D. C. Stephenson

Title: D. C. Stephenson
Description: D. C. Stephenson (1891–1966) served as the Grand Dragon of the Indiana branch of the Ku Klux Klan from 1923 to 1925. During his Klan involvement, Stephenson held considerable power in Indiana politics—over half of the Indiana General Assembly, including the State’s Governor, were Klan affiliated—and held influence throughout the Midwest. In 1925 he raped and murdered a young woman named Madge Oberholtzer. The resulting trial led to Stephenson’s conviction and imprisonment as well as the demise of the second wave of the Klan in the United States, which lasted from approximately 1915 to the late 1920s. The first Klan existed during the Civil War through the beginning of the Reconstruction period (circa 1861–1871), and the third Klan came about during the 1950s and still exists today.
Rights: No Copyright - United States
Provenance: Butler University
Type: Image
Is Part Of: Photo appeared in the December 2, 1922 issue of the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Public Domain. Accessed via Wikimedia Commons.