Lot 1045
ALTOONA KU KLUX KLAN "LILLY FUND" ARCHIVE
Historic archive of approx. 30 typed documents, all related to the legal defense fund established by the Pennsylvania Ku Klux Klan following the murder of three citizens of the town of Lilly during an anti-Klan demonstration on April 5, 1924. The documents originate from the files of John F. Marshall, "Kligrapp" (secretary) of the Altoona Klan, and primarily record donations collected from the Altoona "Klavern" and forwarded to the defense team of the Klansmen arrested following the riot. However, selected documents also contain pertinent and interesting details of the case. These include: typed letters from Sam D. Rich, "King Kleagle" (head recruiter) of the Pennsylvania Klan, 1p. 4to., Pittsburgh, April 16, 1924, to "All Executive of Pennsylvania", in part: "... A hard fight will be waged in Cambria County against the Organization over the Lilly Affair, as foreigners predominate in the county and they do not want American Citizens to have their rights. They are holding twenty-six of our men in jail and trying to do everything to give them a raw deal. The best lawyers we could get are handling the case and we intend to fight to a finish. Our members did not violate the law but protected their own lives. The opposition has raised a hundred thousand dollars to protect members of the mob that caused the trouble, and we have to raise money to protect our interests. Ask every member to contribute fifty cents to be placed in a fund that will help pay all expenses and pay the men''s salaries who are in jail and making a sacrifice in the interest of American Principles. It will be a fight to the finish... [all sic]" Appended to this letter are several typed reports from Rich, listing donations received from various Pennsylvania municipalities. Also of interest is a retained copy of a typed letter, unsigned but most likely drafted by "Kligrapp" John F. Marshall, 1p. 4to., Altoona, June 10, 1924, to Percy Allen Rose an attorney defending the arrested Klansmen, in part: "... Kindly investigate the following story that was received here at this office to-day: Bill Crane or Craine, a resident of Lilly, is supposed to have stood within ten feet of a party who shot one of the first Klansmen on the night of April 5th 1924, it is also stated that Crane knows this party who fired that shot and that the party said in Crane''s presence that the man whom he shot was not the man who he wanted to get... [all sic]" Also present is a typed document of a subpoena, 1p. 4to., [n.p., n.d.], commanding that fifteen Altoona residents, witnesses of the Lilly affair, present themselves before the court at Ebensburg to give testimony. The balance of the archive consists of correspondence detailing the efforts of the Altoona Klan to locate the individuals listed in the above subpoena, as well as seven retained copy typed letters forward donations to Victor L. Baker, another defense attorney for the Klan, as well as several manuscript pages in Marshall''s hand, recording individual donations and tallying totals. The items show paper clip marks, folds, and some toning, else very good overall. On the evening of April 5, a group of around 400 Klansmen disembarked from special trains at the siding in Lilly, a town founded by Irish and German Catholics which boasted a strong United Mine Workers presence and a large population of Eastern European immigrants, who were largely employed as miners. After the town''s power had been cut by local Klan sympathizers, the Klansmen organized a march through the center of town, followed by a cross burning on the outskirts. While returning to their trains, however, the Klansmen were met by a counter-demonstration of local residents, who turned a fire hose on the robed marchers. In response, shots were fired indiscriminately into the crowd leaving three dead, including Philip Conrad, who had been manning the hose, and a Klan sympathizer who had helped build the crosses. A Lilly resident and a Klansman were charged with murder, while 28 additional Klansmen and 16 townspeople were arrested for rioting. All of the defendants were tried together, despite attempts by lawyers on both sides to separate the trials, and all were sentenced to two years for rioting.
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