925 when Klan members from all directions poured into the nation’s capitol Washington D.C. On August 8th, 1925 a mammoth parade began (not the animal…it was just a really large parade). At the head was the Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans, and 40,000 Klan members followed in their robes and hoods, but no masks. 200,000 friendly spectators lined the parade and applauded as the Klan made their way to a rally at the Washington Monument. The impressive demonstration was intended to show “The Invisible Empire” never lost any of its strengths. (Ingalls 63-64) Even though the parade was grander than expected it could not conceal the fact that the Klan was diminishing. The empire that once thrived was now falling.The peak of the Klan was actually in 1924. The Klan was forced to admit its growing weakness. By 1930, the Klan was almost invisible, fewer than 40,000 members existed nationally. The story of the collapse is very complicated. (Ingalls, 63) In 1924, Congress responded to the growing hatred to foreigners by restricting immigration into the U.S. Before the restriction, immigrants were pouring in at over one million immigrants a year. This was before World War I. When the Congress restricted the immigration it was a major reason for the collapse of the KKK. (Meltzer, 60) Another main reason for the collapse was that Klansmen also had quarrels and skirmishes amongst each other. In 1927, Wizard Evans resorted to a lawsuit. This divided the group deeply. The lawsuit that Evans filed was for $100,000 which sent his Pennsylvania opponents into submission (Pennsylvania had the largest Klan membership). It seemed that the Klan was falling apart in many areas. In New Jersey the Mayor of Atlantic City called for an anti-Klan meeting. 4,000 angry rioters showed up for the anti-Klan meeting. Only several hundred Klan members came to support the Klan. The anti-Klan riotersbegan to maul the Klansmen and whipped up on them so ...
