;

Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Hillary Zimmerman Breaks Her Leg at Ku Klux Klan Demontration, 1924

Imagine huge crowds gathering to participate in Ku Klux Klan demonstrations in rural areas of the Lykens Valley and beyond- and to observe out of curiosity what was going on and support neighbors and friends who were Klan members.  In the mid 1920s, crowd control and participant safety was not high on the list of […]

The Ku Klux Klan Funeral of Simon Nelson, Orwin, 1925

Previously on this blog, the death and funeral of Simon Nelson was described: Simon Peter Nelson was born on 23 October 1878, in Orwin, Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the son of John Nelson, an immigrant from Germany, and his wife, Rebecca [Heberling] Nelson, who was born in Pennsylvania.  He was a coal miner.  He […]

The Ku Klux Klan Funeral of Harry Lubold, Tower City, 1925

In August 1925, Harry Lubold was buried at Tower City, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in what was said to be “one of the largest and most spectacular funerals ever held in the valley.”  The funeral featured the Ku Klux Klan in full regalia. This post is a continuation of the reporting on hate groups that were […]

Ku Klux Klan Day at Elizabethville Attracts Huge Crowd, 1926

A report on the attendance of more than a thousand persons for the first Lykens Valley Ku Klux Klan Field Day appeared in the Lykens Standard in 1926. This post is a continuation of the reporting on hate groups that were active in the Lykens Valley area in the years following the Civil War.  It […]

Junior Ku Klux Klan Inaugurated at Lykens with Cross Burning, 1924

In mid-October 1924, Lykens residents were alerted by three blasts of the colliery horn to the igniting of a cross on the culm banks north of the town.  This, along with the flaming “J” alongside the cross indicated that a junior Ku Klux Klan had been formed at Lykens. This post is a continuation of […]