Invisible Empire

In 1925, the KKK in Indiana was at the height of its influence, with one third of the state's population among its ranks. It was seen as a patriotic, pro-working class organization. However, the case of Madge Oberholtzer would change that forever. Madge was a young, white, middle-class Indiana resident who worked for D.C. Stephenson, a powerful politician in Indiana and former KKK Grand Dragon who led a coup dividing the Northern Klan. On March 15th, Stephenson and his henchmen abducted Madge at gunpoint and forced her to accompany Stephenson on a private train to Chicago, where he would call himself the "law in Indiana" and proceed to brutally beat and victimize her. Before succumbing to her injuries, Madge provided a full statement of her abuse at the hands of Stephenson which would expose the depths of Indiana's political corruption and lay bare the true face of the Ku Klux Klan**x2014;a revelation that would have a ripple effect on America's impression of the Klan from that day forward.