Rice County

Firemen were Called       September 19, 1923 Albert Lea Evening Tribune–

Faribault firemen last night performed the unusual task of extinguishing a fiery cross of the Ku Klux Klan in that city. The flaming emblem of the order was burning on East Second Street bridge in that city and residents of the vicinity called out the fire fighters who anticipating a burning house, found the cross which they threw in the river. A second cross was burned on the bluffs below St. Mary’s Hall, about 7:30 p.m., and was watched by hundreds of downtown pedestrians for over 15 minutes. The cross was constructed of wood and oil soaked rope, which gave a brilliant illumination.

They Were Scared. September 25, 1923 Albert Lea Evening Tribune

Downtown shoppers Saturday afternoon were alarmed when an automobile bearing a Nebraska license tag and the inscription “Ku Klux Klan to Red Wing” parked near the corner of Third Street and Central Avenue. The men in the machine told police that they were bound to Red Wing to stage a Klan demonstration. Simultaneously with the appearance of the car, copies of the Call of the North,’ the official Klan publication for Minnesota were broadcast on the streets.
The first state Klan convention was held in Faribault in August 1924.

Over 69 cities and towns were represented.

Held at the Rice County Fairgrounds.

Speeches that day referred to “the Jewish problem,” the Yellow Peril,” and “Americanism in the Public Schools”

Attendance reported 2,000 men, 500 women (Midway News said fewer than half that number attended)