Ku Klux Klan and Globeville

The first Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by former Confederate Army veterans with the goal of preventing African Americans from using their rights as citizens and voters. Acts of violence, lynchings and the passage of Jim Crow laws also disenfranchised blacks. This original version of the Klan was most active in the South.

Inspired by the film, “the Birth of a Nation,” William Joseph Simmons of Georgia called for the resurrection of the Klan in 1915. This new organization was more inclusive in its hatred than its predecessor, targeting not only blacks, but also Catholics, Jews, immigrants, minorities and organized labor. 

In predominantly Protestant Colorado, the Klan developed a new recruiting message that focused on the “nation’s Protestant ideals” and Americanism. Against the backdrop of prohibition, bootlegging, rampant crime, loose morals, and “free love,” the Klan also stood for law and order and a restoration of “Old-Time Religion.”

Catholics were denounced as followers of the Pope, who controlled a secret Catholic government. There were conspiracy theories about Jews, money and power. Eastern European and Russian immigrants were portrayed as dangerous, possibly anarchists, and unlikely to become loyal citizens. 

The Klan organized community events, including picnics, concerts and auto races, in order to be seen as similar to benevolent groups like the Elks Lodges. 

Globeville’s population included two of the Klan’s targets: immigrants and Catholics. The resurgence of the Klan occurred at the same time as the “Red Scare” following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. 

While no fiery crosses were seen in Globeville, the community was aware of the power of the organization. Leopold Korsick and his fellow workers at the Globe Smelter were advised to walk in a group to and from their shift. Many people “Americanized” their names (Starsinovich became Star), and prominently displayed American flags on their porches, or in the windows of their businesses.

Globeville survived this version of the Ku Klux Klan, but the group has resurfaced several times and portrays itself as defending American ideals.

Leopold and Teresa Korsic in Globeville