A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by award-winning author Timothy Egan tells the horrifying secret story of the Ku Klux Klan’s phenomenal rise in the roaring ’20s. 

Building upon the Klan’s beginnings in the South after the Civil War, the Klan reemerged across the United States, particularly in the Midwest, fueled by the Great Migration of freed Black people and high levels of immigration from Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. Catholics and Jews were particularly targeted. 

The release of the movie The Birth of a Nation in 1915 had fueled the hatred of anyone who wasn’t a white Protestant. Members of the Klan were seen as the upholders of law and morality during this time of Prohibition. At its height in the 1920s, the Klan had a staggering six million members nationwide. Even women and children, the Ku Klux Kiddies, were active supporters. 

Indiana was the center in the Midwest owing to a powerful, charismatic conman named D. K. “Steve” Stephenson. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, within four years he became grand dragon of the Indiana Klan with presidential aspirations. Using bribes and a charming manner in front of crowds, Stephenson appeared to be on his way to the White House. He had politicians, judges, police, and clergy in his pocket. It appeared that there was nothing that could stop him. One in three males in Indiana joined the Klan. Stephenson became extremely wealthy, collecting dues from Klan members and making shady deals with businessmen. Despite Prohibition, he threw huge parties with alcohol to select guests at his mansion and on his yacht. Little known were his alarming alcoholism, sexual proclivities, and behavior behind closed doors.

The woman who stopped them

Then came along Madge Oberholzer, a young college graduate with professional aspirations who met Stephenson at the 1925 inauguration of Indiana’s Klan-endorsed new governor. Her story of being kidnapped and sexually assaulted by Stephenson led to his eventual downfall—he was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison—and to destroying the stranglehold the Klan had over Indiana and the Midwest. 

All members of UMRA’s Book Club I said they were aware of the Klan’s activities in the South, but no one realized it’s control over the North until reading this book. Each called the story riveting and timely, commenting on parallels with today and saying it is a story that needs to be shared. Following a lively discussion, members agreed that there are differences today but there is still much to be done.

—Mary Jane Towle, UMRA Book Club I