Remember that controversy a couple of years ago, when the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report talking about the increase in white-power movements in the military, a report that conservatives immediately demonized to the point where the SPLC eventually had to backtrack on its findings even though they were true? I do, because I encounter such radicalism among veterans all the time when scouring through our Ku Klux Klan archives.
The Klan's 1920s ranks were chockablock with World War I who were angry about…what, exactly? To each their own, but let's never forget that all Klan members signed pledges affirming the superiority of the white race, so that's something the ancestors of Edmund J. Finley and Tom J. Simmons have to answer for all these years later.
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Were they necessarily pioneers? Not that I can figure out. But Finley, Simmons and all the other gabacho WWI vets indirectly assisted in discrimination of their fellow soldiers. In Samuel Armour's 1921 history of Orange County, almost all of the Latino veterans listed in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder's official roster of OC WWI vets are missing (the only ones who seemed to pass muster were those with Anglo-sounding first names). Think gabacho vets raised a fuss about the exclusion? Is the Klan supportive of Aztlán?
“OC Pioneers Who Were Klan Members” is an award-winning series
examining Orange County's sordid Ku Klux Klan past. Tune in every Monday
around 5 p.m. for the latest entry exposing OC's city fathers who were Klan members!
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Previous entries:
Burton Y. Neal, Yorba Linda Pastor
Eugene Edmund French and Harry E. Byerrum, Huntington Beach Mayor and Fullerton Parks Superindentent with Parks Named After Them
Harvey A. Stryker, Famous Dentist
Walter Verne Whitson, Santa Ana Lumber Magnate
Joe H. Royer, Fullerton Oil Baron, Namesake of Street
Harry Ipsen and E.A. Long, Placentia Treasurer and Councilmember
Emil Carlson, Brea Mayor/Fire Chief, Namesake of Street
Jo Lowell, Santa Ana Rancher, Namesake of Street
A. Verd Napier and James E. Rymer, OC Newspapermen
Walter W. Davis, Health Officer for Brea
Lawrence A. Stevenson, Orange Councilmember
Roscoe Gulick Hewitt, Former Chairman of the OC Republican Party Central Committee
Oswald Richard Meissner, Brea Councilmember
Maurice Enderle, County Assessor
Stanley Edward Goode, Santa Ana Councilmember
Albert Ore, La Habra Pastor
Robert S. Elliott and Dorsey L. Ellis, Santa Ana and Fullerton Police Sergeants
Oliver N. Thornton and James Henry “Harry” Whitaker, Brea and Anaheim Postmasters
Earl L. Matthews, Santa Ana Automotive Electrician Pioneer
Harold S. Twombly, Fullerton Rancher/Black Sheep of Prominent Family
Elvin A. Ames and Osborne Garber, Fullerton and Santa Ana High School Teachers
George Bird and E.P. Rudy, Brea Constable and Marshal
Harry Winchell, Brea's First City Marshal
Charles E. Smith, Brea Justice of the Peace
Earl B. Tozier, Founder of Fullerton High School's Band
Dr. Charles V. Doty, Santa Ana Dentist
Orrin M. Thompson, Fullerton Councilmember
Albert O. Nelson, Placentia Constable
Earl G. Glenn, Santa Ana Postman/Record-Breaking Cyclist
Arnold F. Peek, Santa Ana Butcher
William A. Culp, Brea Schools Board of Trustees President
Harry E. Inskeep, Fullerton Justice of the Peace
Arthur E. Koepsel, Chair of the OC Republican Party Central Committee
Frederick Bastady, Buena Park Citrus Rancher/School Board Member
Charles C. Kinsler, Brea Fire Chief/Clerk/School Board Member/Pioneer
Alvin L. Hitchcock, Orange County Chief Deputy Clerk
George W. Cullen, Brea Schools Clerk
Walter S. Gregg, County Statistician/Aid Commissioner
Forrest Hurst and Ben Blanchard, Brea Councilmembers
Evrit S. Boice, La Habra's First Mayor
Morris W. Martenet, Jr., Anaheim Councilmember, Owner of Martenet Hardware
William F. Espolt, Jr., La Habra Banker/Citrus Grower
Perry Woodward, Deputy County Assessor, Failed Supervisorial Candidate
George Annin, Fullerton Police Officer, Councilmember
Harry E. Becker, Mayor of Brea
Francis Allen Kidder, Santa Ana Father and Son
Leslie C. Rogers, Santa Ana City Marshal
Earl Sechrist and Burton Young, Brea and Yorba Linda Ministers
Rollin Marsden and Roy Davis, Fullerton Councilmembers
William French, Fullerton's First Deputy Police Officer
Rudolph Kroener, Co-Owner of Former Gas Station that's Now Orange's Filling Station
William E. Fanning, Brea Schools Pioneer, Namesake of Fanning Elementary
Jesse L. Hunter, San Juan Capistrano Innkeeper, Owner of Mexican Restaurant
John A. Leuzinger, Brea Mayor, Founder of Brea Electric
Newton E. Wray, SanTana Rancher, Failed City Council Candidate
Samuel F. Hilgenfeld, Buena Park Minister, Founder of Anaheim's Hilgenfeld Mortuary
Elmer E. Heidt, OC's First Scout Executive for Orange County Boy Scouts Council
James W. Newell, Fullerton-area Miner/Mason
Garland C. Ross, Santa Ana dentist, batted against Walter Johnson
Ferris F. Kelley, San Juan Capistrano Postmaster
Clyde Fairbairn, Longtime Olive resident/nice guy
Charles McClure, Brea's first police chief
John F. Pieper, Tustin feed-store owner, councilmember
William Starbuck, Fullerton school trustee, druggist
Hoyt Corbit, Yorba Linda pioneer, fan of Richard Nixon
Lucien Proud, La Habra mayor/school trustee
Albert Hetebrink, Fullerton rancher
Henry W. Head, Orange County godfather
Dr. Roy S. Horton and Marshall Keeler, Santa Ana Unified trustees
Sam Jernigan and Jesse Elliott, Orange County sheriffs
Herman Hiltscher, Fullerton bureaucrat
