James Malone Papers

Biographical sketch: James Malone was born on 22 November 1874 in Tecumseh, Nebraska. His family later were among the first homesteaders in Rawlins County, northwestern Kansas on the Nebraska border. At the age of twenty-one, he homesteaded a quarter section of land adjoining his parents. He married Mary Mentlick in 1899 and together they had one son, Clarence. Malone farmed until he was thirty, at which time he took over part ownership of Beaver Valley Roller Mills in Herndon, Kansas. In 1906 Malone was elected as a state representative from Rawlins County. He served until 1911, at which time he was elected to the state Senate, where he remained until 1921. In the 1913 session he was the first Democrat in the history of Kansas to serve as majority floor leader. During his tenure in the Legislature, Malone successfully sponsored a bill which established Columbus Day (October 12) as a state holiday. In 1920, he sold his share of Beaver Valley Roller Mills, was admitted to the Kansas Bar Association and moved to Topeka to practice law. Following his son's graduation from law school, the two were associated in the law firm Malone and Malone. He also served on the State Labor Commission from 1937 to 1939. For over forty years he was a member of the Kansas State Historical Society's Board of Directors and the state deputy of the Kansas Knights of Columbus. Malone also organized the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Topeka and served as its vice-chairman for over twenty-five years. In 1952, he was elected vice-president of the national organization. Archbishop Edward J. Hunkeler, in 1954, bestowed upon him the title of Knight of St. Gregory, which is the highest honor given by the Catholic Church to a layman. He retired that same year and returned to live on his farm in Rawlins County. James Malone died on 3 November 1963, at the age of eighty-eight.

Scope and content: Materials written by James Malone relating to Ku Klux Klan, 1922-1964, collected by Clarence Malone, his son.

This collection contains correspondence both written and received by James Malone and newspaper clippings collected by him. The materials, dated 1922 to 1926, primarily documents the reaction of members of the Knights of Columbus and Catholic clergy and laity to Ku Klux Klan machinations within the state of Kansas to discredit the Catholic Church, as well as Catholic sentiment regarding the effort started in the early 1920s by Kansas Governor Henry J. Allen to drive the Klan from the state through legal maneuvering and processes. Factual accounts of these situations are given in the newspaper clippings.

The collection also contains material from an opposing viewpoint, because several of the clippings are letters to the editor and reprints of speeches delivered by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The collection is organized into two series: Correspondence, and Clippings. Both series are arranged chronologically with partially dated and undated material placed at the end of each series. For preservation purposes all of the newspaper clippings and some of the correspondence have been photocopied onto acid-free paper; the original correspondence has been retained and filed separately. In accordance with Kansas State Historical Society policies, staff of the library and manuscripts collections separately copied and cataloged items for their collections. In this collection are unpublished items selected by manuscripts archivists. Printed items selected by the staff of those collections are accessioned, cataloged, and filed separately.

Other Finding Aid/Index: Full finding aid can be found at the Kansas Historical Society and on its website, www.kshs.org