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{{Infobox Person | name =Hiram Wesley Evans | image =Hiram Wesley Evans.jpg | image_size = | caption =Evans leading his Knights of the Klan on the parade held in Washington, D.C. on September 13, 1926 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|9|26}} | birth_place =[[Ashland, Alabama]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1966|9|14|1881|9|26}} | death_place =[[Atlanta, Georgia]] | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education =[[Vanderbilt University]] | employer =[[Ku Klux Klan]] | occupation = | title =[[Imperial Wizard]] | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)]] | boards = | religion = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Hiram Wesley Evans''' [http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2012/03/10/archives/post-perspective/star-spangled-fascists.html/attachment/3-evans Photo] ([[September 26]], [[1881]] - [[September 14]], [[1966]]) was [[Imperial Wizard]] of the "second" [[Ku Klux Klan]] from 1922 until 1939. Evans succeeded [[William Joseph Simmons]] in the position of the Imperial Wizard in November 1922. Simmons was at the same time elected Emperor for life.<ref>{{cite news
 | first = | last =  | authorlink =  | author =  | coauthors =  | title = Klan Makes Simmons Emperor For Life. Dr. H.W. Evans of Dallas Is the New Imperial Wizard. Clarke Imperial Giant. | url =  | work = [[The New York Times]] | quote=Colonel [[William Joseph Simmons]], formerly Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was elected "Emperor" for life, a new position in the order, at today's session of the Imperial Klanvokation here.  | location =  | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CEFDF1F3EEE3ABC4151DFB7678389639EDE  | pages =  | date = [[November 29]], [[1922]]  }}</ref>

==Biography==
He was born on [[September 26]], [[1881]], in [[Ashland, Alabama]], to Hiram Martin Evans and Georgia Ann Striplin, who were of [[Welsh people|Welsh]] descent. He studied [[dentistry]] at [[Vanderbilt University]] but did not get a degree. Evans later worked as a dentist in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Texas]], until 1920. In the same year, he joined the Klan.

The second Klan was established by [[William J. Simmons]] a minister of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church, South]] in 1915 on [[Stone Mountain]] near [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. The first Ku Klux Klan (1865-1869) existed to oppose [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] and maintain white control over former slaves in the regions of the former [[Confederate States of America]].

The second Klan was also anti-[[African American|black]], but it had a much wider agenda than the first. A [[nativism (politics)|nativist]] group, it was anti-[[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[antisemitism|anti-Semitic]], anti-[[Immigration to the United States|immigrant]], anti-[[trade union|labor union]], and [[anti-communism|anti-communist]]. It was also supportive of the [[temperance movement]] and alcohol [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]], which it pledged to enforce.

<blockquote>
"Though men and women drop from the ranks they remain with us in purpose, and can be depended on fully in any crisis. Also, there are millions who have never joined, but who think and feel and -- when called on -- fight with us. This is our real strength, and no one who ignores it can hope to understand America today." &ndash; Hiram Wesley Evans<ref>{{cite journal |last= Evans |first= Hiram Wesley |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1926 |month= March-April-May |title= The Klan's Fight for Americanism |journal= [[The North American Review]] |volume= |issue=  |pages= |id= |url= |quote= }}</ref>
</blockquote>

The era of Evans' leadership of the Klan saw internal struggle, rapid growth of membership, and eventually rapid decline. After 1922, Simmons' and Evans' factions struggled for power and the organization's money. This internal conflict was often making the news across the country. The newspapers also focused on Klan violence, thus hurting its image nationwide. Amidst the negative press, Evans decided to show strength of the Klan and organized the largest parade of Klansmen ever. Some 40,000 Knights of the Ku Klux Klan paraded down [[Pennsylvania Avenue]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], in August 1925.<ref name="splc"/><ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |quote=Hiram Wesley Evans, Imperial Wizard, resplendent in purple and gold, smiled and bowed hat in hand as he proudly led some 30,000 to 50,000 Klansmen and Klanswomen down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the Treasury.  |title= Procession |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,720745,00.html |work= [[Time (magazine)]] |publisher= |date= [[August 17]], [[1925]] }}</ref> At its peak in the mid-1920s, the organization included about 15% of the nation's eligible population, approximately 4–5 million men.<ref>According to the 1920 census, the population of white males 18 years and older was about 31 million, but many of these men would have been ineligible for membership because they were immigrants, jews, or Roman Catholics.</ref><ref name="aahist">{{cite web |url= http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2207/The_Ku_Klux_Klan_a_brief__biography |title= The Ku Klux Klan, a brief biography |accessdate= |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher= [[The African American Registry]] }}</ref> In September 1926, Evans tried to repeat the parade but many fewer marchers arrived compared to 1925. 

On January 16, 1939, Imperial Wizard Evans modified his anti-Catholic stance by accepting the invitation of Bishop Gerald P. O'Hara of the Savannah- 
Atlanta Catholic Diocese to attend the dedication ceremonies for 
Atlanta's new Cathedral of Christ the King. The property containing the new structure once was the site of the first national Klan headquarters.<ref>''The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics'' by Arnold S. Rice, page 105</ref> 

Evans was a thirty-second degree [[Freemasonry|Mason]] who boasted of having helped [[United States presidential election, 1924|re-elect]] [[Calvin Coolidge]] as [[President of the United States]], of having secured passage of strict anti-immigration laws and of having checked the ambitions of Roman Catholics and others intent on "perverting" the nation.<ref name="splc">{{cite web |url= http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html |title= A Hundred Years of Terror |accessdate= |author= A special report prepared by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |date=  |work= |publisher= [[Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis]] }}</ref>

In 1942, he was put on trial for conspiracy, which ended in a mistrial.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mistrial Is Declared In Evans Conspiracy Case |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/278312652.html?dids=278312652:278312652&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+13%2C+1942&author=&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Mistrial+Is+Declared+In+Evans+Conspiracy+Case&pqatl=google |quote=A mistrial was declared yesterday in the case of Hiram Wesley Evans, former national chief of the Ku Klux Klan, who was charged with conspiracy to defraud the State of Georgia. |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |date=June 13, 1942 |accessdate=2009-02-11 }}</ref>

==Death==
He died on [[September 14]], [[1966]], in [[Atlanta, Georgia]].

==Legacy==
More negative press, reports of Klan's violence and attention of politicians led to flight of many members. During the [[Great Depression]] of 1930s the membership shrunk further to an estimated 30,000.<ref name="aahist"/> Evans was succeeded as the Imperial Wizard by [[James A. Colescott]]. He left him the Klan much weakened, compared to the situation when he began his leadership.

==Publications==
*''The Menace of Modern Immigration'' (1923)
*''The Klan of Tomorrow'' (1924)
*''Alienism in the Democracy'' (1927) 
*''[http://books.google.com/books?id=-8HqExkx-rgC&dq The Rising Storm]'' (1929)
*''The Klan Fights for Americanism'' (1926).
*''Negro Suffrage--Its False Theory''

==External link==
* [https://archive.org/stream/IsTheKuKluxKlanConstructiveOrDestructiveADebateBetweenImperial/cod#page/n0/mode/1up ''Is the Ku Klux Klan Constructive or Destructive?''] A debate between Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans and jewish critic [[Israel Zangwill]] (1924)

== References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{wikipedia}}
[[Category:Ku Klux Klan leaders]]