Whether you remember George Santayana’s quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” or Winston Churchill’s later misquote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The point remains the same, you do not need to like what happened, but you owe it to the future to remember the good and the bad. This story is about the bad.

In the 1850s, the community of Byron had a secret. The Lucius Reed home was part of the “Underground Railroad” – slaves seeking freedom had friends in Ogle County. Rochelle joined the rest of the county in the early 1860s, sending men to fight in the Civil War against slavery and man’s inhumanity toward man. Cemeteries across the county hold the remains of those who were willing to give their lives so others could enjoy freedom.

In the 1920s, something changed. The end of World War I saw more than 200,000 Black men return from combat overseas. These men had fought for their country and expected to be treated as equals when they returned. Much of Europe had been destroyed during the war, Ireland still had not recovered from the “Potato Famine.” Many felt the United States of America offered more opportunity. The Great Migration, which started in 1910, had flooded the United States with foreign people and foreign ideas. Prohibition was the law of the land, which led to a quick rise in illegal bootlegging and organized crime. Fear and confusion opened the door for a new way of thinking. The Klan was eager to help define that change.

“I did not sell the Klan on hatred. I sold it on Americanism. These people knew what they signed up for. That oath could not have been more specific about the absolute superiority of one race and one religion, and the inferiority of all others,” said Grand Dragon David Stephenson.

The first mention of the Ku Klux Klan in Ogle County appears in local newspapers around 1923: “In a field west of Mt. Morris, thousands of members of the Ku Klux Klan met for an induction ceremony. At dark, fireworks were displayed and an immense fiery cross was ignited and could be seen from miles away. A large number from Mt. Morris and surrounding towns took the pledge of membership.”

Byron, once home to the Underground Railroad, held a monster demonstration at the Burd Pine Grove located north of town. About 10 p.m. the group donned their robes and hoods and came to town. Two robed figures on horseback led a parade of 90 Klansmen on foot and 50 automobiles. The first car had a large cross with white lights and the second car had a large cross with red lights. Those on foot carried lit torches. All wore the robe and hood of the Klan.

“The Ku Klux Klan bears the same relationship to the Protestant churches of America as does the Knights of Columbus to the Roman Catholic church,” asserted Dr. C.C. Crawford in an address before a crowd that packed the tent at the closing session of the three-day Klantauqua held in Rochelle in 1924. “The first Klansmen were patriots, who disguised as Indian, boarded an English ship tied up in Boston harbor and dumped overboard a cargo of tea to secure American liberty.”

“The Klan, he said, “is essentially a law and order organization and opposed to evil in all forms. It fights the battle with ballots and not bullets.” The Klantauqua was a three-day event held at the “Prairie” located at 10th Street and Sixth Avenue.

The Ku Klux Klan sold itself as wholesome, family friendly, faith-based, and supportive of Midwestern values. There were many ready to join in the perceived defense of shared values. The identification of the “enemy” varied depending on locale. Ogle County in the 1920s had very few people of color so Blacks, Jews and Catholics were chosen. In the southwestern states Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, and Catholics posed the threat. On the West Coast, Blacks, Jews, Asians, and Catholics must be stopped. The enemies to democracy could be varied to suit the prejudices of the specific community.

Frank Carney moved to Rochelle in 1906. Frank was a partner in the firm of Carney & Longenecker Clothing Store. Frank served as a state director of the National Retail Clothiers Association. He was a member of the Rochelle Business Men’s Club, the Chamber of Commerce, president of the National Bank of Rochelle, and a charter member of the Rotary Club. Mr. Carney at one time served as Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus. Frank Carney also had the sad distinction of having the Ku Klux Klan burn a cross in his yard.

When he was 9 years old, Rochelle resident Saul Druker remembered a Ku Klux Klan parade through Rochelle. The parade had 4,000 to 5,000 marchers in full Klan robe and hood. A 15-foot-tall lighted cross filled the intersection in front of the Bain building. As Saul Druker, a local Jewish boy, recalled, “Us kids threw stuff at them and ran.”

By 1928, the Klan in Ogle County was disappearing; the wheel of time moved on. In 1952, Vince Carney (son of Frank), was selected Man of the Year for the community. Elzie Cooper became the first Black man to become Man of the Year in 1964. Had Rochelle completely changed? Such is not the way of the world. There have always been good people and there have always been bad people, and there will always be.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Let us remember what has been, not with shame but with an eye toward making the future better.

Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.