The Fall of the Klan: The Story of Madge Oberholtzer
In the early 1920s, Indiana was at the centre of a Ku Klux Klan revival. With over 250,000 members, the Klan was visible, blatant in its aims, violent and very public in its displays of dominance over those they believed inferior. The abduction and murder of one woman in 1925 set in motion a series of events that would cripple the growth and influence of the Indiana Klan forever. This is the case of Madge Oberholtzer.
Listen to the podcast episode on this case here:
Madge Oberholtzer’s Background
Madge Augustine Oberholtzer was born in Irvington, a district of Indianapolis, Indiana in November 1896 to parents of German descent. Her father George was a postal clerk, and her mother Matilda, a homemaker. Her family were well-respected in their community and attended Irvington Methodist Church. Madge was passionate about learning, and as a young woman attended Butler College in Irvington, where she studied English, logic, mathematics, and zoology, later working as a teacher. She spent three years studying, before abandoning…
