World History
Superman Versus the KKK. Although greatly diminished today, the Ku Klux Klan has had a lot of influence on American history. In the early and mid-20th Century, it was able to control large portions of state governments in the USA.
That power ebbed. And one of the biggest reasons was a man known as Stetson Kennedy. He was (and still is) a white southerner with a family history of Klan membership. Despite this, he did not like the Klan and decided to act against it. Shortly after World War Two, he went undercover to learn Klan secrets. This lead to his book The Klan Unmasked.
However, he did not wait until he published his book to leak Klan knowledge. He gave it to the writers of the Superman radio show. And they used it...
The blogged article notes, "THE MOST noteworthy Superman radio episodes are described in Weyn Craig Wade's indispensable history of the Ku Klux Klan, The Fiery Cross. According to Wade, Stetson Kennedy, a reporter for the short-lived lefty newspaper PM, went undercover into the Klan, learning the secret passwords and countersigns used by the Grand Dragon "Doc" Green's vicious Klavern No. 1 of Atlanta. For sport, Kennedy passed on the info to writers of the Superman radio show about that comic-book character whom Wade calls the ultimate antifacist."
The Superman radio shows did major damage to the Klan. They revealed Klan passwords and put the Klan on the same moral ground as the Nazis and Lex Luthor. Klan members were shocked to hear their children playing with Klan knowledge. And the Klan was not amused.
The article continues, "Green had to change his passwords because of the show. The Klan chief tried to retaliate by pressuring Pep Cereal--sponsors of the Adventures of Superman--off of grocery shelves in Atlanta. Despite Green's actions, the sponsors continued to green-light the anti-Klan shows."
The Superman radio show may be seen as trivial today. But it had a big impact on politics in the southern USA in the 1940s. It can be safely said the Stetson Kennedy (and Superman) helped to bring the KKK down a notch.
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World History
Stetson Kennedy and Superman Beat the KKK
Superman Versus the KKK. Although greatly diminished today, the Ku Klux Klan has had a lot of influence on American history. In the early and mid-20th Century, it was able to control large portions of state governments in the USA.
That power ebbed. And one of the biggest reasons was a man known as Stetson Kennedy. He was (and still is) a white southerner with a family history of Klan membership. Despite this, he did not like the Klan and decided to act against it. Shortly after World War Two, he went undercover to learn Klan secrets. This lead to his book The Klan Unmasked.
However, he did not wait until he published his book to leak Klan knowledge. He gave it to the writers of the Superman radio show. And they used it...
The blogged article notes, "THE MOST noteworthy Superman radio episodes are described in Weyn Craig Wade's indispensable history of the Ku Klux Klan, The Fiery Cross. According to Wade, Stetson Kennedy, a reporter for the short-lived lefty newspaper PM, went undercover into the Klan, learning the secret passwords and countersigns used by the Grand Dragon "Doc" Green's vicious Klavern No. 1 of Atlanta. For sport, Kennedy passed on the info to writers of the Superman radio show about that comic-book character whom Wade calls the ultimate antifacist."
The Superman radio shows did major damage to the Klan. They revealed Klan passwords and put the Klan on the same moral ground as the Nazis and Lex Luthor. Klan members were shocked to hear their children playing with Klan knowledge. And the Klan was not amused.
The article continues, "Green had to change his passwords because of the show. The Klan chief tried to retaliate by pressuring Pep Cereal--sponsors of the Adventures of Superman--off of grocery shelves in Atlanta. Despite Green's actions, the sponsors continued to green-light the anti-Klan shows."
The Superman radio show may be seen as trivial today. But it had a big impact on politics in the southern USA in the 1940s. It can be safely said the Stetson Kennedy (and Superman) helped to bring the KKK down a notch.
- In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda In Southern California,1933-1945
The Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge has a site about an exhibit first shown in 1989 titled In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda in Southern California,1933-1945. It looked at the Nazi inspired activities of groups...
- Backstory Radio Show
Catherine Moore sent me an e-mail about a new public radio show called the Backstory. A temporary site is up at http://www.virginiafoundation.org/vfhradio/backstory/wordpress/. It looks worthy so here is some information on it: The site notes, "BackStory...
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NPR: Echoes of 1968 - The American National Public Radio has a series examining the historic and influential events of 1968. This includes the killings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. It also features the signing of the Civil Rights...
- 1961-1963 Cuban Missile Crisis And Aftermath
1961-1963 Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath - This site contains an extensive collection of U.S. government documents from the period, including list of key players, glossary of abbreviations, and sources. The CIA has an article about this event as well....
- Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman This is a biography of American President Truman. From the site: Harry S . Truman ( May 8 , 1884 ? December 26 , 1972 ) was the thirty-fourth ( 1945 ) Vice President and the thirty-third ( 1945 - 1953 ) President of the United States...