William Joseph Simmons (May 7, 1880 – May 18, 1945) was an American preacher and fraternal organizer who founded and led the second
Ku Klux Klan from
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
evening 1915 until being replaced in 1922 by
Hiram Wesley Evans.
Early life
Simmons was born in
Harpersville, Alabama, to Calvin Henry Simmons, a physician, and his wife Lavonia Simmons née Davis, daughter of Thomas C. Davis. In his younger years, he attempted to study medicine at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, but unable to afford it, opted to serve in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cloc ...
instead. After receiving an honorable discharge, he became a teacher for the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South but was suspended by the church in 1912 for inefficiency.
Simmons later joined two churches and twelve different
fraternal organizations, which flourished in the early twentieth century. He was known as "Joe", "Doc" (in reference to his medical training) or "Colonel" (referring to his rank in the
Woodmen of the World
WoodmenLife (officially Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society) is a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society founded in 1890, based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members.
...
).
Ku Klux Klan
While recovering in 1915 after being hit by a car, Simmons decided to rebuild the Klan which he had seen depicted in the newly released film ''
The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...
'' directed by
D. W. Griffith. He obtained a copy of the
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
Klan's "Prescript" and used it to write his own prospectus for a reincarnation of the organization.
As the nucleus of his revived Klan, Simmons organized a group of friends, in addition to two elderly men who had been members of the original Klan. On Thanksgiving eve, November 25, 1915, they climbed
Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...
to burn a cross and inaugurate the new group, with fifteen
charter member
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
s.
Simmons' later account of the founding included a dramatic story of "a temperature far below freezing", although weather records showed that the temperature had never fallen below 45 °F (7 °C) that night on
Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...
. He declared himself the
Imperial Wizard of the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
The imagery of the
burning cross
In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to i ...
, which had not been used by the original Klan, had been introduced by Griffith in ''Birth of a Nation''. The film had derived the image from the works of
Thomas Dixon, Jr., upon which the film was based. Dixon had been inspired by the historical practices of
Scottish clans
A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recogni ...
, who had burned crosses as a method of signaling from one hilltop to the next. The image also occurs in ''
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
'' (1810), a long poem by
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
. The signature white robes of this new Klan also likely come from Dixon via ''Birth of a Nation''.
In the first years of the new Klan, a few thousand members enrolled, although many more later pledged
allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign.
Etymology
From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...
, particularly in industrial cities of the Midwest. Initially portraying itself as another fraternal organization, the group was opposed to the new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe—who were mostly
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Roman Catholics—and anybody else who was not a native-born
Anglo-Saxon or Celtic Protestant.
While leading the Klan, Simmons was a "professor of southern history" at the short-lived
Lanier University in Atlanta.
Simmons toured with
Roy Elonzo Davis during the 1920s during klan rallies; Davis claimed to be second in command of the Klan under Davis.
After Simmons was ousted as KKK leader by
Hiram W. Evans in 1923, he and Davis worked together to start a new white supremacist organization called Knights of the Flaming Sword, where Simmons resumed his role as Imperial Wizard. Davis, as a high ranking Klan leader, played a key role in encouraging members to abandoned Evans and remain loyal to Simmons in their new order. Traveling across the south, Davis successfully retained the loyalty of at least 60,000 Klan recruits and had secured over $150,000 ($2.3 million in 2021 dollars)
Later life and death
When the ''
New York World
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...
'' exposed violent affairs conducted by the Ku Klux Klan, Simmons was called to testify in front of the
U.S. House Committee on Rules. Hearings began in October 1921 and lasted for over a week. Simmons distanced himself from the events and stressed the Klan's fraternal nature. Congressional hearings ended with no direct consequences for the Klan, although Simmons lost his influence.
Having increased his own network of influence,
Hiram Wesley Evans succeeded Simmons in the position of the Imperial Wizard in November 1922. Simmons was at the same time elected Emperor for life.
The Klan started to decline after a peak of membership and influence in 1925, particularly because of the scandal in which
D.C. Stephenson, one of its top leaders, was convicted of raping, kidnapping and murdering
Madge Oberholtzer.
Simmons died in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
on May 18, 1945.
Publications
*''The Ku Klux Klan'' (1917)
*''ABC of the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan'' (1920)
*
The Klan Unmasked' Atlanta, Ga., Wm. E. Thompson Pub. Co. 1923
*''America's menace; Or, The Enemy Within (An Epitome)'' (1926)
*''The Ku Klux Klan: Yesterday, Today and Forever'' (1930s)
References
External links
*
*Commemorative postcard with portrait of Col. W. J. Simmons,
Imperial Palace, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Atlanta, GA Social Welfare History Image Portal, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, William Joseph
1880 births
1945 deaths
People from Shelby County, Alabama
Methodists from Alabama
Leaders of the Ku Klux Klan
American people of the Spanish–American War
People from Atlanta
Christian radicals
20th-century American writers
Southern Methodists
20th-century Methodists
19th-century Methodists
Stone Mountain
Ku Klux Klan in Georgia (U.S. state)