D.C. Stephenson Trial: 1925 - "i Am The Law In Indiana", In A Pullman-car Drawing Room, A Secondary Staphylococci Infection
klan earl klinck gentry
Defendants: Earl Gentry, Earl Klinck, and David Curtis Stephenson
Crime Charged: Murder
Chief Defense Lawyers: Floyd Christian, Ira W. Holmes, and "Eph" Inman
Chief Prosecutors: Charles E. Cox, Ralph Kane, William H. Remy
Judge: Will M. Sparks
Place: Noblesville, Indiana
Dates of Trial: October 28-November 14, 1925
Verdicts: Stephenson: guilty; Gentry and Klinck: not guilty
Sentence: Life imprisonment
SIGNIFICANCE: Specific events often make or break entire movements. The D.C. Stephenson case was such an event. The defendant had been Grand Dragon—and the most influential Northern leader—of the notorious Ku Klux Klan, dedicated to hatred and racial and religious intolerance. The trial and conviction of Stephenson, calling America's attention to the sinister hypocrisy of the organization, marked the high tide of Klan membership, which dropped within three years from 10 million to a few thousand. The case also established that a defendant who committed a criminal assault that caused the victim to commit suicide could be tried on murder charges.
David Curtis Stephenson was a Texan who settled in Indiana in 1920 when he was 29. There he joined the Ku Klux Klan, a fraternal organization that had been created during Reconstruction in the South to "maintain white supremacy." Expanding nationally after World War I, the Klan had broadened its program to include nativism, anti-Catholicism, and anti-Semitism. It grew rapidly in the North.
Stephenson worked tirelessly to expand the Klan in Indiana, recruiting more than 300,000 fanatics in less than two years and becoming Grand Dragon of the Realm of Indiana. Next, under contract from the Klan, he became supreme organizer in 19 other states, was paid $4 out of every $10 initiation fee, and pocketed $4.25 from every $6 robe and hood a Klansman bought.
User Comments
over 9 years ago
Theresa Stevenson (granddaughter) of D.C. was a friend of my sister in High School. Theresa told my sister and I about her grandfather being The Grand Dragon. It is for this reason, that Theresa's family changed the spelling of their name. (So they would not be associated with her grandfather). On "Across Indiana" the reporters stated that there is no longer a problem with The KKK in Indiana. Of course, that is not true! Indiana is The Number 1 KKK State to this day. Somebody needs to do a true story on The KKK in Indiana because us Blacks need help!
about 8 years ago
nice ending sentence, us blacks need help , you have all the damn help in the world , give the white world a break, and yes your right they should do a true story cause its still here and still alive very well
GD David Webster
CNKKKK
Kokomo
over 7 years ago
bob
monkey nuts are tasty
almost 8 years ago
i love the kkk i completly agree with them 100%