Maine Memory Network

Notations on the album page where this photograph is found state, "The park where we watched the Houlton ball team beat I.F." and "The KKK at Island Falls July 12, 1924."

The Houlton Times of July 16, states: "The Orangemen's celebration which has been looked forward to with so much interest for several weeks was most successful in every way....There were the most Orangemen ever seen here in a parade, many different lodges being represented. The Orangemen were followed by about one hundred members of the Klu Klux Klan from different towns, and as they appeared in their white robes and masks they were greeted with much enthusiasm all along the line of march..... Two ball games were played between Island Falls and Houlton both were won by the latter team."

In this photo the Klan is seen marching across the ballfield.

An unidentified person used this hood along with an accompanying robe in Hollis in the 1920s, when the Ku Klux Klan was at its height of over 150,000 members, or 23 percent of the population in Maine. In addition to being racist, they were anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. Marches occurred throughout the state.

Deputy Carl Churchill found this hood and robe 20 feet up on a power pole in Hollis in 1965.

An unidentified person used this robe and hood in Hollis in the 1920s, when the Ku Klux Klan was at its height of over 150,000 members, or 23 percent of the population in Maine. In addition to being racist, they were anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. Marches occurred throughout the state.

The secret society mandated hoods and robes to hide the identity of members. Milton Charles Bennet of Bangor published sheet music for his song The Klansman's Rally Song where the chorus lines are:
"Crosses burn, our hearts all yearn with love each for his brother. All thru the night Our robes gleam white, For God, for country, and each other."

Deputy Carl Churchill found this robe and hood 20 feet up on a power pole in Hollis in 1965.

The Ku Klux Klan impacted Maine politics during 1923 when over 7,000 of their number rallied to change city government structure from having an elected mayor to hiring a city manager.

The Klan had a huge headquarters complex on Forest Avenue. The Klan's Maine director, F. Eugene "Doc" Farnsworth, spoke against Catholics, Jews and immigrants.

This is an Associated Press photo with accompanying text that reads in part, "Deputy Carl Churchill displays a Ku Klux Klan cape and hood he cut down from its perch 20 feet up a power pole."

Members of the Ku Klux Klan from various Maine communities--men, women, and children--gathered in Portland for a field day on August 28, 1926. The Portland Expo building is to the right rear.

The Klan was active in Maine in the 1920s as a secret fraternal society that sought to influence politics and promote its ideas of nativism and Americanism, which included opposition to Roman Catholics, Jews, Black people, and immigrants. Over 10,000 people attended a Klan initiation ceremony in August 1923 in Portland.

In 1920 almost 4,000 immigrants arrived in Maine from European countries. French Canadians were also coming to Maine in large numbers, seeking employment in the textile and lumber mills—few of them spoke English and many were Roman Catholics.

Klan-backed candidates were elected as mayors, state legislators, and members of school committees. In 1924 and 1926, Ralph O. Brewster was elected governor, the only elected Maine politician openly associated with the Klan.

Klan supporters in Portland bought an estate in 1923 and added a 4,000-seat auditorium and a 1,600-seat dining room. The auditorium burned in December 1924 and was not rebuilt.

Cover of the "Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan."

The first daylight Ku Klux Klan parade and the first Klan parade in New England took place in Milo on September 3, 1923.

Maine Ku Klux Klan King Kleagle F. Eugene Farnsworth (1868-1926) wrote the words and Milton Charles Bennett composed the music for "It's Your Land and My Land."

The sheet music, published in 1923, includes this dedication on the cover, "To the lovers of Law and Order, Peace and Justice, we send greeting' and to the shades of the valiant, venerated Dead, we gratefully and affectionately -- Dedicate this Song!"

The last line of the chorus is, "We'll fight to keep it our land, America the Free."

The Klan was active in Maine and much of the rest of the country in the 1920s. The focus of the activity in Maine was Roman Catholics and immigrants, although the small African-American population was sometimes targeted.

Milton Charles Bennett of 46 West St., Bangor, copyrighted "The Klansmen's Rally Song" in 1924.

Bennett wrote the words and music of the song. The opening lines are, "When the day hath fled And with dewy tread The night steals down the valley When the soft winds blow and the stars do glow Is the time when we Klansmen rally."

The Ku Klux Klan was active in Maine in the 1920s, protesting especially against Catholics and immigrants.