Letter from Women of the Ku Klux Klan to President Calvin Coolidge

The Government used the "Ku Klux Klan Act" of 1871 (also known as the Enforcement Act of 1871 or the Civil Rights Act of 1871) to fight the KKK’s campaign of violence and intimidation – effectively extinguishing the first-generation KKK. But a second wave began during World War I and flourished in the early to mid-1920s.

Feeding on the antiforeigner and nationalist sentiment of the war years, the KKK promoted itself as a “100% American” organization. It spread its membership and white-supremacist views across the country, exercised its First Amendment rights through publications and parades, and petitioned the Government.

The women in Alliance Klan #1 wrote this letter in favor of the Johnson Immigration Bill – known as the Immigration Act of 1924. The act set "quotas" for immigration. It limited the annual number of immigrants who could enter the United States from any country to 2 percent of the number of people from that country already living in the United States as recorded in the 1890 census.

Transcript

labor [written in pencil]

Women of the Ku Klux Klan [letterhead]
[In the center, underneath this wording is a shield with a Christian cross in the center. On top of this cross is a W. To the left and right of this cross is a K and a K. At the bottom of this cross is another K.]
[underneath the shield it says] Incorporated

[hand stamp] RESPECTFULLY REFERRED FOR CONSIDERATION C.B. Sleuiy Secy to the President]

Alliance, Ohio, May #5, 1924.

[hand stamp of a clock, triangle inside the hand stamp points to the 9:00 hour, below the triangle it says:] MAY 20 SECRETARIES OFFICE

President Calvin Coolidge,
Washington, D.C.

Honored Sir, -

We, the Women of the Ku Klux Klan of Alliance Ohio, do so heartily approve the Johnson Immigration Bill so overwhelmingly passed by House and Senate, and we earnestly request that you, the President, of this United States, give your support and affix your signature to this bill.

We shall ever be devoted to the sublime principals of a pure Americanism, and valiant in the defense of its' ideals and institutions.

It is our earnest desire to promote real patriotism toward our civil government, honorable peace among men and nations, and protection for and happiness in the homes of our people.

Sincerely,
Alliance Klan #1,
Women of the Ku Klux Klan.

[notarized seal of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan at the bottom left of the document]