My presentation will focus on an area of relevant historical study that has been neglected until quite recently, namely, the Ku Klux Klan’s focus on educational reform in the 1920s. Specifically, by utilizing local primary source documents, graduate theses, secondary source surveys and journal articles, my presentation will compare and contrast the significant yet neglected case study of the Klan’s brief yet ultimately ineffective takeover of the Akron Public Schoolboard in the 1920s with case studies of other Klan chapters throughout the United States. In doing so, I will illustrate why this organization that boasted over six million members nationwide, including hundreds of large chapters such as that of Akron, Ohio failed to achieve any lasting reforms, even though the organizations stated philosophy and goals seemed to conform with much of mainstream political discourse.

Prior research in political efficacy has paid little attention to the effect that state-level religious policies have on the efficacy of minority religious citizens. There is some evidence that suggests that predominately conservative states enact religious policies to reinforce religious favoritism. Arguably, these policies have implications on the efficacy of minority religious individuals. In this paper, I examine both state-level and individual-level data to test for a relationship between state policies and political efficacy. Using state level policy data, I develop a measure that captures religious favoritism or preference in states. Individual survey data is used to measure the efficacy of minority religious citizens as well as religious orientation. The models also account for a variety of state policies including immunization laws, homeschooling rates, and similar policies in assessing the relationship between state legislation and political efficacy.