A Queer History of the United States for Young People

Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington, DC, September 1926.
There was a nonviolent part of this movement, called the social purity
movement. This included groups with names such as the Union for
Concerted Moral Effort, the American Purity Alliance, and the National
Congress of Mothers, which presented themselves as concerned citizens
working for the betterment of American society. Many of these groups
were made up primarily of women and focused on drunkenness, crime,
sexual behavior, and personal morality, often saying they were trying to
help women and children. They also were against prostitution, saloons,
and public drinking, as well as urban crime—most of which they saw as
brought on by immigrant populations—sexual relations outside of
marriage, and “indecent” books, music, and theater. Frequently they
placed the blame for these “problems” on African Americans, immigrants,
and anyone outside the white Protestant majority.