Tolerance [Official Journal of the American Unity League]

“Voicing a Protest Against Racial and Religious Discriminations”

This is a scarce collection of nineteen issues of Tolerance Magazine, published in Chicago between 1922 and 1923. At the time, the ‘Invisible Empire’ of the Klu Klux Klan was insidiously spreading across the Windy City and much of the Midwest. Tolerance, sponsored by the American Unity League, was one of several publications distributed to increase public awareness of the KKK and encourage open-mindedness in matters of race and religion.

A heavy emphasis is given on the public disclosure of lists of Klan members – various headlines promise local politicians, businessmen, and other important figures are revealed inside. Tolerance hoped to leverage this public pressure into forcing the KKK out of Chicago, which was filled with Catholics, non-whites, etc. Political cartoons, relevant news articles, morality essays, exposes on the KKK, and even a classified section are among the contents included with each issue.

In this group, three items are of particular cartographic interest. ‘How the States Rank in Infamy‘ (Vol. 2, No. 21) – A distorted map of the contiguous United States used three shades (white, black, hashed) to highlight the concentration of KKK membership across America. Number 1 is Indiana, where 10% of the population (nearly 300,000 people) was a part of the hate group. Plan of a ‘Klavern’ (Vol. 1 No. 6) – A floor plan of the ‘Klavern’, or KKK HQ, has allegedly been taken from the Kloran, the group’s ‘sacred’ book. The caption reads “It is not supposed to be seen by alien eyes, but here it is anyhow.” The Advancing Shadow (Vol. 1 No. 18) – A hooded shadow carrying a burning cross looms over the nation, as the popularity of the KKK begins to take hold in the Pacific Northwest.

Incomplete runs of Tolerance can be found at the Library of Congress, Hanover College, the Indiana Historical Society, and a handful of other institutions. Further reading: Doxxing Racists is a 100 Year Old Tradition; The Klan’s Enemies Step Up, Slowly; Is Your Neighbor a Kluxer?