KKK dominance in 1920s Indiana

<p dir="ltr">Why did the despicable <strong>Ku Klux Klan</strong> become pervasive across Indiana during the 1920s?</p> <p dir="ltr">Who joined? And does the tendency of the general public to focus on Klan Grand Dragon <strong>D.C. Stephenson </strong>(and his lurid scandals) dilute the more insidious - if less sensationalistic - impact the KKK had on life in Indiana in the 1920s? </p> <p dir="ltr"><img src= "http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/James-Madison-2013.png" alt= "James Madison" width="198" height="279" align="left" />These are among the questions that acclaimed Indiana historian <strong>James Madison</strong> tackles in his new book, <strong><em><a href= "https://iupress.org/9780253052186/the-ku-klux-klan-in-the-heartland/">The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland</a></em></strong> (IU Press), which explores one of the most shameful eras in the Hoosier state. From 1923 through 1925, the peak of the KKK's influence in Indiana, "up to one third of the state's native-born, white Protestant men signed up," Jim Madison notes.</p> <p dir="ltr">Jim, an IU professor emeritus of history whose honors and awards include being designated a <strong><a href= "https://indianahistory.org/about/living-legends/">Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society</a></strong> in 2016, will be Nelson's guest as Hoosier History Live continues its mission to explore all aspects of the state's heritage. Jim Madison's other books include <strong><em><a href= "https://iupress.org/9780253023445/hoosiers/">Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana</a></em></strong> (2014) and <strong><em><a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Lynching-Heartland-Race-Memory-America/dp/1403961212">A Lynching in the Heartland</a></em></strong> (2001), which explored the 1930 lynching in <strong>Marion</strong>, Ind., of two <strong>African-American</strong> teenagers. That notorious episode was not connected to the KKK.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Klan that dominated Indiana during the 1920s was the second of three incarnations of the organization in American history, Jim note