Minnesota Prairie Roots

NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED in 100 years. That summarizes my thoughts after attending a talk, “Minnesota’s Hooded History—The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Minnesota,” followed by a Q & A Thursday evening at my local library. Hate groups still exist in America, just with different names, different targets, different locations, different levels of participation.

But the core ideology of these groups, based on what I heard and what I’ve read, remains unchanged. The same in 1925 as in 2025. Historian and retired librarian Nancy Vaillancourt could have been talking about current day America when she shared her research into the KKK in Minnesota. The KKK professed a strong Christian faith, patriotism, Americanism, American ideals and more as they targeted first Blacks, then Catholics, Jews and others, including immigrants. Sound familiar? Today this hatred and intolerance is coming not only from organized hate groups, but also from individuals and from people in positions of power.

Back to Vaillancourt’s presentation Thursday evening. About 100 attendees packed the Great Hall meeting room at Buckham Memorial Library to capacity in a city which hosted Minnesota’s first state Klan convention in August 1924. Klan members from 69 cities and towns attended the event at the Rice County Fairgrounds in Faribault with the KKK claiming 2,500 in attendance. A publication noted fewer than half that number actually attended. Inflated crowd numbers. Sound familiar?

Certainly, hosting a state KKK convention is not a proud moment in a city’s history. But it is history none-the-less and important to know. We cannot deny our past, even if hurtful and painful and awful. And Vaillancourt revealed plenty of hurt and hate as she presented, focusing on the KKK in my region of southern Minnesota. She confirmed the presence of Klan chapters in nearly 60 Minnesota counties at one time. Groups of men, women and sometimes children who, in their hooded coverings, spewed hatred and intolerance while waving American flags and singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”

Cross burnings occurred in Faribault, (including on the bluffs below St. Mary’s Hall), Stockton, Red Wing, Winona and other locations cited not only by Vaillancourt, but by audience members. Like Teresa, whose husband’s grandmother had a cross burned in her yard near Waterford (outside Northfield) because she was Catholic. Klan hatred toward Catholics was particularly strong in 1920s Minnesota.

A Catholic mother, who had just given birth, watched as the KKK paraded past the Owatonna hospital while en route from the Steele County Fairgrounds to Central Park during the state Klan convention in 1926. Can you imagine the fear she felt? Not unlike the fear targeted groups of people are experiencing today in this country.

Because Vaillancourt is from Owatonna, much of her talk focused on that community just south of Faribault along Interstate 35. Owatonna, it seems, was a hotbed of Klan activity, hosting local and state gatherings. But the fact that stood out for me was the Klan’s purchase of 20 acres of land east of downtown Owatonna. That land became Klan Park, a place to gather, organize and socialize. The local chapter even constructed a meeting house there. While it is disheartening to hear this, it was uplifting to learn that the land was sold in 1945—to a man whose wife was Catholic. Attendee Bonnie shared that bit of information about her great uncle, who was invited to join the Klan, declined because of his wife’s Catholicism and then eventually bought the land. Today that former KKK park is the site of soccer practice fields, Vaillancourt noted, where a diverse group of youth play.

Vaillancourt covered a whole lot more in her presentation. Like how the Klan recruited from fraternal orders, Protestant churches, via fiery speeches, by invitation. Fear and social and economic pressure were used to draw people into the Klan. Sound familiar? In Virginia, in northern Minnesota, the entire school board claimed Klan membership and made Bible reading in school compulsory. The mayor of St. James was a major grand dragon of the KKK. The Northfield Klan hosted a KKK homecoming Labor Day parade in September 1926. The Klan was big on parades. That makes sense given the intimidation and fear a mass of hooded marchers can instill in the public. And Owatonna residents were afraid, Vaillancourt said.

Yet, there were individuals—like Bonnie’s great uncle—organizations and media who resisted and challenged the Klan. The NAACP, the National Vigilance Association, the Knights of Columbus… Vaillancourt specifically noted the Catholic-based KC group for effectively exposing Klan members in a community.

This gives me hope, when I hear of media, individuals and organizations that stood up and refused to accept hatred and intolerance. It gives me hope, too, when members of my community turn out in strong numbers to learn about “Minnesota’s Hooded History.” Knowledge is powerful. It gives me hope, too, when someone like Nancy Vaillancourt cares, researches and shares because, she says, she wants “to get the truth out.” Even while some still deny it.

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FYI: To learn more about the Ku Klux Klan and about other hate groups in America, visit the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A photo gallery exhibit, “Testify—Americana Slavery to Today, The Diane and Alan Page Collection,” will be displayed in the hallway connecting Buckham Memorial Library and the Faribault Community Center from April 1-23. The exhibit will also be at other libraries throughout the Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) system.

The “Minnesota’s Hooded History” program was made possible with support from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy Fund and SELCO.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling