Publication Date
2025
Subject Area
Section 3: Christian Tensions
Abstract
On a cool spring morning in 1924, a herd of Notre Dame students crowded the streets outside of the local Ku Klux Klan headquarters. When the students began to attack the hooded Klansmen, a full-scale riot ensued throughout the city. As the rioting began to subside, pro-Klan organizations and newspapers began to broadcast this riot as an attack on both Protestantism and American values. By looking at the responses of Klansmen, the riot and its aftermath can be understood as part of the larger context of American anti-Catholicism. The narrative of the riot helps show us how fear mixed with hatred will ultimately boil over into acts of violence, and demonstrates the complexity of American attitudes towards immigration, and Catholicism.
