Friends and Foes : Milwaukee Journal's and Sentinel's Changing Depictions of the Klan, 1920-1928

Abstract

The Ku Klux Klan of the early twentieth century became nationally recognized in large part due to media and political investigations. Though national recognition from newspapers is acknowledged and documented well in historical research, this phenomenon has not been analyzed in many specific locales. This research seeks to analyze the media's role in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Klan, and is contextualized by the greater Wisconsin and Indiana movements. The analysis identifies changing media depictions, from rather positive depictions of the fraternal order to predominantly negative portrayals, and notes potential causal factors for this change over time, including overarching national trends.