LibGuides: True Crime Book Club: February 2025

About the Author: Timothy Egan

Timothy Egan is an accomplished American author and journalist known for his books on American history and social issues. Here's an overview of his life and career:

Early Life and Education

Born: November 8, 1954, in Seattle, Washington.
Education: Egan attended the University of Washington, where he earned a degree in American History.

Journalism Career

Early Work: Egan began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Seattle Times. His early work included coverage of local and regional news, which laid the groundwork for his later writing.
New York Times: Egan worked as a correspondent for the New York Times for several years. During his tenure, he covered a range of topics, including national and international news, and won numerous awards for his reporting.

Books and Writing

Egan is known for his extensive work in both fiction and non-fiction. Some of his notable works include:

"The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl" (2006): This book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and explores the lives of people who endured the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
"The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America" (2009): This book examines the 1910 wildfire in the American West and its impact on the conservation movement and Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.
"Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis" (2012): This biography delves into the life and work of Edward Curtis, a photographer known for his portraits of Native American tribes.
"A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith" (2019): In this memoir, Egan recounts his pilgrimage across Europe, exploring his own faith and the broader religious landscape of Europe.

Awards and Recognition

National Book Award: Egan received this prestigious award for "The Worst Hard Time," highlighting his significant contributions to American historical literature.
Other Honors: His work has been recognized for its deep research, narrative style, and insight into American history and culture.

Personal Life

Family: Egan is married to his wife, Deborah. They have lived in various places throughout the United States, reflecting his career's demands and personal interests.

Influence and Legacy

Timothy Egan's writing is noted for its detailed research, engaging storytelling, and ability to illuminate significant historical and social issues. His books often explore themes of resilience, environmentalism, and the complexities of American identity.

Egan continues to be a prominent voice in contemporary literature and journalism, contributing to the understanding of American history and social dynamics through his engaging and well-researched works.

What We Watched: Accidental Courtesy

Musician Daryl likes to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan– something few black men can say. In his travels, he’s collected robes and other artifacts from friends affiliated with the Klan, building a collection piece by piece, story by story, and person by person in hopes of eventually opening a “Museum of the Klan”, a testimony to what knowledge and respectful, personal communication can accomplish. In ACCIDENTAL COURTESY, Daryl’s journey takes him to across the country, from old friends who have left the Klan, to friends still active in the organization, including a current Imperial Wizard of the KKK. Winner of a Special Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival.

Synopsis

The Roaring Twenties - the Jazz Age - has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson. Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he'd become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows - their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors, and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman - Madge Oberholtzer - who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees. A Fever in the Heartland marries a propulsive drama to a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history.

Discussion Questions

Historical Context and Significance:
- How does Timothy Egan frame the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s? What historical, social, and political factors contributed to the Klan’s resurgence during this period?
Agnes Meyer’s Role:
- What were the key actions and strategies employed by Agnes Meyer to combat the Klan's influence? How did her efforts and determination shape the resistance against the Klan's activities?
Impact on Communities:
- How did the Klan's activities impact the communities they targeted? What does the book reveal about the experiences of individuals and families who were affected by the Klan’s presence and actions?
Role of Women in Activism:
- Discuss the significance of Agnes Meyer’s role as a woman leading the fight against the Klan. How does her story highlight the contributions of women in social and political activism during this era?
Media and Propaganda:
- How did the Klan use media and propaganda to advance their agenda and gain support? What role did the media play in either supporting or challenging the Klan’s activities?
Public Perception and Resistance:
- How did public perception of the Klan shift throughout the 1920s? What were some of the key factors that led to increased resistance and opposition to the Klan’s agenda?
Comparative Analysis:
- Compare the Klan's tactics and influence in the 1920s to their activities in other periods of American history. What similarities and differences can be identified in their methods and impact?
Ethical and Moral Questions:
- What ethical and moral questions arise from the Klan's actions and the responses to them? How does the book address the moral implications of combating hate and extremism?
Lessons for Today:
- What lessons from the Klan’s rise and Agnes Meyer’s resistance are relevant to contemporary issues of extremism and hate groups? How can her story inform current efforts to combat similar challenges?
Author’s Perspective:
- How does Timothy Egan’s perspective and narrative style influence the portrayal of events and characters in the book? What impact does his approach have on the reader’s understanding of the historical context and personal stories?

The Second Coming of the KKK by Linda Gordon
Call Number: 322.4209 Gordon
Extraordinary national acclaim accompanied the publication of award-winning historian Linda Gordon's disturbing and markedly timely history of the reassembled Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Dramatically challenging our preconceptions of the hooded Klansmen responsible for establishing a Jim Crow racial hierarchy in the 1870s South, this "second Klan" spread in states principally above the Mason-Dixon line by courting xenophobic fears surrounding the flood of immigrant "hordes" landing on American shores. "Part cautionary tale, part expose" ( Washington Post ), The Second Coming of the KKK "illuminates the surprising scope of the movement" ( The New Yorker ); the Klan attracted four-to-six-million members through secret rituals, manufactured news stories, and mass "Klonvocations" prior to its collapse in 1926--but not before its potent ideology of intolerance became part and parcel of the American tradition.
Gangbuster by Alan Prendergast
Call Number: 364.1323 Prendergast
At the height of the roaring 1920s, the ex-frontier town of Denver, Colorado, emerged from the postwar boom as the future of the American city. But the slick facade of progress and opportunity masked a murky stew of organized crime, elaborate swindles, and widespread government corruption. One man risked everything to alter the course of history. Rookie district attorney Phillip Van Cise was already making national headlines for a new brand of law enforcement. Employing military intelligence tools he'd developed during the Great War - wiretapping, undercover operatives, communication intercepts - Van Cise crippled the criminal empire of Lou Blonger, an ex-lawman who had risen from petty scam artist to master of the Big Con. But Van Cise had even darker, more malevolent forces on his radar. The Ku Klux Klan had emerged as a shockingly mainstream middle-class movement, employing anti-immigration scare tactics, encouraging vigilantism, and instigating culture wars, all while claiming to protect true American values. Van Cise saw the toxic ideology for what it was: a new version of the Big Con sold as populism. Utilizing his pioneering surveillance techniques, Van Cise was determined to expose the Invisible Empire from within. Gripping and exhaustively researched, this prescient chronicle of Phillip Van Cise's spectacular career as a feared gangbuster taking on organized crime, the KKK, and corruption at the highest levels of government is a cautionary tale that mirrors our tumultuous times.
I Saw Death Coming by Kidada E. Williams
Call Number: 973.8049 Williams
The story of Reconstruction is often told from the perspective of the politicians, generals, and journalists whose accounts claim an outsized place in collective memory. But this pivotal era looked very different to African Americans in the South transitioning from bondage to freedom after 1865. They were besieged by a campaign of white supremacist violence that persisted through the 1880s and beyond. For too long, their lived experiences have been sidelined, impoverishing our understanding of the obstacles post-Civil War Black families faced, their inspiring determination to survive, and the physical and emotional scars they bore because of it. In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades--indeed, generations--to come. For readers of Carol Anderson, Tiya Miles, and Clint Smith, I Saw Death Coming is an indelible and essential book that speaks to some of the most pressing questions of our times.
The Invisible Empire by Micky Neilson; Todd Warger; Marc Borstel (Artist); Karen Green (Foreword by)
Call Number: GRAPHIC FIC NEILSON
In 1925, the true nature of the Ku Klux Klan was exposed by one woman. This is her story. The members of the Ku Klux Klan once called themselves the knights of the Invisible Empire--an empire that controlled local, state, and federal governments across the United States. The most powerful politicians in the country belonged to the Klan. In 1924, the KKK's Grand Dragon of Indiana, D.C. Stephenson, even famously declared, 'I am the law in Indiana'. The Invisible Empire tells the frightening story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, its ruthless agenda of hate, violence, and corruption--and how everything changed when one woman, Madge Oberholtzer, testified against Stephenson. With her dying breath, Madge exposed the true nature of the Klan and changed the way Americans would see the KKK forever. Madge's story--the cruelty she suffered and the courage she harnessed--is just as powerful and relevant a century later as it was in 1925. Because Madge's name has been largely lost to history, The Invisible Empire is a reminder to new generations of her tragic sacrifice, aiming to keep Madge's memory alive in a new era.