We analyzed research using Saturday Night Science from Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped Klaverns by city from 1915-1940. This report analyzes the locations of historic KKK organizations to see where they were the most prevalent in Illinois.
The city in Illinois with the most number of Klaverns was Chicago with 28 Klaverns. The city with the most number of Klaverns per capita was Stanford with 0.0017 Klaverns. There were historically 94 Klaverns in Illinois, across 57 places in Illinois with at least 1 Klavern during the period of reference.
Hate groups can be hard to measure because, typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. These cities have historically been the most racist in Illinois based on the number of KKK Klaverns.
This report does not speak to the current people who live there or the current state of the KKK in the same towns or areas.
1 Klaverns · #1 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #2 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #3 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #4 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #5 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #6 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #7 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #8 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #9 most historically racist in Illinois
1 Klaverns · #10 most historically racist in Illinois
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Illinois’s historic Klaverns were
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Most Historically Racist Places In The Prairie State
While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.
Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.
- Number of historic KKK Klaverns (1915-1940) per current resident
Using Saturday Night Science, we analyzed the locations of historic KKK organizations per capita using current population data.
The full plate
Cities With Historically High KKK Membership In Illinois
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Klaverns | Klaverns /100k |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | 603 | 1 | 166 |
| 2 | Shabbona | 877 | 1 | 114 |
| 3 | Mount Pulaski | 1,257 | 1 | 80 |
| 4 | Assumption | 1,266 | 1 | 79 |
| 5 | Erie | 1,594 | 1 | 63 |
| 6 | Winchester | 1,644 | 1 | 61 |
| 7 | Venice | 1,751 | 1 | 57 |
| 8 | Farmer City | 2,054 | 1 | 49 |
| 9 | Lexington | 2,213 | 1 | 45 |
| 10 | Nokomis | 2,358 | 1 | 42 |
| 11 | El Paso | 2,582 | 1 | 39 |
| 12 | Newton | 2,872 | 1 | 35 |
| 13 | Oregon | 3,592 | 1 | 28 |
| 14 | West Frankfort | 8,247 | 2 | 24 |
| 15 | Kewanee | 12,694 | 3 | 24 |
| 16 | Marseilles | 4,832 | 1 | 21 |
| 17 | Auburn | 5,004 | 1 | 20 |
| 18 | Shelbyville | 5,211 | 1 | 19 |
| 19 | Pana | 5,601 | 1 | 18 |
| 20 | Litchfield | 6,913 | 1 | 14 |
| 21 | Clinton | 6,931 | 1 | 14 |
| 22 | Princeton | 7,698 | 1 | 13 |
| 23 | Murphysboro | 8,189 | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | East St. Louis | 26,697 | 3 | 11 |
| 25 | Mattoon | 17,906 | 2 | 11 |
| 26 | Olney | 8,997 | 1 | 11 |
| 27 | LaSalle | 9,537 | 1 | 10 |
| 28 | Monmouth | 9,565 | 1 | 10 |
| 29 | Harvard | 9,829 | 1 | 10 |
| 30 | Chatham | 12,131 | 1 | 8 |
| 31 | Lincoln | 14,382 | 1 | 7 |
| 32 | Sterling | 15,208 | 1 | 7 |
| 33 | Ottawa | 18,992 | 1 | 5 |
| 34 | Jacksonville | 19,315 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Charleston | 22,065 | 1 | 5 |
| 36 | Maywood | 24,148 | 1 | 4 |
| 37 | Lockport | 25,063 | 1 | 4 |
| 38 | Harvey | 25,225 | 1 | 4 |
| 38 | Freeport | 25,225 | 1 | 4 |
| 40 | Belvidere | 25,713 | 1 | 4 |
| 41 | Oak Park | 51,988 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Wilmette | 27,345 | 1 | 4 |
| 43 | Alton | 27,517 | 1 | 4 |
| 44 | Galesburg | 31,898 | 1 | 3 |
| 45 | Danville | 32,483 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 | Pekin | 33,928 | 1 | 3 |
| 47 | Bloomington | 77,883 | 2 | 3 |
| 48 | DeKalb | 44,092 | 1 | 2 |
| 49 | Elgin | 110,906 | 2 | 2 |
| 50 | Berwyn | 56,762 | 1 | 2 |
| 51 | Joliet | 147,786 | 2 | 1 |
| 52 | Decatur | 75,088 | 1 | 1 |
| 53 | Waukegan | 88,671 | 1 | 1 |
| 54 | Chicago | 2,712,608 | 28 | 1 |
| 55 | Peoria | 115,718 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Springfield | 116,815 | 1 | 1 |
| 57 | Rockford | 151,290 | 1 | 1 |
Source: VCU Mapping the Klan, 1915-1940; current population data. 57 cities with at least one Klavern.
Summary
There You Have It – The Most Historically Racist Cities In Illinois
When you’re looking at the places in Illinois with the highest number of historical KKK Klaverns per capita, this is an accurate list.
Below is a chart that lists all cities in Illinois with at least one KKK organization from 1915-1940.
The cities with the largest number of KKK Klaverns per capita were Stanford, Shabbona, Mount Pulaski, Assumption, Erie, Winchester, Venice, Farmer City, Lexington, and Nokomis. Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Historic KKK Presence In Illinois FAQs
What is the most historically racist city in Illinois?
Stanford had the most KKK Klaverns per capita of any Illinois city between 1915 and 1940, which puts it at the top of this historical ranking. The measure is historic Klan chapters, not anything about residents today.
Which Illinois city had the most Klaverns overall?
Chicago had the most Klaverns in Illinois outright, with 28. Our ranking uses Klaverns per capita instead, so smaller towns with heavy Klan presence rank ahead of big cities on raw counts.
How many Klaverns did Illinois have?
Illinois had 94 documented Klaverns across 57 cities during the 1915-1940 period. Those are the cities that appear in this ranking.
Does this mean Stanford is racist today?
No. This ranking maps where the KKK organized a century ago, and says nothing about the people who live in Stanford now. Treat it as history, not a review of the current community.
Where does this data come from?
The numbers come from a historical archive of Klan chapters, called Klaverns, documented between 1915 and 1940. We divided each city’s Klavern count by its population to get the per-capita ranking.
