Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan

by Richard Bowers

  Stetson Kennedy’s penchant for publicity was a hallmark of his career. During press conferences he would regale reporters with his Klan-busting exploits while dressed in a classic KKK robe and hood. In another high profile stunt, he was escorted off the grounds of the U.S. Capitol by police for seeking to visit a congressional committee—in full KKK regalia. Through it all Kennedy seemed to relish the role of rabble-rouser and continued to stir up controversy over social issues well into his 90s.

  In 2005 authors Stephen Dubner and Steven D. Levitt included a favorable account of Kennedy’s Klan-busting capers in their book Freakonomics. They based their story on Kennedy’s The Klan Unmasked so they followed Kennedy’s lead in giving him full credit for what was really a group effort. They also further spread the myth of the code words in the Superman radio show. After the book’s publication a researcher and onetime Kennedy collaborator charged that Dubner and Levitt had grossly exaggerated events in their book and that Kennedy had taken credit for undercover work performed by infiltrator John Brown. Dubner and Levitt recanted much of their praise for Kennedy and wrote in the New York Times Magazine that they had been hoodwinked.

  My account of Kennedy’s role throughout this book is based on the ADL and ANL files, as well as newspaper articles from the period. It is my belief that Kennedy—while prone to exaggeration—did get very close to the KKK and worked tirelessly to expose its secrets. In addition to The Klan Unmasked and Southern Exposure, Kennedy’s books include Palmetto Country, Jim Crow Guide: The Way It Was, and Grits and Grunts: Folkloric Key West. He is a founding member and past president of the Florida Folklore Society and a recipient of the 1998 Florida Folk Heritage Award and the Florida Governor’s Heartland Award.

  THE KU KLUX KLAN splintered into a number of competing white-supremacist organizations. While the KKK would not revive as a national organization, its various splinter groups did rise up to impose a rein of terror on civil rights advocates during the 1950s and 1960s. In the South, KKK groups used physical violence and assassination as weapons and burned crosses to intimidate opponents. Investigators traced the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi, to the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a particularly vicious offshoot. Following those infamous murders, the FBI launched a crackdown on the Klan and drove its various units further underground. KKK units—while smaller and more splintered than in the past—continue to operate to this day. In fact, the Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static, has stubbornly revived itself. Exploiting hot-button issues like gay marriage and urban crime, it uses the Internet to recruit followers.

  * BIBLIOGRAPHY *

  SUPERMAN SOURCES

  Ames, Dorothy D. “National Jewish Monthly.” Vol. 61 (January 1947), 162–163.

  Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Picador, 2000.

  Child Study Association of America Papers, box 220, folder 240. Josette Frank files, box 24, folder 236. Elmer L. Andersen Library, Social Welfare History Archives, Minneapolis.

  Daniels, Les. Superman: The Complete History; The Life and Times of the Man of Steel. Chronicle Books, 1998.

  ——— Wonder Woman: The Complete History; The Life and Times of the Amazon Princess. Chronicle Books, 2004.

  Fine, Herbert. “The Reign of the Super-Man.” Science Fiction, #3 (January 1933).

  Gregory, Dick. “And I Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie.” Ebony, August 1971, 149-151.

  Hajdu, David. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.

  “The Hate Mongers Organization.” Audio recording. Available online at www.archive.org/details/Superman_page09.

  Hayde, Michael J. Flights of Fantasy: The Unauthorized but True Story of Radio and TV’s Adventures of Superman. BearManor Media, 2009.

  Institute for Education by Radio and Television. “Education on the Air Yearbook,” conference transcript. Ohio State University, 1947.

  “It’s Superfight.” Newsweek (April 29, 1946).

  Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book. Basic Books, 2004.

  “Kennedy Named Consultant for Famed Radio Series.” Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith Bulletin, Vol. IX, No. 3 (March 1947).

  Klein, Judith. “Addition of Social Conscience Swells Child Serial Popularity: Superman and Others Fight Undemocratic Forces; Psychologist Urges More Realism but Praises Progressiveness.” New York Herald-Tribune (July 16, 1946).

  “New Deal Achievements.” American Heritage Center. Available online at www.fdheritage.org/new_deal.htm.

  Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. Knopf, 2008.

  Peck, Seymore. “Heard and Overheard, A Down-to-Earth Superman.” PM (May 15, 1946).

  Siegel, Jerry, and Joe Shuster. “How Superman Would End the War.” Look (February 27, 1940).

  ———. Action Comics, No. 1 (June 1938).

  ———. Action Comics, No. 3 (August 1938).

  ———. Action Comics, No. 7 (December 1938).

  ———. Action Comics, No. 23 (April 1940).

  “Superman’s Dilemma.” Time (April 13, 1942). Available online at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766523,00.html.

  “Superman Homepage.” Younis, Steven, ed. June 28, 2011. Available online at www.supermanhomepage.com.

  Superman: The Movie. Dir. Richard Donner. Alexander Salkind, 1978. Film.

  Van Horne, Harriet. “Superman’s Message Is for Grownups, Too.” World Telegram (September 10, 1946).

  Wade, Wyn Craig. The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America. Oxford University Press, 1998.

  Weinstein, Simcha. Up, Up, and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero. Leviathan Press, 2006.

  Whiteside, Thomas. “Up and Awa-a-y.” The New Republic (March 3, 1947).

  Wise, Stephen Samuel. No Jews Need Apply. Bloch Publishing, 1917.

  Wylie, Philip. Gladiator. Knopf, 1930.

  KU KLUX KLAN SOURCES

  The American. Crowel-Collier Publishing, 1944. Vol. 137.

  Buhite, Russel D., and David W. Levy, FDR’s Fireside Chats. University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.

  Bulger, Peggy. Stetson Kennedy: Applied Folklore and Cultural Advocacy. University of Pennsylvania, 1992.

  “Calvin: Minds in the Making, Archive of Nazi Propaganda.” Das schwarze Korps (April 25, 1940), 8. Available online at www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/superman.htm.

  Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke University Press, 1987.

  “Clan of the Fiery Cross.” Audio recording. Available online at www.archive.org/details/Superman_page09.

  Davis, Susan Lawrence. Authentic History: Ku Klux Klan 1865–1877. American Library Service, 1924.

  Deutsch, Albert. “Southern Liberals Gather Strength in Fight Against Hate Groups.” PM (October 16, 1946).

  “The Golden Era of Indiana 1900–1930.” Center for History. Available online at www.centerforhistory.org.

  Golden, Reuel. New York: Portrait of a City. Taschen, 2010.

  Kennedy, Stetson. American Memory Project: Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937 to 1942. Library of Congress. Available online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/florida/ffpres01.html.

  ———. Interview with John Egerton. May 11, 1990. Documenting the American South. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). Interview No. A-0354. Available online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0354/menu.html.

  ———. The Klan Unmasked. Florida Atlantic University Press, 1954.

  ———. Southern Exposure. Florida Atlantic University Press, 1991.

  “Klan Sleuth Gives Superman Secrets of the Hooded Order.” Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith Bulletin, Vol. IX, No. 2 (February 1947).

  “National Affairs: The Better Element.” Time (June 14, 1948). Available online at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800286,00.htm.
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  “The New Jersey Hall of Shame.” Available online at www.njhallofshame.com/FrameSet.html.

  Nietzsche, Friedrich. “The Birth of Tragedy.” In Basic Writings of Nietzsche. Kaufmann, Walter, trans. Modern Library Edition, 2000.

  Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League Investigative Files, Columbia University Library, Rare Book and Manuscripts, New York, NY. Box 1519.

  Rice, Arnold S. The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics. Public Affairs Press, 1962.

  Risel, Victor. “KKK Activity Stirred by Anti-Religious Violence.” Labor News and Comment (January 14, 1944).

  Smith, Jean Edward. FDR. Random House, 2009.

  “Stetson Kennedy, Author of Book Exposing Klan Visits St. Petersburg.” St. Petersburg Times (January 22, 1948).

  Stetson Kennedy Papers. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York, NY.

  ———. New York Times website. Available online at http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/stetson1.pdf.

  Wall, Wendy L. Inventing the American Way: The Politics of Consensus from the New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement. Oxford Press, 2009.

  * SOURCES *

  Chapter 1

  this page, “No Jews need apply”: Wise, 1; this page, “100 percent Americanism”: Chalmers, 57.

  Chapter 2

  this page, “With a contemptuous sneer”: Fine, 1; this page, “The most astounding”: Daniels, 17.

  Chapter 3

  this page, “the only thing”: Smith, 278; this page, “a new deal”: Smith, 333; this page, “hazards and vicissitudes of life”: Wall, 37; this page, “to the average citizen”: “New Deal Achievements”; this page, “mere crumbs”: Ibid.; this page, “share the wealth”: “Ibid.; this page, “A few timid people”: Buhite, 333.

  Chapter 5

  this page, “A rather immature piece of work”: Daniels, Superman, 26; this page, “Superman!” “Champion”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 1, 1; this page, “As a distant planet”: Ibid.; this page, “a passing motorist”: Ibid.; this page, “including lifting a chair”: Ibid.; this page, “Nothing less than”: Ibid.; this page, “turn his titanic strength”: Ibid.; “The most astounding”: Daniels, 17; this page, “Evelyn Curry”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 1, 3; this page, “Gentlemen, I still”: Ibid., 4; this page, “with a sharp snap”: Ibid., 6; this page, “You’re going to”: Ibid., 6; this page, “see how”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 3, 7; this page, “people actually”: Ibid., 8; this page, “Knee deep”: Ibid., 11; this page, “safest mine”: Ibid., 11; this page, “And so begins”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 1, 13; this page, “Friend of the helpless”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 7, 1.

  Chapter 6

  this page, “One of the mounted Knights”: Kennedy, Klan Unmasked, 17; this page, “It happened early”: Kennedy, Stetson. Interview with John Egerton., 2; this page, “I’ve always felt like an alien”: Ibid., 3; this page, “I do believe”: Ibid., 6; this page, “As a matter of fact”: Ibid; this page, “a dollar down and a dollar a week”: Ibid., 3; this page, “Don’t ask me”: Ibid.; this page, “We traveled the backroads”: Kennedy, “American Memory Project”; this page, “a kid on a treasure”: Ibid.; this page, “Dear Lord, this is Eartha White”: Ibid.; this page, “Why don’t you”: Ibid.; “the onliest way”: Ibid.; this page, “melt the cultural glue”: Bulger, “Stetson Kennedy,” 201; this page, “The main idea”: Ibid., 189.

  Chapter 7

  this page, “kuklos”: Chalmers, 9; this page, “perverted”: Ibid., 19.

  Chapter 8

  this page, “ineffectiveness and moral failings”: Ibid., 29; this page, “fraternalist”: Ibid., 29; this page, “The Greatest Fraternal Organization”: bid., 30.

  Chapter 9

  this page, “Now let the”: Chalmers, 33; this page, “the poor, the romantic”: Rice, 15; this page, “a 100-percent knife”: Rice, 19; this page, “I am the law”: “The Golden Era of Indiana.”

  Chapter 10

  this page, “smooch”: Jones, 88; this page, “Hiya Superman”: Ibid., 159.

  Chapter 11

  this page, Sterling North quotes: Hajdu, 41; this page, “The principles of the Bund”: Chalmers, 323; this page, “Burn Hitler on your cross”: New Jersey Hall of Shame website.

  Chapter 12

  this page, “Faster than an airplane”: The Superman Homepage, 1932 to 1950, the radio program; this page, “blood and thunder”: Hayde, 82; this page, “Pep, the sunshine cereal”: The Superman Homepage; this page, “Up, up and away!”: Ibid.; this page, “the next thrilling episode”: Ibid.; this page, “This looks like a job for”: Jones, 159; this page, “the Superman”; “flies in the marketplace”: Nietzsche, 52.

  Chapter 13

  this page, “How Superman Would End the War”: Siegel and Shuster, “How Superman Would End the War,” online at http://www.superman.nu; this page, “I’d like to land”: Ibid.; this page, “Superman ist ein Jude!”: “Calvin, Minds in the Making”; this page, “Jerry Siegel, an intellectually and physically”: Ibid.; this page, “Superman’s Dilemma”: Time, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766523,00.html; this page, “What if they were”; “Would you let”; “Super-Soldiers”; The Superman Homepage, www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=articles/sues-war; this page, “You’re my Supermen”: Ibid.; this page, “Superman got a high priority rating”: “Superman’s Dilemma,” Time.

  Chapter 14

  this page, “I resolved to fight”: Bulger, “Stetson Kennedy”, 187; this page, “I had to remember”: Ibid., 189; this page, “There are not many”: The American, 90.

  Chapter 15

  this page, “We’re not in the business …” PM, May 15, 1946, 5; this page, “You’ll lose your audience”: Ames, “National Jewish Monthly.”; this page, “The difficulty was”: PM, 5; this page, “shaping a new form of education”; “heroes for heroism’s sake”; “kids are invested”: Child Study Association of America papers; this page, “I am seething”; “drop their baseball bats”; “Only the children”: Ibid.; this page, “This feature does”: Daniels, Wonder Woman, 61–62; this page, “Get strong”: Child Study Association of America Papers; this page, “stories dramatizing”: Ibid.; this page, “inappropriate to the building up of serene attitudes”: Ibid.; this page, “What makes you think”: Ibid.; this page, “Yes, it’s Superman”: Hayde, 70; this page, “The Hate Mongers Organization”: Hayde, 71; this page, Summary of “The Hate Mongers Organization,” Audio of original broadcast; this page, “Remember this as long as you live”: Hayde, 70, this page, “use of children’s own favorite medium”: Ibid., 74; this page, “this noble effort”: Ibid.; this page, “follow the lead”: Ibid.

  Chapter 16

  this page, “We are revived”: Wade, 277; this page, “100 percent Americans”: Chalmers, 57; this page, “sloshing over”: Chalmers, 333; this page, “To his majesty”: Bulger, “Stetson Kennedy,” 198; this page, “This worker is joining”: Stetson Kennedy Papers, New York Times; this page, “write a letter”: Non-Sectarian Anti Nazi League collection; this page, “our informant is now”: Ibid.; this page, “fabulous jet propelled character”: Kennedy, The Klan Unmasked, 92; this page, “Armed with complete information”: Ibid.

  Chapter 17

  this page–this page, Summary of “The Clan of the Fiery Cross”: Audio of original broadcast.

  Chapter 18

  this page, “[We] want you, Superman”: Hayde, 73; this page, “because he has done so much”: Hayde, 72; this page, “Here is the Nation’s Answer”: Hayde, 76; this page, “Superman is the first”: “It’s Superfight,” 61; this page, “The youngsters find him”: Harriet Van Horne, New York World-Telegram; this page, “a disgrace to America”: Whiteside, 15; this page, “But Maxwell”; “The dangers were”: Hayde, 78; this page, “Of all the”: Stein, It’s Parents, Not Kids that Worry Radio, the Washington Post, April 20, 1947, S5; this page, “Tolerance is breaking”: Hayde, 78;
this page–this page, “When we attacked”; “We didn’t use a negro”; “There was the little”: Institute for Education, Education on the Air, 157–158; this page, “It is now revealed that”: “Kennedy Named.” ADL Bulletin, February 1947, 7; this page, “circulated a picture”: Stetson Kennedy Papers, Schomberg Center, KKK Infiltrator Reports; this page, “failing to provide floggings”; “a hot year in ’48”: Ibid.; this page, “hooded hoodlums and sheeted jerks”: Chalmers, 333; this page, “a bigoted little”: “National Affairs,” Time; this page, “So many people are”: Chalmers, 333; this page, “A Klanner is a cat”: Gregory, 149; this page, “a considerable amount”: Whiteside, 15-17; this page, “the code words”: Ibid.; this page, “As soon as Superman”: Ibid.; this page, “Champion of the Oppressed”: Siegel and Shuster, Action Comics No. 1, 1; this page, “the American way”: Daniels, 18; this page, “Don’t thank me”: Superman: The Movie.