SHSMO Center for Missouri Studies
605 Elm St.
Columbia, MO
Between 1915-1930, the Ku Klux Klan experienced a nationwide revival through the enrollment of millions of new members, including tens of thousands in Missouri. Though largely remembered for its violent opposition to African Americans during the Civil War and the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement, this second Ku Klux Klan also focused on immigration restrictions, Prohibition enforcement, and political activity, combined with racism and religious intolerance.
Author and SHSMO Assistant Director, Research, Sean Rost will talk about his new book, Catching Hell from All Quarters, the first state-wide study of the Ku Klux Klan in Missouri. Rost will focus on several notable figures who comprised an interracial, interdenominational, and bipartisan anti-Klan coalition whose opposition to the hooded order largely stymied the Klan’s efforts to wield substantial influence and political power in Missouri. This coalition challenged the growth, recruitment, and political ambitions of the Invisible Empire during the 1920s and 1930s through editorial crusades, educational campaigns, public pressure on elected officials, political investigations, and in some cases counter-vigilantism.
About the Presenter: Sean Rost, Assistant Director, Research at the State Historical Society of Missouri, earned his PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia and specializes in 20th century U.S. and Missouri history. He also holds a master's degree in history from Lincoln University and a bachelor's degree in history education from William Woods University. Prior to joining the State Historical Society of Missouri as an Oral Historian, he taught at Columbia College-Jefferson City, William Woods University, Westminster College, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.