History of Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
has had a history in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
since the early part of the 1920s. The Klan was in the area around Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
and Camden
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
and had a presence in several of the state's northern counties, but its largest presence was in Monmouth County
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...
, where it had a resort at Wall Township
Wall Township, New Jersey
Wall Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 26,164.Wall Township was formally incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1851...
's Camp Evans
Camp Evans
Camp Evans, New Jersey is a former military base associated with Fort Monmouth. It is located in Wall Township, although it is often said to be located in Belmar . The property overlooks the Shark River.Camp Evans is named after Lt. Col...
.
History
The first appearance of the KKK in New Jersey was in 1921, where it had crossed over from New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Arthur Hornbui Bell was the state's first Grand Dragon, and continued serving in that post until the Ku Klux Klan was disbanded in 1944.
In 1922 George W. Apgar was the King Kleagle just outside Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
.
In 1923, the Klan provided funding to the Pillar of Fire Church
Pillar of Fire Church
The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915...
to found Alma White College
Alma White College
Alma White College was a Bible college in Zarephath, New Jersey from 1921 to 1978. It was an institution of the Pillar of Fire Church.-History:...
in Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
. It became "the second institution in the north avowedly run by the Ku Klux Klan to further its aims and principles." Alma White said that the Klan philosophy "will sweep through the intellectual student classes as through the masses of the people." At that time, the Pillar of Fire was publishing the pro-KKK monthly periodical The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen
The Good Citizen was a sixteen-page monthly political periodical edited by Bishop Alma White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. The Good Citizen was published from 1913 until 1933 by the Pillar of Fire Church at their headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States...
.
On May 3, 1923, around 12,000 people attended a Klan meeting in Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the United States 2010 Census, the population was 10,402.Bound Brook was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1869, within portions of Bridgewater Township...
. The speakers then held a meeting at the Pillar of Fire headquarters in nearby Zarephath
Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
where a crowd of angry locals surrounded the church to let them to know they were not welcome.
On May 10, 1923 the Klan assaulted a boy, accusing him of stealing $50 from his mother, Bessie Titus, in West Belmar, New Jersey
West Belmar, New Jersey
West Belmar is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Wall Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP population was 2,493.-Geography:West Belmar is located at ....
.
In 1925 Alma White published The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy
The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy
The Ku Klux Klan In Prophecy is a 144 page book written by Bishop Alma Bridwell White in 1925 and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. In the book she uses scripture to rationalize that the Klan is sanctioned by God "through divine illumination and prophetic vision". She also believed that the...
in Zarephath
Zarephath, New Jersey
Zarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio...
at the Pillar of Fire Church
Pillar of Fire Church
The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915...
printing press. She writes: "The unrepentant Hebrew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
is everywhere among us today as the strong ally of Roman Catholicism. ... To think of our Hebrew friends with their millions in gold and silver aiding the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
in his aspirations for world supremacy, is almost beyond the grasp of ... The Jews in New York City openly boast that they have the money and Rome the power, and that if they decide to rule the city and state, ..."
In 1926, Arthur Hornbui Bell headed a group that converted Wall Township
Wall Township, New Jersey
Wall Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 26,164.Wall Township was formally incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1851...
's Camp Evans
Camp Evans
Camp Evans, New Jersey is a former military base associated with Fort Monmouth. It is located in Wall Township, although it is often said to be located in Belmar . The property overlooks the Shark River.Camp Evans is named after Lt. Col...
into a Klan resort. The property was formerly known as Marconi Station
Marconi Station
The Marconi Wireless Corporation operated numerous pioneering radio stations in Canada, Ireland, Newfoundland, the United States, the United Kingdom and a number of other locations around the world.-Australia:...
. The 396 acres (1.6 km²) resort was only open to officials and members of the New Jersey Realm of the Klan.
In 1926 Alma White published Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty was a book published by the Pillar of Fire Church in 1926 by Bishop Alma Bridwell White and illustrated by Reverend Branford Clarke. She claims that the founding fathers of the United States were members of the Ku Klux Klan, and that Paul Revere made his legendary...
. She writes: "I believe in white supremacy
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
."
In 1928 Alma White published Heroes of the Fiery Cross
Heroes of the Fiery Cross
Heroes of the Fiery Cross is a book published in 1928 by Protestant Bishop Alma Bridwell White in which she "sounds the alarm about imagined threats to Protestant Americans from Catholics and Jews." In the book she asks rhetorically "Who are the enemies of the Klan? They are the bootleggers,...
. She writes: "The Jews are as unrelenting now as they were two thousand years ago."
In 1940, James A. Colescott had Bell removed as head of the Klan of New Jersey. Bell was also vice president of the German American Bund. The ouster was from a joint meeting arranged by Bell between the Klan and the German American Bund at the Bund's Camp Nordlund
Camp Nordlund
Camp Nordlund was a resort owned by the German American Bund near Andover, New Jersey.-History:On August 18, 1940 Alton Milford Young and Arthur Hornbui Bell of the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey held a joint meeting with the German-American Bund at Camp Nordlund....
, near Andover, New Jersey
Andover, New Jersey
Andover is a Borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 606.Andover was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 25, 1904, from portions of Andover Township.-Geography:Andover is located at ...
.
In 1943 Alma White of the Pillar of Fire Church reprinted her pro-Klan essays and sermons as Guardians of Liberty
Guardians of Liberty
Guardians of Liberty is a three volume set of books published in 1943 by Bishop Alma Bridwell White, author of over 35 books and founder of the Pillar of Fire Church. Guardians of Liberty is primarily devoted to summarizing White’s vehement anti-Catholicism under the guise of patriotism...
.
By 1944 the national organization was closed by a tax lien
Tax lien
A tax lien is a lien imposed by law upon a property to secure the payment of taxes. A tax lien may be imposed for delinquent taxes owed on real property or personal property, or as a result of failure to pay income taxes or other taxes....
by the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
. Local chapters closed over the following years.
People
- Arthur Hornbui Bell was the Grand Dragon.
- Alma White was a local preacher that supported the Klan in her publications and sermons.
- Alton Milford Young, a minister and Grand Kaliff.
- George W. Apgar was the King Kleagle.
Klan-friendly churches
Several New Jersey churches welcomed the Klan:- Pillar of Fire ChurchPillar of Fire ChurchThe Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915...
in ZarephathZarephath, New JerseyZarephath is an unincorporated area of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It was the communal home to the Pillar of Fire Church, and was the worldwide headquarters of Pillar of Fire International and housed the church's college, Somerset Christian College, and radio... - Third Presbyterian Church in ElizabethElizabeth, New JerseyElizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
- Grace Methodist Church in KearnyKearny, New JerseyKearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
- First Baptist Church in BayonneBayonne, New JerseyBayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
- Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in PatersonPaterson, New JerseyPaterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
- Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in NewarkNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
- Colonial United Methodist Church in OxfordOxford, New JerseyOxford is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Oxford Township, in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 2,283 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oxford is located at ....