.5 cubic feet (in 1 box)
The materials are copies of trial testimony, sworn statements, correspondence, and other materials collected by Earl Young, Detroit’s City Attorney in the late 1930s.
6 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 13 card boxes)
The papers consists mostly of demographics and articles about the Michigan Klan, including chapters for Cal’s intended book; newspaper articles copied from microfilm and lists of the articles from Michigan and Klan newspapers; and membership information cards. The cards are disorganized and may contain census or local election information, marital status, type of employment, children, and address information. There is a nice variety of black and white and colored photographs and slides of Michigan Klan parades, meetings, a funeral, and the Chicora KKK quilt with members names embroidered on it. Also included are a sheeted figurine and Klan publications, including songbooks and copied articles about the Klan in Indiana and the U.S.
Most of the collection has been photocopied onto acid-free paper.
The collection is unique and valuable for the research of white supremacists in Michigan. It is particularly valuable for the study of average Michiganders, including men and women who joined the Klan up to 1924. There is substantial documentation of the activities of local Klans.
The problems leading to the failures of the 1924 attempt to elect a Detroit mayor and ban private schools are well documented, as are the financial problems and the high profile murders committed by Klan officials.
More Lewis D. Capen material may be found in the Ku Klux Klan (Mecosta County, Mich.) collection and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Millbrook Level Lodge No. 219 (Millbrook, Mich.) organizational records.
.5 cubic foot (in 1 box)
The collection includes the correspondence between Clarence and Lucy before they married, 1890-1896, and later correspondence with friends and relatives. Also included are Autograph Albums, Clarence’s Account Books, and records of the Dean Creek Threshing Company. The deeds in the collection do not name a Beardslee as a seller or owner. Miscellaneous materials include a program for a Detroit Provisional Imperial Klanvocational, June 30-July 9, 1923, with handwritten notes on speakers and officers, and the words to a Klan song based on the melody of “Michigan, My Michigan,” on the inside back cover.
.5 cubic ft. (in 2 boxes)
In 1926, Lewis D. Capen of Millbrook, Mecosta County, Michigan, became the Exalted Cyclops of the Mecosta Klan No. 28. He served in the leadership position, an equivalent to chapter president, until 1929 when he became Great Kaliff or Grand Titan, a leadership position over Province # 4, which included the Klans of Ionia and Mecosta counties, and the towns of Petoskey, East Jordan, Hart, Manistee, Portland, and Muskegon, Michigan. Besides his Klan activities, Capen, born in Milbrook, Michigan, in 1892, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Level Lodge 219 of Milbrook. Note: a large collection of these records is also available at the Clarke. Capen was also a veteran of World War I and postmaster of Milbrook. On October 14, 1935 he married Hilda Hill, a teacher.
Capen’s accumulated organizational correspondence, membership cards, publications, forms, and photographic materials constitute the bulk of this collection. The Klans of Mecosta, Osceola, and Shiawassee, as well as those in Province # 4, mostly in lists, and the Women of the Ku Klux Klan mostly in forms and publications, are documented in this collection.
The membership cards for the Mecosta Klan are photocopies. They are organized alphabetically by surname. Each card usually includes the member’s name, age, home county, city or township, and address. A few remarks and financial notes maybe included.
Used in conjunction with other Klan collections and newspapers at the Clarke, this collection provides an insider’s view of life in the Michigan Klan during the 1920s-1930s.
Approximately 2 cubic ft. (in 6 boxes)
The Newaygo County Ku Klux Klan membership cards include approximately 2,400 cards, 1923-1926. The cards document 1,200 members, each with two cards, one filed alphabetically, the other numerically. The original organization has been maintained as follows: Men Alphabetical, Men Numerical, Women Alphabetical, and Women Numerical. The alphabetical sets are filed by surname. The numerical sets are filed by an individual’s membership number. The men’s cards include foreign born members. Both men’s and women’s cards have some cards without numbers, apparently recording prospective members who never paid off their initiation fee. The unnumbered men’s cards include several envelopes and two form letters sent to determine the current status of prospective members.
The cards include the following information for each individual: name, age, address, marital status, telephone number, occupation, other organizational memberships, name of recommending member, dues payments, and automobile type. Cards of foreign born members also include church affiliation, place of birth, literacy in English, and citizenship status.
A photocopied set of the collection is available for research use. Additionally, the collection is available on one reel of positive microfilm Acc#40956, MF.Mss6.
