Traverse City Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary

Related Photos

February 9, 2009

Loraine Anderson: Erasing hatred, bigotry

By LORAINE ANDERSON

Related Content

For more on the 1924 KKK rally and more area history from the last 150 years, see our special history section at record-eagle.com/150 »

The 1924 Ku Klux Klan violence in Traverse City has been the biggest surprise, so far, in researching and writing stories for the Record-Eagle's 150th Anniversary History Project.

Local history writer Richard Fiddler tipped me off to this story in late 2007. His account of that Aug. 9 "night of terror" is the first chapter in his book, "Glimpses of Grand Traverse Past: Reflections on a Local History," published last year.

The "old" KKK newspaper report apparently was news to others, as well, if response to our Feb. 1 story is any indication.

Jo-Ann Fitzmaurice, 88, of Traverse City is the only reader I've talked to who knew about that night. Her Aunt Lillian, a little girl then, was downtown with her parents when it happened.

"She was terrified," Jo-Ann said. "They all thought it was an invasion."

Record-Eagle reader Homer Thiel, a former Traverse City resident born in 1963 and now working as an archaeologist in Tucson, checked out Census figures for the 1920s and notes that Grand Traverse County had a total population of 19,540 in 1920, including 25 blacks. By 1930, population had grown to 19,915 with a total of 39 blacks.

"African-Americans were less than 1 percent of the Grand Traverse population when the KKK came to town. I wonder why they targeted the area?" he asked in an e-mail last week.

The quick answer is that the Klan enlarged its focus to Catholics, Jews, and immigrants from southeastern Europe when it was re-established in 1915. Traverse City didn't have many blacks, but it did have Catholics, Bohemians from what today is the Czech Republic, and Jews, too.

Traverse City got a close look that night of Klan activities. The rally probably opened local eyes to how dangerous bigotry can be, and city residents didn't like what they saw that evening. Officials mostly did the right things. The city commission offered a $50 reward for information. Police arrested the Indiana leader who was tried twice, though also acquitted by local juries. The paper reported in detail what happened, quoting a never-identified source who said the Klan had been organizing a year in the area.

This story has relevance today.

Unveiling and prosecuting violent discriminatory acts and hate speech are the most effective ways to deal with bigotry and racism passing itself off as the politics of patriotism -- then and now.

But neither exposure nor prosecution erases bigotry and racial violence. Each of us has to do that in our hearts, actions and speech.

What I've seen and heard during Barack Obama's campaign for president makes me believe we'll have lots of opportunities to do that individually and as a nation in coming years.

Loraine Anderson can be reached at landerson@record-eagle.com, or 933-1468.

Text Only
  • WILLIAM MILLIKEN
    After looking back, we look to the future

    In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:14 am 9 Photos
  • Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
    images_sizedimage_312070048

    I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • George McManus: Manage resources
    images_sizedimage_312070109

    The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
    images_sizedimage_312070058

    The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
    images_sizedimage_312070117

    We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:10 am 1 Photo
  • November 2, 2009
  • Women helped build Traverse City
    images_sizedimage_304213014

    Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:17 am 4 Photos
  • TC's early women leaders

    Thirteen women who influenced early Traverse City are profiled.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:15 am
  • October 31, 2009
  • TC history exhibit visits TADL

    The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.

    Continued ...
    Oct 31, 2009 9:30 pm
  • October 19, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
    images_sizedimage_292070016

    Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

    Continued ...
    Oct 19, 2009 7:00 am 1 Photo
  • October 5, 2009
  • Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
    Jim Olson

    It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."

    Continued ...
    Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am 3 Photos
  • October 3, 2009
  • R-E editorial decries water diversion

    Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues

    Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • September 28, 2009
  • 150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
    images_sizedimage_269212538

    The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.

    Continued ...
    Sep 28, 2009 7:18 am 7 Photos
  • August 10, 2009
  • 150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
    images_sizedimage_220213541

    Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.

    Continued ...
    Aug 10, 2009 6:39 am 2 Photos
  • July 27, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
    images_sizedimage_208080650

    Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.

    Continued ...
    Jul 27, 2009 8:06 am 1 Photo