Program: Explore the Secret History of the KKK in Iowa

White hoods and robes. Cross burnings. Parades of Ku Klux Klan members on the streets, fairgrounds and churches in Iowa’s small towns and cities. It all seems improbable—and yet it happened repeatedly in countless rural and urban communities across the state—including southeast Iowa—in the mid-1920s.

While much of this history is shrouded in mystery, and some has been lost, a surprising number of stories, photos and news clippings still exist, when you know where to look. Join Lake City author/historian Darcy Dougherty Maulsby, “Iowa’s Storyteller,” on this journey back in time to better understand why the “second coming” of the KKK occurred in the mid- 1920s in America, how the secretive group gained traction in Iowa, and why the KKK faded into history (at least in Iowa) prior to the Great Depression.

Maulsby will present this new program on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. at the Blakesburg Historical Preservation Society. This program, which is sponsored by Humanities Iowa, is free and open to the public. Maulsby will also be selling copies of her various non-fiction, Iowa history books, including: The Lincoln Highway in Iowa; A Culinary History of Iowa; Iowa Agriculture: A History of Farming, Family and Food; Calhoun County; Dallas County; Classic Restaurants of Des Moines; and Madison County.

To learn more about Maulsby and her work, visit www.darcymaulsby.com.