Madge Augustine Oberholtzer (10 November 1896 – 14 April 1925) was an American schoolteacher who worked and lived in Indianapolis. Abducted and assaulted, she achieved national attention by naming D.C. Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan, as her assailant before she died of poisoning. Her testimony was key to his conviction at trial and to the decline of the 1920s KKK in Indiana.
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Early life
Oberholzer was born in Clay City, Indiana and grew up in Fulton County, Indiana. After college, she worked as a teacher in an Indiana state program for literacy. Like many young single women, she continued to live with her parents, then in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis.
Events of the case
On 15 March 1925, David Curtiss Stephenson, a powerful political figure and high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, kidnapped Oberholtzer after meeting her through Governor Ed Jackson, whom he had helped get elected in 1924. Then a member of the Republican Party, Stephenson had been a Democrat and was a Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan and 22 other northern states. He was wealthy and had great political power.
Stephenson took Oberholtzer into his private train car and forced her to drink. He raped her while his train traveled toward Chicago. Stephenson was said to have chewed and bitten Oberholtzer all over her body. On the second day at an Indiana hotel, Oberholtzer attempted to shoot herself but was foiled by Stephenson. Oberholtzer managed to purchase mercuric chloride tablets and consumed them in another attempt at escape by suicide.
Stephenson and his companions discovered her vomiting blood, and drove her back to Indianapolis. Before leaving his house, Oberholtzer threatened him, saying “The law will get their hands on you!” He laughed and said, “I am the law.” Stephenson's Klan connections gave him tremendous political power in the state when the KKK was at a height of membership and influence.
When Oberholtzer got home, she sought medical attention, but it was too late. With what strength she had left, she accused Stephenson in a deathbed statement on 28 March that detailed her treatment at his hands. Oberholtzer died on 14 April from an infection and kidney failure from mercury poisoning.
Stephenson was indicted on charges of rape and second-degree murder. His lawyer's defense was that Oberholtzer had committed suicide. The prosecution pointed out that Oberholtzer had vomited so violently that prompt medical attention may have saved her. During closing statements, Stephenson was decried as a “destroyer of virtue and womanhood”. He was found guilty of second degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Stephenson's assault of Oberholtzer so outraged many members of the Klan that entire lodges left the organization. In addition, Indiana and other states stepped up efforts to publicize Klan members (who had depended on secrecy to hide their activities) and prosecute infractions. By 20 February 1928, Indiana Klan rosters had decreased dramatically from a peak of more than 250,000 members[1] to approximately 4,000.
Stephenson was paroled on 23 March 1950, but violated parole by disappearing on or before 25 September 1950. On 15 December 1950, he was captured in Minneapolis. In 1951 he was directed to serve a further 10 years in prison. On 22 December 1956, Stephenson was paroled again, on the condition that he leave Indiana and never return. In 1961, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old girl, but the charges were dropped on grounds of insufficient evidence. He died in 1966.
Madge Oberholtzer was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Indianapolis.
Legacy in popular culture
Actress Mel Harris portrayed Oberholtzer in the TV mini-series Cross of Fire (1989).
See also
References
- ^ ["D.C. Stephenson Collection, 1922-1978", Indiana Historical Society
- Brummel, Bill; Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History, aired 31 May 2003 on the History Channel.
- Crais, Robert; Cross of Fire, 1989 television miniseries.
- Lutholtz, M. William; Grand Dragon: D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana.
- Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton; The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia, New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1991.
- "D.C. Stephenson Collection, 1922-1978", Indiana Historical Society
- "Ku Klux Klan Resources", Indiana State Library
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