BAD TOWN #9 THE WORST BAD TOWN

The Worst Bad Town (The History of the KKK in Bellingham)

Once again, the Good Time Girls have teamed up with the ladies of The City of Subdued Podcast to bring you the darkest, the most oppressive, the spookiest, and the baddest parts of Bellingham History.

This week’s episode is particularly dark and oppressive. We discuss the history of the Ku Klux Klan, aka the KKK, here in Bellingham, Whatcom County and the PNW.

Bellingham had a very active and visible chapter of the Klan beginning in the 1920s. The local chapter was mainly focused on anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant and anti-communist activism. There was a local Women’s Auxiliary group of the KKK and a state Klan convention was hosted here. Did the Klan ever really go away or did they just go underground? Current events highlight the fact that we need to take a hard look at the legacy of the Klan on both a national and local level.

Listen

You can at any of these podcast-listening places: google podcasts, apple podcasts, spotify, or podbay as well as on local Bellingham radio station KMRE Thursday December 3 at 10 pm

Further resources:

Article by Emily Stout in the Western Front: The history of the KKK in Bellingham

The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project at UW: The Ku Klux Klan In Washington State

A Ku Klux Klan pamphlet found in an attic in Bellingham - courtesy the collections of the Whatcom Museum.