Degree Discipline

States

Saving Society Through Politics: the Ku Klux Klan in Dallas, Texas in the 1920s (open access)

Saving Society Through Politics: the Ku Klux Klan in Dallas, Texas in the 1920s

This study analyzes the rise of the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Dallas, Texas, in the context of the national Klan. It looks at the circumstances and people behind the revival of the Klan in 1915. It chronicles the aggressive marketing program that brought the Klan to Dallas and shows how the Dallas Klavern then changed the course of the national Klan with its emphasis on politics. Specifically, this was done through the person of Hiram Wesley Evans, Dallas dentist and aspiring intellectual, who engineered a coup and took over the national Klan operations in 1922. Evans, as did Dallas's local Klavern number 66, emphasized a strong anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic ideology to recruit, motivate, and justify the existence of the Ku Klux Klan. The study finds that, on the local scene, the Dallas Klavern's leadership was composed of middle and upper-middle class businessmen. Under their leadership, the Klan engaged in a variety of fraternal and vigilante activities. Most remarkable, however, were its successful political efforts. Between 1922 and 1924, the Klan overthrew the old political hierarchy and controlled city and county politics to such a degree that only the Dallas school board escaped the Invisible Empire's domination. Klavern 66 also wielded …
Date: December 1997
Creator: Morris, Mark N. (Mark Noland)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Life and Works of Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna: Anglican Evangelical Progressive (open access)

The Life and Works of Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna: Anglican Evangelical Progressive

Among the British evangelicals of her day, Charlotte Elizabeth Browne Phelan Tonna was one of the most popular. She was an Anglican Evangelical Progressive who through her works of fiction, poetry, tracts, travel accounts, and essays dealing with theology, politics and social criticism convinced fellow evangelicals to get actively involved in the issues that concerned her.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Cross, Thomas C. (Thomas Clinton)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Expendable Creation: Classical Pentecostalism and Environmental Disregard (open access)

Expendable Creation: Classical Pentecostalism and Environmental Disregard

Whereas the ecological crisis has elicited a response from many quarters of American Christianity, classical (or denominational) Pentecostals have expressed almost no concern about environmental problems. The reasons for their disregard of the environment lie in the Pentecostal worldview which finds expression in their: (1) tradition; (2) view of human and natural history; (3) common theological beliefs; and (4) scriptural interpretation. All these aspects of Pentecostalism emphasize and value the supernatural--conversely viewing nature as subordinate, dependent and temporary. Therefore, the ecocrisis is not problematic because, for Pentecostals, the natural environment is: of only relative value; must serve the divine plan; and will soon be destroyed and replaced. Furthermore, Pentecostals are likely to continue their environmental disregard, since the supernaturalism which spawns it is key to Pentecostal identity.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Goins, Jeffrey P. (Jeffrey Paul)
System: The UNT Digital Library