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Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish Sacramento: the Diocese Sacramento: City and County Anti-Catholicism in Sacramento: The Ku Klux Klan, Tom Connelly and “The Catholic Herald,” Prohibition October 24, 1929 & the coming of the Great Depression St. Francis of Assisi Parish – 1930
St. Francis of Assisi Parish
During the 1920s St. Francis of Assisi Parish enjoyed the
services of five pastors; Fr. Humilis Wiese, Fr. Felix Raab, Fr.
Ildephonse Moser, Fr. Solanus Crowley, and Fr. Clement
Berberich. Born in 1881, Fr. Humilis Weiss served as pastor of St.
Francis for five years, from 1917-1922. Fr. Humillis took his Franciscan vows in
1902 and was ordained in 1907. He died in 1960 and is buried in the mausoleum
at Mission Santa Barbara.1
Fr. Felix Raab served two terms as pastor of St. Francis, the
first from 1912 to 1914, the second from 1922 to 1923. Fr. Felix was
born in Germany in 1871 and immigrated to the United States at the
age of fourteen. He professed his Franciscan vows in 1891 at
Teutopolis, Illinois as a member of the Sacred Heart Province and
was ordained in 1897. He died in residence at St. Elizabeth’s, in Oakland,
California on Holy Thursday 1963. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Oakland.
2
On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners
awoke to a light snow storm. As they approached the church for Sunday Mass
they walked through the still falling snow to see the church dusted in a mantle of
white.
Fr. Ildephonse Moser served as pastor of St. Francis
from 1923–1924, where, among other duties, he supervised the
construction of the school. The new St. Francis School at 25th
and K Streets was dedicated in 1924. Of thoroughly modern
design the building cost $121,000.
Fr. Ildephonse was born in 1876. He professed
his Franciscan vows in 1896 and was ordained in
1902. He died at St. Joseph’s Hospital, San Francisco
in 1951 and is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery,
Oakland.
Fr. Solanus Crowley served as pastor of St. Francis
parish from 1924 to 1928. Under his supervision the new friary
(1925), school gymnasium and auditorium were completed
(1926). Born in 1887, Fr. Solanus professed his Franciscan vows
in 1909 and was ordained in 1918. Fr. Solanus died unexpectedly
on November 28, 1944 at the St. Francis friary he had helped build. He was fifty-
seven years old and the previous evening he had been a principal speaker at the
banquet celebrating the parish’s Golden Jubilee.2
3
On Thursday Christmas Eve 1925 St. Francis of Assisi parish celebrated
a Midnight Solemn High Mass with the choir signing “Holy Night,” “Kyrie Eleison,”
“Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” “Agnus Dei,” and “Adeste Fideles,” among other pieces.
The music for the Christmas Day 8:30 AM Low Mass was provided by the
Children’s Choir who sang Christmas hymns.3
In January 1927 St. Francis of Assisi
Parish recorded a census of 3,003
individuals and 1,114 families, which
included 1,433 males and 1,570 females.
The school enrolled four hundred and fifty-
two students – two hundred and thirty-four
boys, and two hundred and eighteen girls.
By all measures it was a thriving parish.4
Fr. Clement Berberich served as St. Francis of Assisi pastor
from 1928 to 1931. Fr. Clement was born in San Francisco in
1881; he professed his Franciscan vows at Santa Barbara in
1904, and was ordained in 1909. He died at St. Joseph Hospital
in San Francisco in 1953 at the age of seventy-one. He is buried
in Holy Cross Cemetery, San Francisco.
During Fr. Clement’s pastorate Anton Dorndorf was hired
in 1929 as musical director of both St. Francis of Assisi Parish
church and school. Mr. Dorndorf also served as director of the
Turner Harmonie for over forty years ending only with his death in
1970.5
Anton Dorndorf became Sacramento’s Music Meister. At St. Francis he
taught humanities and music classes in the school, conducted music for regular
weekly masses and the annual Christmas and Palm Sunday masses featuring
full orchestra and choruses. In addition, he served as choral instructor at St.
Joseph’s Academy and Christian Brothers High School, music director at Bishop
Armstrong and Loretto High Schools, and founder and director of the Elks Lodge
4
mixed choir. During the 1950s and 1960s he conducted large mixed choirs at
Christ the King and Mary’s Hour Rallies.
The new Turn Verein hall at 3349 J Street was dedicated in 1926. Thus,
when Anton Dorndorf was hired in 1929, he traveled less than eight blocks from
St. Francis of Assisi church to his work with the Turner Harmonie.
Sacramento: The Diocese
In December 1920, Patrick J. Keane was appointed co-
adujutor to Bishop Thomas Grace. Following Bishop Grace’s
death on December 27, 1921, Patrick J. Keane was appointed
Sacramento’s third bishop in March 1922.
Under Bishop Keane Immaculate Conception parish in
Oak Park, established in 1909, expanded its facilities, and two new parishes
were established: St. Joseph’s in 1924 in North Sacramento and Sacred Heart
(St. Stephens) in 1926 in East Sacramento.
Grace Day Home, which had been dedicated by Bishop Grace in
December 1920, became the first licensed day-care center in California in 1922.
In 1923 when St. Stephens at 3rd and O Streets closed the students and teachers
were transferred to Grace Day Home.
Holy Guardian Angels school opened in
1923 at 730 S Street – in 1930 it enrolled three
hundred and forty students. In 1924 the new
Christian Brothers high school opened at 21st and
Y Streets. In 1926 St. Joseph’s Academy
dedicated their new elementary school.
12) Mercy Hospital – Diocese of Sacramento Archives
Mater Misericordiae Hospital opened at 40th and
J Streets in 1925. It had a capacity for one hundred and
fifty-five beds and thirty-five bassinets. It also housed the
nursing school. In 1934 the name was formally changed
to Mercy Hospital.6
5
In 1926 a gym was added to Christian Brothers High School at 21st and Y
Streets. Also in 1926, an elementary school was dedicated at St. Joseph’s
Academy. In 1930 St. Joseph’s Academy enrolled five hundred and twelve girls.
By 1926 Sacramento had seven parishes – The Cathedral, St. Francis of
Assisi, St. Mary’s, Immaculate Conception, St. Elizabeth’s, St. Joseph’s and
Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart was established in 1926 as St. Stephens, but
renamed “Sacred Heart of Jesus” in 1929.
In 1929 the diocese opened St. Mary’s Cemetery at 65th Street and 21st
Avenue to augment the old St. Joseph Cemetery on 21st Street, just south of
Broadway. The St. Mary’s mausoleum opened in 1934.
Sacramento’s third bishop, the Rev. Patrick Keane died
on September 1, 1928. On March 4, 1929 Robert Armstrong
was appointed Sacramento’s fourth bishop. He would serve
almost twenty-eight years until his death in January 1957.
In 1930 the Diocese of Sacramento comprised the same
area it had in 1920: 53,400 square miles in California, and 38,162 square miles in
Nevada, for a total of 91,562 square miles.
In 1930 the diocese had ninety-two priests - an increase of twenty-two
since 1920. In 1930 the diocese had one hundred and thirty-three churches - an
increase of twenty-six since 1920. There were 2,737 Catholic students in the
diocese, and the total number of youth under Catholic care stood at 3,044 - an
increase of four hundred and thirty-eight since 1920, comprising a seventeen per
cent increase. The total Catholic population of the diocese stood at 60,315, an
increase of nine and a half per cent since 1920.7
Growth in the Diocese of Sacramento, in the number of churches, priests,
schools, parishioners and students, reflected the general growth and prosperity
of Sacramento City and County in the 1920s.
Sacramento: City and County
Standing on the front steps of the church in 1930 the St. Francis of Assisi
parishioner would see significant cultural and architectural additions to the
6
neighborhood. The Eastern Star Temple at 2719 K Streets was dedicated in
1928.
Behind Sutter’s Fort rose the six-story Sutter Hospital facing L Street on the
corner of 28th Street, which opened in 1923.
The hospital was organized by a consortium of Sacramento physicians,
whose experience in the 1918–1919 influenza epidemic convinced them that the
city needed more hospital beds. About 4,500 cases of flu were reported; four
hundred and seventy-nine Sacramentans lost their lives. At the height of the
epidemic the City Library served as a hospital, and prostitutes “were gratefully
accepted to do volunteer nursing.”8
The Masonic Auditorium stood at the southwest corner of 28th and L
Streets and next to it the Tuesday Club at 2722 L Street. The Pioneer
Congregational Church at 2700 L Street was dedicated in 1926.
In 1930 the city’s population stood at 93,750 - an addition of 27,842 over
1920 and a forty-two percent increase. City residents comprised sixty-six per
cent of the county’s population.
In 1930 the county’s population stood at 48,249 - an addition of 23,128
over 1920 and a ninety-two percent increase. County resident’s comprised thirty-
four percent of the county population, but they were growing at a far faster rate
than city residents. The total Sacramento city/county population in 1930 was
141,999 - an addition of 50,790 over 1920 and a thirty-six per cent increase.
7
These numbers reflect an early move to the suburbs and
outlying areas such as Carmichael, Citrus Heights,
Orangevale, Fair Oaks, and North Sacramento which was
incorporated in 1924.
In the prosperous decade of the 1920s downtown
Sacramento developed a skyline, and a number of historic landmarks were
erected. Among them:
– the 14 story California Western States Life Building at 926
J Street, the city’s first “true” skyscraper,
– the 14 story Elks Building at 11th and J, the city’s second
skyscraper,9
– the Weinstock-Lubin department store at 12th and K,
– the Senator Hotel at 12th and L,
– the Southern Pacific Depot at 5th and I, and
– the Memorial Auditorium at 16th and J Streets.
In addition, both State Buildings #1 (the Unruh Building) and #2 (the
Courts/Library Building) of The Capitol Extension
were completed.
The 1920s also saw the addition of new food
processing facilities. The California Packing Company
plant at 17th and C (known as Calpak #11), and a
California Canning Company facility at Front & Q Streets, (known as Calpak
#12), was acquired by Calpak, upgraded and enlarged The American Can
Company broke ground for its new plant at 32nd and C Streets in 1926. By the
end of the decade, the Philips Milling Co. at Front and P Streets was one of four
rice mills in the Sacramento area.
By 1930 canning and preserving were Sacramento’s leading industries,
followed by railroad manufacturing and maintenance, slaughtering, flour and rice
mills, bakeries, and auto repair.10
To provide more power, PG&E built a 3,000,000 cubic ft. gas storage tank
at Front and T Streets. Additionally, in 1923, Sacramento voters answering a
8
need for greater control over their electrical power costs approved organization of
the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Beleaguered by law suits brought by
PG&E and Great Western Power, SMUD would not begin full operation until
1946.
During the 1920s Sacramentans also initiated a number of public and
private improvements. The 10,000 seat Moreing Field, a new home for the
Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League opened at Riverside and Y
Streets in 1922. A $100,000 reinforced concrete structure, it replaced the old
wooden Buffalo Park grandstand. The Solons games were as much a civic event
as they were a sporting event; on opening day Sacramento children were
released from school to attend the game.
In 1923 the city used $250,000 bequeathed by
former mayor William Land to buy two hundred and thirty-six
acres of marshland north of Sutterville Road.11 The Land Park Zoo opened in 1927 with animals transferred from
McKinley, Southside and McClatchy Parks. The nine-hole
Land Park Golf Course opened in 1929.12
On December 31, 1923 President Calvin
Coolidge pressed a button in Washington, D. C.
“that illuminated the City Plaza and caused water
to flow from its fountain, heralding the completion
of the city’s new filtration plant.” On the front of
the pumping station are inscribed the words, “And
everything shall live withersoever the river cometh,
Ezekiel 47:9”13 For the first time since 1849
Sacramentans enjoyed clear, clean, healthy
drinking water.
In 1924 Sacramento High School opened at 34th and Y Streets in Oak
Park. McGeorge School of Law officially opened in 1924; it
began as a night school in downtown Sacramento in 1921.
9
In 1924 Weinstock, Lubin and Company opened its new store at 12th and
K Streets on the former site of Christian Brothers School. Simon J. Lubin, son of
the store’s co-founder David Lubin, worked diligently to insure that the
department store, the Senator Theater at 912 K Street and the Senator Hotel at
12th and L Streets all opened within a few months of each other.14
With a ballroom, bowling alley and
billiards parlor on the second floor that
extended from K to L Streets, The Senator Theater was an entertainment destination. The
Senator Hotel, located across L Street from the
State Capitol, became an important center for
city leaders, state politicians and industry
representatives. Modeled after the Farnese
Palace in Rome, It was heralded as the “finest
hotel on the entire Pacific Coast.”15
The new Southern Pacific Depot opened at 5th and I Streets was
dedicated on February 27, 1926. The depot was Italianate in design and featured
a large mural of the 1869 Golden Spike ceremony. It was billed as “one of the
most modern stations on the Pacific Coast and one of the finest structures in
Sacramento.” As a harbinger of changing transportation trends, 1926 was also
the peak year for passenger train traffic at the depot with thirty-two trains in
operation daily.16
In line with these changing transportation patterns, the first
transcontinental highway, U. S. 40, opened in 1926. Running
some 3300 miles from San Francisco to Atlantic City, New
Jersey, it entered Sacramento from the west on the old M Street
Bridge, ran to 10th Street in front of the Capitol, jogged over to
16th Street running past the Governors Mansion, and thence
across the American River to Del Paso Blvd, connecting to
Auburn Blvd and on east to the Atlantic coast.17
10
In 1926 PG&E’s streetcar lines ended at 46th and J Streets, and in 1929
the company purchased their last electric trolleys. By the end of the decade one
in three Sacramentans owned a car. Throughout much of the twentieth century,
the city had one of the highest per capita automobile ownership rates in the
United States.
In 1926 Sacramento Junior College opened on its new Freeport Blvd. campus.
The college was organized in 1916 by Sacramento High School math and
science teacher, Belle Cooledge, when the high school was located at 19th and K
Streets. Both Sacramento Junior College and the McGeorge School of Law
earned national recognition for educational excellence.
Costing $850,000, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium opened on
February 22, 1927. With a seating capacity of 5,000, it was known to some as
“the Barn.” Lloyd Bruno recalled performances there by Vladimir Horowitz, Sergei
Rachmaninov, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Robeson singing “Othello,” “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, and Puccini’s “The Girl of the Golden West,” wherein the lead
tenor sang the line “I’m Dick Johnson of Sacramento.”18
11
Over the main entrance inside the foyer are inscribed the names of three
Sacramento men who gave their lives in the “Spanish American War 1898,” and
one hundred and forty-eight Sacramentans who give their lives in the “World War
1917-1918,” among them at least three women.19
Over the center entrance to the auditorium itself are inscribed the words,
“Dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice in service of the United
States.”
Following the formal opening, the San Carlos Opera Association offered
“Aida,” as the auditorium’s inaugural performance on Monday, February 27th to a
packed house. On March 15th Will Rogers entertained Sacramentans with his
one-man performance, and for almost sixty years thereafter Memorial Auditorium
played host to Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the annual
Shrine/Polack Bros. Circus (for which schools were closed a half day so that
children could see the circus), the Harlem Globe Trotters, boxing matches, ballet,
symphony and opera performances, conventions, auto dealer shows and many
other events.20
High School graduation ceremonies which included Catholic as well as
public schools were held at the Memorial Auditorium each May and June. Thus,
St. Francis of Assisi parishioners, in company with growing numbers of fellow
Sacramentans came to treasure the Memorial Auditorium as a repository of
individual and community memories.
On September 17, 1927,
Charles Lindbergh’s visit to Sacramento
was one of the highlights of the decade.
Following his solo transatlantic flight in
May 1927, Lindbergh barnstormed the
country. Landing at Mather Field he was
greeted by a crowd estimated to be more
than 10,000. Along the thirty mile
motorcade to Moreing Field and in the
12
packed stands, another 25,000 Sacramentans paid homage to “Lucky Lindy.” That
evening he was the city’s guest of honor at a banquet at the Senator Hotel. Resting
on Sunday, he flew on to Reno on Monday, resuming his national barnstorming
tour.
The Alhambra Theater at
31st and K Streets opened on
September 24, 1927. With 1,850
seats the theater billed itself as “A
Palatial Million Dollar Temple
Dedicated to Moving Pictures and
Art.” The event was attended by
local dignitaries, Hollywood stars and
droves of Sacramentans.
Alhambra management was especially proud of their Vitaphone, an early
motion picture sound system, which they referred to as “the climax of picturedom.”
The first talkie feature-length film, “The Jazz Singer,” played at the theater soon
after it opened.21
With its Concert Grand Organ, and lavish exterior and interior the
Alhambra became known as “The Showplace of Sacramento;” and 31st Street was
renamed Alhambra Blvd.
In addition to new movie theatres the 1920s were “Sacramento’s golden
decade of movie-making.” Forty-five feature-length films were shot in and around
Sacramento between 1914 and 1935; thirty-four of these in the 1920s. The large
majority of the films featured the Sacramento River and Delta.22 As a result, film
budgets added significantly to Sacramento’s prosperity in the 1920s.
Anti-Catholicism in Sacramento:
Two other trends of the 1920s were less promising – the rebirth of the Ku
Klux Klan and Prohibition. Each was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant, thus having
the power to make St. Francis of Assisi parishioners feel uneasy if not threatened.
13
The Ku Klux Klan
The rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in1915 and its growth
in the 1920s can be attributed a number of factors.23 Among
them, the 1915 release of D. W. Griffith’s movie, “The Birth
of A Nation,” romanticized the original Klan, and featured
extensive quotes from Woodrow Wilson’s History of the American People.
The organizational stimulus for the new Klan
came from Colonel William Joseph Simmons of
Atlanta, Georgia, when on Thanksgiving night 1915
he led his followers to the top of Stone Mountain
where they burned a giant cross that could be seen
throughout Atlanta. There Simmons proclaimed
himself the Imperial Wizard of the Invisible Empire
of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the second Ku Klux Klan was founded. He
announced that “any pure, patriotic, native-born white Protestant American [male]
citizen over the age of eighteen was eligible to join the noble and mystic order.” 24
The Ku Klux Klan became a national force during the 1920s. “By 1925,
perhaps 5,000,000 men (almost every sixth adult male) were members, including
a large minority of mid-western and western legislators.”25 These included the
governors of Texas, Indiana, and Oregon and the mayors of Atlanta,
Indianapolis, and Denver.26 The Ku Klux Klan was foremost of all anti-Catholic,
anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and racist, and was strongly committed to enforcing
Prohibition.
The Klan came to the Sacramento area in early May 1921 when as many
as four thousand attended a rally on Lower Stockton Road about ten miles south
of the city. Drawing men largely from San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda this
meeting was reported to be the largest Klan rally ever held in Northern
California.27
14
In September 1921, City Manager, Clyde L. Seavey, voiced his adamant opposition to the Klan:
“The Ku Klux Klan will never be permitted to gain a
foothold in Sacramento as long as I am able to
suppress it.” 28
Klan members later stated that the Sacramento Klan had been organized
in the spring of 1922, and that its first initiation had taken place at the Odd
Fellows Temple at 9th and K Streets.29
The Sacramento Bee vigorously investigated Klan activity. On
Monday, April 10, 1922 the Bee reported that “the Ku Klux Klan raised its
hooded head last night for the first time in Sacramento.” On Palm
Sunday, April 9th, six Klansmen in full regalia marched into an evening
service at Westminster Presbyterian church and presented the Rev.
William E. Harrison with a gift of $50. The Rev. Harrison was quoted in
the Bee as saying that the gift was “inspired by the Almighty.”30
In another article in the April 10th edition the Bee reported that Klan
organizer, Edgar I. Fuller, was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff on March
29, and gave his residence as the Traveler’s Hotel.31
The Bee reported on April 26th that on the previous night two hundred and
fifty to three hundred Sacramento men took an oath of allegiance to the Invisible
Empire before a “fiery cross” in a meeting at Muddox Hall at 5th Avenue and 35th
Street in Oak Park.32
On April 27, the City Council approved by a seven to one vote a measure
proposed by City Manager Clyde Seavey that the council had the power and
would discharge any city employee who belonged to or sympathized with the Ku
Klux Klan.
On May 5th 1922, the Bee published a list of one hundred and forty-four
Sacramento men whose names appeared on membership lists seized in a raid
on Klan headquarters in Los Angeles.33
15
On May 16th a huge initiation ceremony was held on Natomas Lands near
Folsom. On May 18th the Bee reported the names of those whose automobiles
had been parked near the Natomas Klan rally.
On May 29 Superior Court Judges C. O. Busick and Peter J. Shields
issued restraining orders barring the Sacramento City Council from trying alleged
Klan members. On June 1, the Bee reported that the Ku Klux Klan case before
the City Council against ten city employees would be delayed due to the Superior
Court order.
On June 10th another huge initiation ceremony was held on the John Elliott
Ranch near Franklin. This event, cosponsored by the Stockton and Sacramento
Klans, drew a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000, with an estimated 500 to 1,000
initiates.34
Reverend William E. Harrison of Westminster Presbyterian
Church and the Reverend W. A. Redburn of Wesley Methodist Church,
were especially vitriolic in their attacks on Catholics and Catholicism.
Redburn charged that “nearly all the bawdy houses, bootleg joints, and
other dives are owned or controlled by Romanists.” He also suggested
that “convents were places where beautiful women were kept behind
bars for questionable purposes.”35
The Sacramento Klan took an active role in the 1922 primary and
general elections. Advancing a “Good Government Ticket” the Klan
endorsed a number of candidates for Sacramento County office. The
Sacramento Klan also began circulating petitions demanding that the City
Council remove City Manager Clyde Seavey for failure to enforce prohibition and
other ordinances.36
A few days before the primary election on Tuesday, August 29, the
Sacramento Klan began circulating what the Bee later called a “dodger” or false
pamphlet allegedly sponsored by the Catholic Welfare League, referring to a
Bishop Gilmour who urged all Catholics to vote as a bloc. In their “rebuttal” the
Klan urged all Protestants to get out and vote their interests; for Klan backed
Good Government Ticket candidates.37
16
The Sacramento Klan continued its activities into the fall of 1922,
attempting to influence the November 7th elections. But the Sacramento Klan
quickly imploded when the Bee reported on October 31, that Kleagle Fuller had
dissolved the local Klan, and brought charges against H. Hugh Sydenham for
burglary. Sydenham in turn brought charges against Fuller for embezzlement. In
his capacity as Deputy Sheriff, Fuller initially issued warrants for the arrest of five
Sacramento Klansmen, stating that he intended to issue warrants for one
hundred and seventy-four more Klansmen.38
During the first days of November 1922 the Bee covered in detail the
Klan’s continuing disintegration. On November 1, the front-page Bee article was
headlined “Veil of Secrecy Torn, Klan Plots Exposed.” On November 2, the front-
page Bee article was headlined, “Complete Expose of Local Klan’s Workings
Given by Ex-Member,” while below the fold on page one appeared the head-line:
“Divorce Action Was Sought By Fuller’s Wife,” datelined Oakland, California.
Fuller had earlier claimed that his wife and four-year old daughter had been
kidnapped by Sacramento Klansmen, but the Oakland police declared that Mrs.
Fuller was safe in Oakland.39
The November 1 and November 2 front-page Bee stories contained
extensive quotes from Klansmen Myrle Moran and P. J. Monihan regarding the
inner workings of the Sacramento Klan. Klansman County Assessor Erwin was
quoted as stating at an August 19th meeting that he had raised the assessment
on St. Joseph’s cemetery from $1,000 to more than $2,000 an acre bringing the
tax bill to $10,000 – and he “was going to force the
Catholics to pay taxes on it.” 40
In a November 3rd, Bee article, Klan members
where quoted as stating that Fuller spent a lot of time
“hitting at the Pope of Rome and the Catholic Church
in general.” A November 4th Bee article stated that the
official Klan newspaper, “The Crusader,” carried
“vituperative abuse for all Catholics.”
17
The final Bee article on Fuller and the Sacramento Klan appeared on
November 10, with news that E. I. Fuller had been cleared of all charges in the
August primary election fraud case, wherein the Sacramento Klan had circulated
the “dodger” Catholic Welfare League flyer. Klansman P. J. Monihan testified for
the prosecution, but the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence.
Thus the Sacramento Klan dissolved, Kleagle Fuller disappeared from the
city, and a short, but ominous chapter of Sacramento history came to a close. 41
Tom Connelly and “The Catholic Herald”
Between April 1922 and the end of February 1923 Tom Connelly
published approximately fifty articles on the KKK in The Catholic Herald. Of these
articles at least seven referred to specific KKK activities in Sacramento City and
County.42
Thomas Augustus Connelly was the editor and
publisher of The Catholic Herald, Sacramento’s first Catholic
newspaper, from its founding in 1908 until his death in
1929.43 Although the weekly The Catholic Herald was not
the official newspaper of the Diocese, Tom Connelly
enjoyed the strong endorsement of Sacramento’s bishops
before and after the 1922-23 period here surveyed. 44
The question may arise, “Why then did Connelly not
devote more coverage to the KKK in Sacramento?” And the answer that comes
first to mind is that he ran a small shop – he simply did not have the resources to
assign his own reporters, as he did not have any.
18
He did, however, have his own talents and
skills which he devoted energetically to exposing
the dangers of the KKK to Sacramento Catholics
– often he did so with witty, satirical, whimsical or
biting headlines and text. For example: “Hoods
and Nightgowns Bob Up in Local Church,” – April
15, 1922; “Knights of the Tar Pot and Horsewhip,” – April 15, 1922; “Heroes of
Lash and Tar Bucket,” -- May 6, 1922; and “Criminal Possibilities of Coo Coo
Mask,” -- October 7, 1922.
Another line of thought that comes to mind is that Catholics were a
minority in the United States in the 1920s; an often embattled minority which
Catholic scholars now recognize as a “ghetto mentality.” In 1920 the U. S.
Catholic population stood at 23 million out of 106 million people – about twenty-
two percent -- a distinct minority.
From Connelly’s reporting it appears that Catholic Bishops and clergy
across the U. S. remained largely silent on the KKK, judiciously preferring to
have Freemasons, Protestant clergy, VFW leaders, city councils, state
legislatures and others carry the fight to the KKK.45
To the question, “Was the KKK a threat to the Sacramento diocese and to
its parishioners?” the answer would seem to be yes. When eight to ten thousand
fellow Sacramentans attend a KKK initiation ceremony, a Sacramento
parishioner would have cause for concern. Historian Steven M. Avella has noted
that “the size of these rallies must have distressed Catholics.”46
When city policemen and county sheriff’s were members of the KKK, there
would be greater cause for concern. Especially as Sheriff Ellis Jones had ‘hired’
Kleagle Fuller, making him a gun carrying officer of the law.47
Moreover when City Manager Clyde Seavey requested the City Council
fire six policemen, three fire captains and the city harbor master, who were dues
paying KKK members the Council refused. Seavey was attacked as a “Red” and
lacking the support of the council, he resigned. Because Seavey was strongly
19
supported by the Bee, it seems that this KKK victory would be unsettling if not
threatening to Sacramento’s Catholic parishioners.48
One might also point out that the KKK was only active in Sacramento from
April to October 1922, and the local chapter collapsed from infighting. It is
probable that Kleagle Fuller was inept if not grandiose, but this only makes the
record of the KKK’s successes in Sacramento the more remarkable and
disconcerting.
If a man as inept as Kleagle Fuller could recruit hundreds of
Sacramentans – including policemen, firemen, physicians, attorneys, a number
of city and county elected officials, and numerous Protestant clergy, as well as
organize events attended by thousands, then membership and interest in the
KKK must have had a strong attraction in its own right.
Thus nation-wide Klan membership peaked in the mid-1920s at between
four and five million members. As the prosperity of the 1920s gave way to the
adversities of the Great Depression, membership in the Klan fell sharply. 49
It seems that Tom Connelly specifically understood both the threat of the
KKK to Sacramento and its larger threat to the nation. He therefore devoted his
energy to exposing the KKK in Sacramento, and bringing its national threat to the
attention of Sacramento parishioners.
Prohibition in Sacramento
20
Prohibition is one of the central themes of the 1920s. In 1919 the Volstead
Act and the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment made the prohibition of
beverages containing more than 0.5 per cent alcohol illegal in the United States.
Prohibition went into effect at midnight on January 16, 1920.
Yet, Prohibition was not universally welcomed. In 1920 the federal
prohibition director called Sacramento “one of the wettest places in California.”
On January 20, 1925 federal agents in Sacramento emptied more than 10,000
bottles of liquor; the next day they poured out another 1,000 cases. In addition
they seized about $10,000 worth of copper piping. A California prohibition agent
testified that “Sacramento was the most flagrant [violator] and San Francisco was
very bad.”50
Sacramento historian James Henley has said “There was a full-blown
saloon that never stopped operating during Prohibition – in the Capitol.”51
Additionally, when they began operation in 1927 the “Delta King” and the “Delta
Queen” became popular as floating saloons and gambling houses.
As the Great Depression deepened, Prohibition became increasingly
unpopular. In both the 1928 and 1932 presidential elections Democrats favored
repeal.
21
In 1928, Alfred Smith was the first Catholic to run for president. He served
four terms as governor of New York State, before losing by a landslide to Herbert
Hoover in the 1928 presidential election. Historians have noted that Smith was
defeated by “the three P’s – Prejudice, Prohibition and Prosperity.”52 Nonetheless
Smith carried Sacramento County by 50.8 per cent to 48.2 percent, winning
1,078 more votes than Hoover. No doubt many diocesan parishioners voted for
their fellow-Catholic.
October 24, 1929 and the coming of the Great Depression
In October 1929 the New York stock market collapsed wiping out $30
billion in assets in one week. By the end of 1930 U. S. unemployment stood at
8.9 percent with 4.5 million people unemployed.
In 1930 Sacramento’s Community Chest found itself $32,000 short of its
goal. The county registrar of charities, Mary Judge, was overwhelmed by
unemployed seeking benefits and the police were called to her office to restore
order. By 1932 there would be 27,000 unemployed in Sacramento – these
numbers would grow in the months and years ahead.
In response to the Great Depression Bishop Armstrong hired Mary Ellen
Grogan a social worker from Los Angeles to coordinate child care and other
social programs. He also opened the Catholic Welfare Bureau.53
St. Francis of Assisi Parish – 1930
In 1930 Fr. Clement Berberich was serving as pastor of St. Francis of
Assisi Parish; assisting him were Frs. George Wehmeyer, Anselm Boehmer, and
Athanasius Morath. St. Francis elementary school enrolled four hundred and
twenty-five students taught by eleven Franciscan sisters.
In addition the Franciscan sisters also staffed Grace Day Home where
seven sisters taught one hundred and twenty students. In 1929 in cooperation
with the diocese they opened the Japanese Catholic Mission adjacent to Grace
Day Home where they provided education to children and social services to
adults.54 At Holy Angel’s School eight Franciscan sisters taught three hundred
and forty students.
22
Thus in the fall of 1930 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners could be
thankful for the contributions of their parish – centering on the church at the
corner of 26th and K Streets, but also including a new elementary school, a new
friary, gymnasium and auditorium. And not least of all the Franciscan Sisters
Convent on the northwest corner of 26th and K Streets from which the sisters
served so many – Catholic and others – in Sacramento.
23
Notes
1 Necrology, Volumes 1 and 2, Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara 2 Necrology, and “Franciscans lose noted Padre,” The Tidings, December 8, 1944. Former St. Francis of Assisi pastor Fr. Gregory Wooler presided at Fr. Solanus’ Funeral attended by priests and students of the Mission Santa Barbara Seminary. He is buried in the mausoleum at Mission Santa Barbara. Fr. Gregory served as pastor from 1937 to 1943. 3 “St. Francis Parish Bulletin, Christmas Program, 1925” 4 “Status, St. Francis Parish, January 1, 1927” 5 “Sacramento’s Catholic Schools’ ‘Man of Music” is Dead,” Catholic Herald, February 12, 1970; “Requiem Mass Today for Choral Director,” Sacramento Union, February 12, 1970. 6 “Who We Are: A history rich in caring,” www.mercygeneral.org/Who_We_Are/history 7 Directory, Diocese of Sacramento, 1930 8 Rodgerson, Adobe, Brick and Steel, pp. 52-53. 9 While historic records list that both of these buildings at 14 stories, the commercial website, Emporis, lists each at 15 stories. In early 2009, the refurbished California Western States Life Building reopened as the upscale Citizens Hotel. 10 Reid, “People had money to spend . . . “ Sacramento Bee, “Our Century: 1920-1929.” 11 The site was drained, 4000 trees were planted and the resulting park was named for William Land. 12 Mahan, “William Land,” 1997, p. 17 13 Wolman, “Sanitary Engineering,” p. 450; Boghosian, “Architecture,” p. 290; McGowan, “Water,” 1978. Located just south of the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, at the time it was the largest filtration plant on the Pacific Coast. 14 Mrs. Simon J. Lubin, “Reminiscences,” Bancroft Library, 1954 15 www.senatorofficebuilding.com The Palazzo Farnese in Rome, currently the French Embassy, has been judged “the most imposing Italian palace of the sixteenth century” [High Renaissance]. 16 California Historical Landmark #594. The depot is also on the National Register of Historic Places. See www.californiastaterailoadmusuem.org 17 The Federal Highway Act of 1924 created the funding for U S 40. In 1919, when this route was called “The Lincoln Highway,” Lt. Col. Dwight David Eisenhower was assigned to the first transcontinental Army convoy. Made up of eighty-one vehicles the convoy left Washington, DC on July 7, arriving in San Francisco on September 6. It traveled an average of fifty-six miles per day, at about six miles per hour. Sacramento Bee, July 7, 2009, p.B2. Eisenhower recalled this as one of the worst experiences of his life, as the “Lincoln Highway” was merely a series or roads ranging from poured concrete, to tracks
24
across quicksand and alkali mud. This trip is one of the reasons he was such a strong advocate of the 1956 National Highway and Defense Act, creating the Interstate system. Via current Interstate-80, the trip would cover 2,935 miles 18 Bruno, Old River Town, pp. 99 -101. 19 Note that in 1927 World War I was referred to as “World War;” World War II still being twelve years in the future. 20 “A Theatre Reborn,” Sacramento Bee, November 10, 1996. 21 “The Premier, September 24, 1927 – Alhambra Theatre,” and Reid, “Alhambra was the crown jewel …” Sacramento Bee, 1920-1929. 22 Frombose, Paul, “Golden Decade,” Golden Notes, Summer 1992. Films that used the river as a setting included such titles as “Huckleberry Finn,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Show Boat,” “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” and many others.” 23 The first Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1865 in Tennessee and suppressed with the 1871 Federal Anti-Klan Act. 24 Talaga, The Ku Klux Klan¸ p. 19. 25 Dictionary of American History, 2000, p. 218 26 Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan, pp. vii – viii. 27 Von Brauchitsch, Dennis, “The Ku Klux Klan in California: 1921-1924,” 1967, p. 126. San Francisco Examiner, May 6, 1921, p. 14 28 Von Brauchitsch, p. 127. San Francisco Examiner, September 19, 1921, p. 2. 29 Von Brauchitsch, p. 161. 30 Von Brauchitsch, p. 127 ff., Examiner, April 10, 1922, p. 13; Bee, April 10, 1922, “Six Ku Klux Klan Visit Local Church and Present Pastor With $50.” p. 1; see also, “The Ku Klux Klan in Sacramento, 1922,” Golden Notes, Vol. 27, #2, Spring 1981, Sacramento County Historical Society. 31 Bee, April 10, 1922, “Police Question Organizer of Klan Found Here,” p. 4. The Bee followed this up with a page one story on April 12: “Sheriff Gave Organizer of Klan, Stranger to Him, Right to Be Armed.” 32 “Klan Is Watched While Initiating Sacramento Men,” Bee, April 26, 1922, p. 7. Among the men named were H. Hugh Sydenham, former chief of police, M. Mervin, a city policeman, H. M. Mitchell, former city prosecutor, and Albert Greilitch, city harbormaster. 33 Bee, May 2, 1922, p. 1; Bee¸ May 4, 1922, p. 1 34 Von Brautchitsch, p. 142; Bee, June 12, 1922, p. 1. 35 Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan, pp. 188-189.
25
36 Bee, June 19, 1922, p. 1. Among those endorsed were Ellis Jones for Sheriff, Byron C. Erwin for Assessor, H. Hugh Sydenham for County Justice of the Peace and George E. Andrews for Public Administrator (An usher at Westminster Presbyterian Church). 37 Von Brautchitsch, p. 148. Sacramento Bee, August 26, 1922, p. 1. Verification of the false nature of this pamphlet came to light in a Bee article on November 10, 1922 headlined: “Fuller Freed in Election Conspiracy Case.” 38 Von Brautchitsch, p. 156; Bee, October 31, 1922, p. 1. 39 The Edwin I. Fuller family arrived in California from Virginia in March 1922, whereupon Edwin Fuller ensconced his wife and daughter in a house in Oakland, before proceeding on to Sacramento. When questioned by the Oakland police, Mrs. Fuller said she had lived in California for eight months, and that she was kept a virtual prisoner in the Oakland house. Bee, November 2, 1922, p. 1. 40 Bee, November 2, 1922, p. 11, “Erwin Denies He Was At Meeting Admits Assessment.” 41 In a footnote to Edgar I. Fuller’s subsequent career, on March 20, 1923 he announced in Omaha, Nebraska that he was forming the “Fascisti of America” – an organization to replace the Klan. “The symbol of the Fascisti was a black shirt with an outstretched golden eagle over the heart.” Von Brautchitsch, p. 164. In 1925, Edgar I. Fuller published The Visible of the Invisible Empire: The Maelstrom; in 1967 Edgar I. Fuller published “Nigger in the woodpile.” It appears that the 1925 book was self-published. Fuller might have been in his early seventies in 1967, thus he could also have published the second title as well. 42 The Catholic Herald¸ 1922-1923, Volume 15 43 Avella, Diocese of Sacramento¸ pp. 47-48. 44 Every edition of The Catholic Herald here surveyed to August 5, 1922 contained Bishop Grace’s endorsement. Bishop Thomas Grace died on December 27, 1921 and Bishop Keane was installed as Sacramento’s third bishop on Wednesday, May 17, 1922. The August 12, 1922 edition of The Catholic Herald contained Bishop P. J. Keane’s even more ardent and positive endorsement dated August 5, 1922. See Avella, Catholic Church, pp. 144-147. 45 Von Brauchitsch for example names only one Catholic clergyman in his “List of San Francisco Bay Area officials who denounced the Klan” – Rev. W. J. Cartwright, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, San Francisco. P. 259. He includes no list of Sacramento area officials who denounced the Klan 46 Avella, Catholic Church, p. 111. 47 The Catholic Herald¸ April 15, 1922. p. 1. 48 Avella, Indomitable City, p. 87. 49 On August 8, 1925, 40,000 Klan members marched in Washington, D. C.; See also “KKK: Inside American Terror,” National Geographic TV, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com Photo: 1928, Klan March, W, DC. 50 Walker, One Eye Closed, p. 67
26
51 Reid, “City residents found a way to drink,” Sacramento Bee, Our Century, 1920-1929. 52 “Alfred E. Smith, Jr.”, Wikipedia 53 Avella, Diocese of Sacramento, p. 69. 54 “Franciscan Sisters . . . ,” Catholic Herald, 2001. References and Resources “Alhambra Theatre: The Premier, September 24, 1927,” Pamphlet File, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library Avella, Steven M., Diocese of Sacramento: A Journey of Faith, 2006 Avella, Steven M., Sacramento: Indomitable City, 2003. Avella, Steven M., Sacramento and the Catholic Church: Shaping a Capital City, 2008. Bruno, Lloyd, Old River Town¸ 1996. Boghosian, Paula, “The Architecture of Water in Sacramento,” Sacramento History Journal, Special Edition “Water: Our History & Our Future,” 2006 Breault, Fr. William, S.J., Archivist, Diocese of Sacramento. California State Historical Landmarks, http://ceres.ca.gov/geo California Historical Landmark #594. Southern Pacific Depot, also on the National Register of Historic Places. See www.californiastaterailoadmusuem.org Celebrating 90 Years: Sacramento City College, 1916-2006, 2006 Dictionary of American History, 2000. Diocese of Sacramento, Archives: St. Francis Parish Box – “St. Francis Parish Bulletin, Christmas Program, 1925,” and “Status, St. Francis Parish, January 1, 1927.” “Direct the Mild Fund Benefit Show,” Sacramento Bee, April 22, 1936, p. 5 – reference to Anton H. Dorndorf Directory, Diocese of Sacramento, 1920 & 1930
27
Emporis commercial real estate website: www.emporis.com “Franciscans Lose Noted Padre In Death of Fr. Solanus, O.F. M.,” The Tidings, Los Angeles, December 8, 1944 Frombose, Paul, “Golden Decade,” Golden Notes, Summer 1992. Jackson, Kenneth T., The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930, 1992. Joyce, Cathy, Catholic Herald, Diocese of Sacramento “KKK: Inside American Terror,” National Geographic TV, 2009 http://channel.nationalgeographic.com Lubin, Mrs. Simon J., “Reminiscences,” Bancroft Library, 1954 McGowan, Joseph, “Clear Clean Water,” Golden Notes, Winter, 1978, Sacramento County Historical Society Mahan, William E., “William Land: A history of the man and the park,” Golden Notes, No. 43, Volumes 1 & 2, Spring and Summer 1997. Necrology, Volumes 1 and 2, Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara Reid, Dixie, “Alhambra was the crown jewel ….,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920 -1929, December 31, 1999. Reid, Dixie, “City residents found a way to drink during Prohibition,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920-1929,” December 31, 1999. Reid, Dixie, “People had money to spend . . . ,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920-1929, December 31, 1999. “Requiem Mass Today for Choral Director,” Sacramento Union, February 12, 1970. Anton Dorndorf death notice Rodgerson, Eleanor, MD, Adobe, Brick Steel: A history of hospitals and shelters for the sick in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties, 1993 Rogers, Richard C., “One-Hundred Years of the Sacramento City Schools, 1854- 1954,” 1981? Sacramento Bee, “Our Century, “ www.sacbeecom/static/archive/news/projects/people_of_century Sacramento City Directory, 1920 and 1930
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“Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, February 22, 1927.” Pamphlet File, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room; Claire Ellis, James Scott, Tom Tolley Sacramento Railroad Depot, California Historic Landmark #594, www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org Santa Barbara Mission Archives, Fr. Timothy, archivist “Sacramento’s Catholic Schools’ ‘Man of Music” is Dead,” Catholic Herald, February 12, 1970 – Anton Dorndorf death notice Senator Hotel, www.senatorofficebuilding.com Snyder, B. W., & Boghosian, P. J., Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium: Seven Decades of Memories – 1927-1997, 1997 Talaga, Deborah Ann, Historical-Analysis of the Ku Klux Klan, 1865-1982, 1982 CSUS, Masters Thesis The Catholic Herald¸ 1922-1923, Volume 15 Von Brauchitsch, Dennis M., “The Ku Klux Klan in California 1921 – 1924,” MA Thesis, Sacramento State College, 1967, esp. Chapter III “The Klan in the Lower Sacramento Valley,” pp. 126 – 164. Walker, Clifford James, One Eye Closed, the Other Red: The California Bootlegging Years, 1999. “Who We Are: A history rich in caring,” www.mercyhospital.org/Who_We_Are/history Wolman, Abel, “Sanitary Engineering,” Sacramento’s [1923] Filtration Plant,
p. 450. www.ajph.org/cg/ Graphic Credits and Releases
1. SFAP vestibule window – SFAP 2. Fr. Humilis Weiss – Santa Barbara Mission Archives 3. Fr. Felix Raab – SBMA 4. SFAP Church, 1.29.22 – Center for Sacramento History 5. Fr. Ildephonse Moser – SBMA 6. Fr. Solanus Crowley – SBMA
29
7. SF Elementary School, 1927 graduation – SFAP Archives 8. Fr. Clement Berberich – SBMA 9. Anton H. Dorndorf – Sacramento Turn Verein Archives 10. Saint Francis Elementary School – SFAPA 11. Bishop Keane – Diocese of Sacramento Archives – funeral card 12. Holy Guardian Angels School - photo by author 13. Mercy Hospital – DSA 14. Bishop Armstrong – DSA 15. Sutter Hospital c. 1920s – CSH 16. Cal Western States Life Building – SPL/SR 17. Elks Building – SPL/SR 18. Capitol Extension – CSH 19. William Land Park Entrance Monument – photo by author 20. Filtration Plant Brochure, 1923 – CSH 21. Sacramento High School, 1924 – CSH 22. Fox Senator Theatre, c 1939 – CSH 23. Historic Route 40 Marker, 16th Street (Governor’s Mansion) – photo by
author 24. Sacramento Jr. College – SPL/SR 25. Memorial Auditorium San Carlos Opera performance, 2.27.27 - CSH 26. Lindberg (sic) Dinner Invitation (Hotel Senator) SPL/SR 27. Alhambra Theater – SPL/SR 28. Birth of a Nation poster – Wikimedia 29. Woodrow Wilson quote – Wikimedia 30. Clyde L. Seavey photo – CSH 31. “The KKK in Sacramento, 1922” – Sacramento County Historical Society
“I have only heard back from 3 board members who all agreed that the Golden Notes Cover image could be used for your one time purpose...I am copying them all in on this message so if you do not hear back negatively from any of them within the next 48 hours I would say go ahead...you have unanimous approval of those who responded.” 9/14/09
Bob LaPerriere (916) 481-4525 POB 255345, Sacramento CA 95865-5345
www.drbobsac.com [email protected] 32. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 13th and N – CSH 33. Bee Cartoon, 11.3.22, Sacramento Bee 34. Thomas Augustus Connelly – CSH, family photo cropped by author 35. “Hoods and Nightgowns Bob Up In Local Church,” Catholic Herald,
4.15.22 photo by author
36. KKK March, W, DC, photo – Wikimedia 37. Delta King – SPL/SR 38. St. Francis Elementary School, graduation 1930, SFAPA