Klan Labor-Day Theatrics

About two and a half acres of wooded land described variously as "the Mundell grove west of the city" or "the Mundell picnic grounds" or "the Mundell free camp grounds" lay somewhere on the 120-acre Mundell farm, which straddled Old Ridge Road in the vicinity of Strack & Van Til. In 1922 Joseph Mundell had opened up those two and a half acres for free use by the general public, whether area residents or passing tourists.[1]

On Labor Day 1923, two different organizations held gatherings there.

One of those organizations was the Ku Klux Klan. As many as 12,000 people attended the Klan picnic, which lasted from mid-morning until midnight. Out-of-towners came in automobiles or streetcars. The festivities included refreshments, speeches, songs, initiation ceremonies "amid flaming crosses," and a nighttime parade through downtown Hobart headed by an automobile decorated with a cross and American flags, and consisting of about 140 Klansmen and a band. As the parade was forming, a plane took to the air with a huge cross strapped to its underside, illuminated by red light bulbs. The plane spent about 45 minutes in the air over northwest Indiana. At a time when flying machines were still uncommon, that surely caught the attention of people on the ground.

Less theatrically and less controversially, the Modern Woodmen of America (a fraternal benefit society) held their picnic further south and east in the Mundell grove.

The Lutherans used the Yellowstone Trail campgrounds east of town.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Hobart News, Sept. 6, 1923.


Hobart Gazette, Sept. 7, 1923.

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[1] Joseph Mundell, his bees, and his campground will be discussed in more detail in the near future.