In advance of a visit to new territory, Stephenson would usually place a print ad or have a pastor promote his appearance from the pulpit. As he entered a church, a town hall, or a school gym to make his Klan sales pitch, he saw every Hoosier head as a dollar sign. “We used to look over the crowd when we first came in and try to estimate what it would net us,” recalled his right-hand man, Court Asher. “We’d hire a minister at $25 a lecture and then get their whole congregation to join at $10 a head.” The new Klan was not for poor people. That $10 initiation fee was more than the average
...more
