Book Review of, Words Marked by a Place: Local Histories in Central Oregon

Abstract

549 Reviews 548 OHQ vol. 119, no. 4 He became president of a bank, a position that suited the silver-tongued autocrat’s desire for the good life. Nokes has crafted an engaging portrait of an often-unlikable figure, and the book will likely appeal to a general audience. Some of the stand-alone chapters, particularly those on the Donner Party and the 1859 Broderick-Terry duel, are fascinating but somewhat disconnected from the main narrative. Nokes finds in Burnett a useful through-line to connect the early political histories of Oregon and California . One problem, however, with Nokes’s focus on the machinations of elite individuals is that he seldom examines Burnett’s life — and his commitment to ethnic cleansing, racial exclusion , and wealth accumulation — within the context of broader nineteenth-century historical processes, such as the emergence of settler colonialism and the market revolution. The limited scope of the political history also leaves major historical questions unasked and unanswered . For instance, Nokes fails to address why Oregonians repeatedly embraced Black exclusion laws while Californians consistently rejected them. Still, Nokes is an unpretentious and witty writer with an ear for a good story. Moreover, he had to rely on Burnett’s own self-serving writings for the bulk of his primary research, and he approached these texts with laudable skepticism. Ken Coleman Portland, Oregon THE SECOND COMING OF THE KKK: THE KU KLUX KLAN OF THE 1920S AND THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION by Linda Gordon Liveright Publishing Corp., a division of W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2017. Illustrations, notes, index. 288 pages. $27.95 cloth. How did the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) of the 1920s gain so many members and influence politics? Distinguished historian Linda Gordon draws on others’ work and her own original research to document why the Klan “owed much of its considerable electoral success to nonelectoral activities that signaled its mass following” (p. 164). She takes readers on a vivid and disturbing tour of Klan recruitment, rallies, and lobbying, and builds to a finale where the KKK disrupts the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Gordon distinguishes the twentieth century KKK from the original post–Civil War Ku Klux Klan, which mobilized white former Confederates to intimidate freed people. The modern Klan invoked this history, especially when screening D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic, Birth of a Nation. But the new KKK was a national organization, run from the top down by key leaders who profited from selling dues and regalia. The main tenets of KKK ideology were racism (especially white supremacy); nativism (that fueled anti-Catholicism and antiSemitism ); temperance; fraternalism; Christian evangelicalism; and populism. The modern Klan advocated vigilante violence and political terrorism, and its national reach and broad popularity made it a very effective political lobby. Klan supporters upheld Jim Crow and opposed immigration, championed Prohibition , lobbied against parochial schools, and advocated forced sterilization. The Klan was not confined to small-town America. Gordon demonstrates that “it was in cities and states that the Klan amassed its greatest dominance” (p. 170). Who joined? The modern Klan signed up white male (and female) native-born Protestants , and targeted African Americans, immigrants , Catholics, Jews, and others. Shared ideology was important, but Gordon shows readers that the KKK’s real strength was social networking. There was also a financial motive: any Klan member could become a recruiter and secure a share of the fees paid by those they converted. This incentive prompted like-minded people to utilize their political, social, religious, and family networks to find new Klansmen. The organization soon boasted impressive numbers. Membership was an open secret: the Klan was a public and political presence. The Klan roiled the 1924 Democratic National Convention, fueled by hatred of Catholic, anti-Prohibition contender Al Smith, whose nomination they helped to defeat. Even those who did not support the KKK feared their influence: “Neither major political party, and none of the presidents in this period . . . could be persuaded to condemn the Ku Klux Klan” (p. 165). Gordon emphasizes the emotional appeal of this new Klan, and the “structures of feeling” they manipulated. Local leaders sponsored widely advertised mass entertainments, including picnics with free food and airshows that featured a...