A Return to Normalcy
A Return to Normalcy:
Understanding National Identity in a Time of Great Change
Nearly 25 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1924 consisting primarily of Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes. More than 2 million eastern Europeans, mainly Catholics and Jews, immigrated between 1880 and 1924, with East Coast cities becoming home to large Jewish, Irish, and Italian populations. By 1920, the United States’ population of foreign-born residents comprised 13% of its total population.
In New Jersey alone, the population of foreign-born residents made up 23% of the state’s population, and by 1920 60% were either immigrant or the children of immigrants. The rapid shift in demographics did not go unnoticed by native-born residents, resulting in fierce public debate, new legislation, and, in some cases, violence.
The Second Ku Klux Klan
The first Ku Klux Klan formed in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War; however, by the 1900s, increased law enforcement over vigilantism greatly diminished its activities. Fed by growing nativism and anxiety over the nature of America’s identity, the Klan remerged in Georgia in 1915; and by the early 1920s, it achieved a powerful presence across the country.
The second Klan sought to preserve status for established citizens, particularly that of white, native-born, Protestant Americans. The Klan targeted African-Americans, immigrants, Jews, and Catholics with racist and xenophobic rhetoric and ideology.
In New Jersey, recruiting occurred in secret, at fraternal organization, and at church. In Morris County, Reverend George T. Lemmon made the Klan the topic of his Federated Church of Chester sermon, “The Ku Klux Klan, Is There Any Place For it in American Political Life?” This was the second sermon in Rev. Lemmon’s series on the “Problems of Citizenship”, in which he took a favorable stance towards the Klan and invited them to gather at the church on June 20, 1926.
In spite of numerous public meetings and several reported cross burnings around Morris County, the Klan had a hard time gaining traction in many parts of New Jersey, especially Morristown, compared to other areas of the nation. This was mainly due to the large percentage of foreign-born and Black residents that made up the population.
