Fever in the Heartland: Nonfiction That Reads Like a Horror Story

Timothy Egan's history of the KKK in Indiana

I'm Still Queasy

A week after I finished listening to Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America and the Woman Who Stopped Them, I'm still queasy. This book showcases the Second Rising of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana in the 1920s. It was a gruesome, frightening, sickening story of D.C. Stephenson, his rise to Grand Dragon, and the rapid growth of the Klan in Indiana through intimidation tactics, bribery, violence, and the promotion of the "100% American" philosophy which railed against anyone who was not White Protestant.

I have been an avid reader all my life. I passionately believe that books - and the ability to read them and absorb their ideas - make us better people. Through reading, both fiction and non-fiction, I have gained a deeper understanding of things that I wouldn't have absorbed as completely by hearing about them or scrolling through a news story. Now, in my late sixties, an English major in college who had a weekly reading requirement of at least one book, I've probably read close to two thousand books in my lifetime. Few hit me as hard as this one did.

Perhaps I was so disturbed by this book because I grew up in Southern Indiana in Clarksville, a town directly across from Louisville, Kentucky. My parents were hard-working, educated, middle-class, good people. (You can read about my childhood in The Magic of Ordinary. I didn't know about the horrid history of the Klan in Indiana, and now that I do, I'm feeling shame for events of a century ago that I had no part of, all the while cheering for the people who fought against the power of the Klan.

The Villainous Main Character in Fever in the Heartland

Every compelling story has a villain. D.C. Stephenson is a super-villain! He marries women and leaves them. He seduces, abuses, berates, and controls the females around him. A serial rapist, his control doesn't end with women. Strangely, he also seduces and charms men with promises, liquor, money, and power. He gains so much power and immunity that he claims he "is the law."

I have a hard time understanding how such an ugly, controlling man could be so charismatic. Within two years of landing in Indiana, he gained control of the Klan, became Grand Dragon, and grew the membership to over 600,000 people. More "Hoosiers" belonged to the KKK than any other state in the Union. (Oregon came in second.)

Did You Know?

This history of hate groups is not something I've ever read about - other than what I know of Nazi Germany. I didn't know much about how they worked a century ago in my home state. What a painful introduction! I was offended and terrified by the tactics used by the Klu Klux Klan in 1920s Indiana.

Did you know....

• The Klan infiltrated churches? Sometimes they'd ride in, stop a service, and deliver an envelope of money to the pastor, mid-sermon. It was a way to foster cooperation. How bad can a group be, after all, if they give churches money? Giving money to churches was also a way to intimidate them with the power and affluence of the group. If a church refused to preach its doctrine or accept its gifts, it risked being burned to the ground.

• There was even a group for Kids. The Ku Klux Kiddies was for the children of members who wished to indoctrinate them to the ideas espoused by the KKK.

• Male teenagers joined the Junior KKK, and young women joined the Tri-K.

• Law enforcement, judges, sheriffs, politicians, entrepreneurs, business owners, and farmers were all members, working for the good of the "Invisible Empire."

• Stores proudly displayed the TWK placard in their windows: "Trade with Klan!" presenting themselves as trustworthy and prestigious.

• Dozens of people got wealthy by being in the Klan. Certain people negotiated cuts for the dues, robe sales, and initiation fees. D.C. Stephenson had a huge mansion and a yacht! (Like owning a yacht in landlocked Indiana makes sense!)

• Businesses owned by Catholics, Jews, or Blacks were forced out of business.

The Beginning of the End of D.C. Stephenson's Reign of Terror

The author of Fever in the Heartland, Timothy Egan, crafts a powerful story through the accumulation of facts and an intensely compelling narrative. The crux of the story is D.C. Stephenson's brutalization of a young woman who was working on a state-supported literacy program. Because of funding and job cuts, she was told that the only way for her to save her job was to appeal to D.C. Stephenson, and she was invited to a dinner he hosted. Her name was Madge Oberholtzer.

What happened to Madge Oberholtzer is part of what made me queasy days after I finished the book. Stephenson injured her in grotesque ways, making this book into a kind of real-life horror story. He kidnapped her, attacked her, bit her all over her body, and left her in a garage, his bite marks growing infected with each minute.

The consequences of his actions, along with Madge Oberholtzer's courage and the determination of lawyers who fought against D.C. Stephenson in court, began the downward spiral of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. Some argue that the decline of the KKK would have happened without the tragic case of Madge Oberholtzer, but the trial certainly was the start of bringing to light the Grand Dragon's crimes and making public the hold the Klan had on the state.

Why Read It If It's Painful?

If a book is painful, why read it?

We can't erase our history. We can't ignore what is unpleasant. Avoiding the mistakes of the past ensures that we don't make them again in the future. I have thought about the story of Fever in the Heartland every day since I read it, and I am reminded of the importance of fighting injustice and bullies.

One review by Jeff Shesol of the New York Times, said this:

As a narrative, “A Fever in the Heartland” is gripping; as a rumination on the moral obscenity of white supremacy — whatever guises it wears — the book is damning.

No doubt, "damning" is the right word. Disturbing, distressing, dreadful, and deadly also fit.

Fever in the Heartland describes events of the 1920s, not unlike current events. History ripples forward in patterns that are replicated in our current political climate where power goes hand-in-hand with money, exclusion, retribution, and intimidation. I tremble.

Timothy Egan, Author of Fever in the Heartland

I discovered Timothy Egan with his book The Worst Hard Time. Reading this book immersed me in the Dust Bowl, and for the first time, I truly understood the impact of the environmental catastrophe on the people who lived there. (Our book club paired the book with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, a powerful pair to be sure!)

The Worst Hard Time won the National Book Award in 2006. His book, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, about the life of Western photographer Edward Curtis, won a Carnegie Award.

Egan is a skilled writer, a former New York Times opinion columnist and roving correspondent in the West.. He's the author of ten books, and one of a team of writers that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for National Reporting on "How Race is Lived in America."

Definitely Not a "Fluff" Read!

Fever in the Heartland is not an easy book to read, no lightweight work of "escapism." It's both factual and painful. It is also important, interesting, and intense.

Read this book if you care about righting injustices. Prepare to be emotionally drained. Then shout. Groan. Feel the shock and disgust.

But whatever you do, don't ignore it!

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