Elizabeth Tyler (KKK organizer)
Encyclopedia
Mary Elizabeth "Bessie" Tyler (b. July 10, 1881, near Atlanta, Georgia; d. Sep. 10, 1924, Altadena, California) was an Atlanta public-relations professional who, starting in 1920 along with Edward Young Clarke, helped to turn the initially anemic second Ku Klux Klan
into a mass-membership organization with a broader social agenda. She is not the same person as Elizabeth Tyler
, daughter of US President John Tyler
.
Tyler, born Mary Elizabeth Cornett, was first married at age 14 or 15, and then abandoned, and later married multiple times. Likely names of her husbands were Manning (married 1897), Owen C. Carroll, Tyler, and Stephen Grow (married 1922). In the 1910's, she was active in the "better babies" movement as a volunteer hygiene worker. With Clarke, she formed the Southern Publicity Association, which promoted temperance and public health causes such as the Anti-Saloon League and Red Cross. Like Clarke and the second Klan's initial organizer William Simmons
, Tyler was active in fraternal organizations -- in her case, in a women's auxiliary called the Daughters of America.
Starting in 1920, Tyler and Clarke were extremely successful in building the organization of the Klan and in promoting a broader agenda for it, including temperance, anticommunism, antisemitism, and anticatholicism. They did well for themselves financially, pocketing 25% of every new klansman's initiation fee, investing in businesses that manufactured Klan robes and paraphernalia, and making a monthly income as large as $40,000. Tyler owned the Searchlight, the Klan's newspaper. She built a large classical-revival house on fourteen acres in downtown Atlanta; the house is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Klan was organized in the fashion of a fraternal organization, and to embarrass it, its opponents alleged that Clarke and Simmons were mere figureheads, and the woman Tyler its real leader. Clarke and Tyler's sexual relationship was not a well kept secret, and Tyler's wife May sued him for divorce on grounds of desertion. In 1919, Clarke and Tyler were rousted out of bed by Atlanta police and arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. They initially gave false names. Notwithstanding the Klan's temperance activities, they were fined for possessing whiskey. Their sexual relationship was in tension with the prominent role played by the purity of white womanhood in the organization's foundational mythology, which revolved around the real-life figure of Mary Phagan and the film The Birth of a Nation
, which featured the fictional martyr Flora Cameron. In 1921, the Columbus Enquirer-Sun and the New York World
published articles accusing Clarke and Tyler of financial and sexual misconduct. An internal power struggle ensued within the Klan, and as a result Tyler was forced out of the Klan in 1923, Clarke left the country to escape charges under the Mann Act
, and power shifted to Hiram Evans
.
Tyler, who was overweight, developed arteriosclerosis and moved to Southern California. She died in 1924 and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Sources=
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
into a mass-membership organization with a broader social agenda. She is not the same person as Elizabeth Tyler
Elizabeth Tyler
Elizabeth Tyler was one of fifteen children of John Tyler, tenth President of the United States. She was born in 1823 to John Tyler and Letitia Christian, his first wife....
, daughter of US President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
.
Tyler, born Mary Elizabeth Cornett, was first married at age 14 or 15, and then abandoned, and later married multiple times. Likely names of her husbands were Manning (married 1897), Owen C. Carroll, Tyler, and Stephen Grow (married 1922). In the 1910's, she was active in the "better babies" movement as a volunteer hygiene worker. With Clarke, she formed the Southern Publicity Association, which promoted temperance and public health causes such as the Anti-Saloon League and Red Cross. Like Clarke and the second Klan's initial organizer William Simmons
William Simmons
William Charles Simmons was a politician from Alberta, Canada.Simmons served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1906 to 1908 for the Alberta Liberal Party. He was elected in a by-election after Leverett DeVeber was appointed to the Canadian Senate. He resigned in 1908 to run...
, Tyler was active in fraternal organizations -- in her case, in a women's auxiliary called the Daughters of America.
Starting in 1920, Tyler and Clarke were extremely successful in building the organization of the Klan and in promoting a broader agenda for it, including temperance, anticommunism, antisemitism, and anticatholicism. They did well for themselves financially, pocketing 25% of every new klansman's initiation fee, investing in businesses that manufactured Klan robes and paraphernalia, and making a monthly income as large as $40,000. Tyler owned the Searchlight, the Klan's newspaper. She built a large classical-revival house on fourteen acres in downtown Atlanta; the house is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Klan was organized in the fashion of a fraternal organization, and to embarrass it, its opponents alleged that Clarke and Simmons were mere figureheads, and the woman Tyler its real leader. Clarke and Tyler's sexual relationship was not a well kept secret, and Tyler's wife May sued him for divorce on grounds of desertion. In 1919, Clarke and Tyler were rousted out of bed by Atlanta police and arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. They initially gave false names. Notwithstanding the Klan's temperance activities, they were fined for possessing whiskey. Their sexual relationship was in tension with the prominent role played by the purity of white womanhood in the organization's foundational mythology, which revolved around the real-life figure of Mary Phagan and the film The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
, which featured the fictional martyr Flora Cameron. In 1921, the Columbus Enquirer-Sun and the New York World
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...
published articles accusing Clarke and Tyler of financial and sexual misconduct. An internal power struggle ensued within the Klan, and as a result Tyler was forced out of the Klan in 1923, Clarke left the country to escape charges under the Mann Act
Mann Act
The White-Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, is a United States law, passed June 25, 1910 . It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann, and in its original form prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”...
, and power shifted to Hiram Evans
Hiram Evans
Hiram Evans is the name of:*Hiram Kinsman Evans , U.S. Representative from Iowa*Hiram Wesley Evans , Imperial Wizard of the "second" Ku Klux Klan...
.
Tyler, who was overweight, developed arteriosclerosis and moved to Southern California. She died in 1924 and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Sources=
- Henry Peck Fry, The modern Ku Klux Klan, Small, Maynard, 1922
- Michael Newton, The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi: a history, McFarland, 2010
- Kathleen M. Blee, Women of the Klan: racism and gender in the 1920s, University of California Press, 2009
- Kevin Boyle, The Not-So-Invisible Empire, New York Times, Nov. 27, 2011
- National Register of Historic Places, reference number 05001598; scans available at http://www.buckheadheritage.com/node/61