A factionalized Democratic Party, an active Republican Party, and a multitude of disgruntled former Socialists made for a turbulent 1920s. The rise and subsequent decline of the Ku Klux Klan added to the seething political cauldron. Women's suffrage (the Nineteenth Amendment), begun with the 1920 elections, did not seem to improve the politics of the era; indeed, Alice Robertson, the first woman to serve in Congress from Oklahoma, opposed the amendment. |
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Above: The rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma in the 20th century was not sudden. The spirit of the organization had evidenced itself during World War I in acts of prejudice and repression against minorities–blacks, Jews, Catholics, foreigners, and radicals. With its powerful cult of flag worship and “Americanism,” the Klan easily increased its membership. By 1923, scarcely three years after its resurrection in the state, there were an estimated 100,000 Oklahomans in the Klan. This Klan gathering was near Bartlesville. (Courtesy Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries) |
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Above: In 1920, farmer and Lincoln County clerk Joseph. Pringey (R-OK, 1921-1922) beat incumbent Thomas McKeown in the Republican landslide election. (Courtesy Lincoln County Historical Society) |
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Above: Charles Swindall (R-OK, Nov. 1920 - March 1921) served as the Eighth District representative following the death of Dick T. Morgan until the election of Manuel Herrick. (Courtesy Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries) |
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Left: Lorraine M. “Nick” Gensman (R-OK, 1921-1922) defeated political newcomer Elmer Thomas in 1920, and then lost reelection to Thomas two years later. Gensman served on various committees, including Indian Affairs. This 1901 photo was taken when he arrived in Lawton just prior to the lottery opening the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache lands. (Courtesy Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries) |
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Above: Alice Robertson (R-OK, 1921-1922) was only the second woman ever to serve in the House, the first woman elected after suffrage, and the first woman to preside over the House. An avowed opponent of suffrage, she noted during her campaign, “The men have thrust the vote on us and now I am going to see whether they mean it.” When “Miss Alice” decided to listen to her own voice and disregard the voters, it soon became evident that she would probably not be re-elected. Following her defeat, she quipped, “I've been a Cinderella at sixty-nine, but now the pumpkin is round the corner, waiting to whisk me back.” (Courtesy Library of Congress) |
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