who died at the hands of white racists in the South during the Civil Rights Movement. Yes, many Jews died. Of course they did. In fact, that film, “Mississippi Burning,” is a factional, fictional/factional account. Of course, Jews were targets. They’ve blown up synagogues. But remember, I’m talking about this period. And we will be dealing, it’s going to take us a couple more months to deal with America, because it’s such a big subject. And so rich as a scene. Jennifer wishes us all a happy Hanukkah. Thank you so much. I read that the NAACP was financed by Jews like Schiff, and even . Yeah, of course, Jacob Schiff was one of the greatest philanthropists. He was a fascinating man. And I’ll tell you how wonderful lock down is. His great-grandson, actually wrote to me, because he listened. So, that’s very special. This is Lockdown University, great-great grandson, I apologise. This is Lockdown University.

Oh and Rita is asking Judith for a reference, which she has given.

Yes, Linda is saying there were branches of the Klan in Canada, yes of course. There must, yes, yes, yes. . Thank you, thank you, thank you. Sorrel. And Sorrel’s talking about the lynching. And she says “Reminds me of a similar photograph "in 'God’s Step-Children,’ by Sara Gertrude.

"Milling, where six local coloured people were hanged.” Yeah. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, had been a member of the KKK in the 20s. Became a justice in 1937. Yep.

And Cynthia is saying, “I saw ‘Parade’ "when it was revived in November 2022. "The cast stood in a circle and said ” before each performance. “Trying to deal with the difficulty of the story. "Neo-Nazis rioted outside the theatre "on the opening preview night.” Aye-yeh-yeh. What happened to the Black guy who was in ? Nothing, Bernard, he died in his bed.

Ronnie, thank you. Thank you. Anyway, thank you for my greetings to my grandson. I will, can pass it all on. I wish you all a good night. And we got an interesting seven o'clock presentation, where Jake Wallace Simons, who is the editor of the “Jewish Chronicle,” he’s going to be interviewed about his latest book by Tanya Gold. So, you’re having a dose of the golds today. But anyway, I wish you all well. And look, we are a community. And never forget, we are, after all the horrors that the world throws at us, I still believe we are the indestructible Jews. Individuals, groups, have suffered beyond imagination, but somehow the spirit goes on, never forget that. And we go on being in it there, end of the tip. Look what Wendy did with lockdown? I mean, come on. It’s what some people call the restless gene. So, thank you all very much. And I wish you all a lovely evening. Try and keep heart, okay? God bless.