William Joseph Simmons

William Joseph Simmons (born May 6, 1880 in Harpersville , Alabama , † May 18, 1945 in Atlanta ) was the American founder of the second Ku Klux Klan .

Life

Simmons fought in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and falsely claimed to have studied medicine at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University . He became a traveling preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the southern states , but was dismissed in 1912 because of poor performance.

Inspired by the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation , Simmons built a second Ku Klux Klan after this racist secret society, founded in 1865, had been disbanded in 1871. Initially, this second clan was reserved for white Protestants. Simmons published a little book called Kloran that outlined the clan's beliefs. Fifteen members burned a cross at Stone Mountain and then declared the clan resurrected. Simmons himself became the new clan's first Grand Wizard and was nicknamed "Colonel".

To popularize the clan, he hired Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler to promote the slow-growing clan. The clan then grew to 115,000. With this rapid increase, however, there were also disputes within the clan and Simmons withdrew. He was succeeded in 1922 by Hiram Wesley Evans , a dentist from Alabama. He paid Simmons $ 145,000 to hand over the leadership of the clan to him. Simmons later founded a new piano under the name Hidden Hosts, Knights of the Flaming Sword , which, however, remained largely unsuccessful. The second clan he founded also disintegrated in 1944 after failing to pay a tax debt. Simmons himself died on May 18, 1945.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Walter C. Rucker, James N. Upton: Encyclopedia of American Race Riots . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, ISBN 978-0-313-33300-2 , pp. 352 .
^ The 20th Century Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. Alabama Department of Archives & History, accessed September 12, 2012 .
^ Ku Klux Klan - History. (No longer available online.) Anti-Defamation League , archived from the original on February 12, 2011 ; Retrieved September 12, 2012 .
^ Michael Newton: The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. A history . McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0-7864-4653-7 , pp. 75 .
↑ David Pietrusza: Epilogue - What Happened to the Men, Women and Institutions of David Pietrusza's 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents. Official website, accessed September 12, 2012 .

personal data
SURNAME	Simmons, William Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American founder of the second Ku Klux Klan
DATE OF BIRTH	May 6, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harpersville , Alabama , United States
DATE OF DEATH	May 18, 1945
Place of death	Atlanta , Georgia , United States

[Ency-1] A ^b Walter C. Rucker, James N. Upton: Encyclopedia of American Race Riots . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, ISBN 978-0-313-33300-2 , pp. 352 .

[2] The 20th Century Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. Alabama Department of Archives & History, accessed September 12, 2012 .

[3] Ku Klux Klan - History. (No longer available online.) Anti-Defamation League , archived from the original on February 12, 2011 ; Retrieved September 12, 2012 .

[4] Michael Newton: The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. A history . McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0-7864-4653-7 , pp. 75 .

[5] David Pietrusza: Epilogue - What Happened to the Men, Women and Institutions of David Pietrusza's 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents. Official website, accessed September 12, 2012 .