‘She did what no one else could do:’ Author credits Indy woman for downfall of the KKK

    INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- The author of a book shining a light on the Ku Klux Klan’s history in the Hoosier State spoke Thursday at the Madame Walker Legacy Center. He told the story of the hate group at its height and the Indiana woman some say helped stop them 100 years ago.

“All these institutions failed to bring down this terror group, one woman on her deathbed who did what no one else could do,” said journalist and author Timothy Egan.

His latest book is a New York Times Best Seller. A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them shares the story of Madge Oberholtzer.

Oberholtzer is a Butler University grad grew up in the Irvington neighborhood.

She spoke out against the KKK’s leader in the 1920s.

“She was a state literacy worker, and her job was on the chopping block. She was going to be cut. The only way to save her job was to go to this Klansman, DC Stephenson. Well, he attacked her sexually and ultimately left her to die,” Egan told WRTV.

Right before her death, Oberholtzer testified about the brutal attack, that would later lead to the conviction of Stephenson.

It came during a time when Egan says he held a lot of power in Indiana.

“The Klan owned the state. They had a Klan governor. They had Klan legislator,” he said.

"He became the recruiter for seven states, including Indiana. Indiana had the highest percentage of Klansmen in any state,” added Eunice Trotter, the director of Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation program.

Trotter told WRTV that during the 1920s, it was like the tale of two cities.

Indianapolis saw thousands of African Americans migrate to the Hoosier state, start businesses and churches, and thrive.

However, it was also a time of a lot of hate, with the Klan shaping rules that prevented Black people from living in certain neighborhoods or even going to them after dark labeling some cities as "Sundown town.

“This was a period of lynching, even in Indiana,” Trotter explained. “For African Americans who strayed out of boundaries, so to speak. It was not a good time at all."

“They had expanded in the 20s, which was their peak, from hatred of blacks, which is how they got their start, to hatred of Jews, hatred of Catholics, hatred of immigrants,” Egan added.

For the Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author, he says sharing his book is about shining a light on the painful part of Hoosier history and the woman who helped change it.

“Native Hoosiers, say they never were taught this in school. And yet, it was a huge, huge episode in American history,” Egan said, “I'm so grateful I'm here because I thought this would be a hard story for Indiana to embrace, but they have embraced it."

Egan’s speech Thursday night was a part of the 46th annual Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture, organized by the Indianapolis Public Library.

The Irvington Development Organization is also planning to unveil a mural in April in the neighborhood to honor Oberholtzer.

The library is also organizing events throughout the year to mark 100 years since the trial of Klansman D.C. Stephenson.