Unmasking the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Tillamook County, Oregon

Authors

David A. Horowitz, Portland State UniversityFollow

Format

PDF

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

10-25-2025

Subjects

Ku Klux Klan -- Oregon -- History, Tillamook (Or.) -- History -- 20th century, White supremacy movements -- United States -- History

Abstract

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arrived in Oregon in the early 1920s, during the history of the second Klan. The Klan quickly spread throughout the state, aided by a mostly white, Protestant population, as well as by racist and anti-immigrant sentiments which were already embedded in the region.

Much of the influence of KKK Tillamook Chapter No. 8 came between 1921 and 1928, when the lodge pursued an anti-Catholic agenda and supported Prohibition and law enforcement through its dominance of local government, the police, and the courts.

Ultimately, the struggles and decline of the Klan in Oregon coincided with the struggles and decline of the Klan in other states, and its activity faded in the 1930s.

Description

An address presented to the Nehalem Valley History Society.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44268

Citation Details

Horowitz, David A., "Unmasking the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Tillamook County, Oregon" (2025). History Faculty Publications and Presentations. 111.
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44268