America may not perish : the Italian-American fight against the Ku Klux Klan in the Mahoning Valley

Abstract

Previous studies on the Italian-American reaction to the Ku Klux Klan in Niles, Ohio primarily discussed the Knights of the Flaming Circle, an anti-Klan organization whose efforts and activities news writers well documented in local papers. Some completed oral interviews of those who experienced the presence of the Klan to supplement the information obtained from newspaper accounts. However, most of these interviews took place in the 1980s, nearly sixty years after the riot between the Knights of the Flaming Circle and the Klan. Furthermore, the age of the interviewees limited the validity of the oral histories. Only one local newspaper, Il Cittadino Italo-Americano, provided an account of the events in the Mahoning Valley through the perspective of Italian-Americans. The newspaper, written in Italian, had scarcely been analyzed for research. It contained valuable information regarding Italian-American attitudes toward the Klan, the United States, and the Mahoning Valley. Most importantly, the newspaper provided evidence of another Italian reaction to the Klan, separate from the Knights of the Flaming Circle. Il Cittadino Italo-Americano called Italian-Americans to participate in the American political process and prove their American citizenship by contributing to Niles society. Il Cittadino Italo-Americano served as the most significant primary source to determine the Italian-American reaction to the Ku Klux Klan. Information gathered from other local newspapers, oral histories, census data, and secondary literature supplemented that obtained from Il Cittadino Italo-Americano. Using these sources, the study proved that another Italian-American reaction against the Klan existed. These Italians were politically active, literate, educated, and considered themselves American citizens.