At that time, Ohio had more KKK members than any other state and Dayton in particular was seen as one of six cities in the United States that were particularly "Klan-friendly" and known as "hooded capitals."
However, in a transcript of an interview with the head coach of the team, Harry Boujan and one of his players buried in the UD archives, he recounts an incident from 1923 that even the archivist thought was just a rumor. Somehow, Boujan heard that the Klan was planning to burn crosses on a hill at Woodland Cemetery. He then took some of his players to the cemetery to wait for the Klan to start the cross burning. Boujan told his players to "take after them" and "tear their shirts off...or anything else you want to do." The Klan members fled through the cemetery and avoided being caught by the football team.
It was after that incident that the Klan set off bombs on campus on December 19, 1923, the first day of Christmas break. Few students were on campus and the bombs caused little damage but students and people from the community chased the Klan away.
The author of the article, Tom Archdeacon, details the difficulty that Dr. William Vance Trollinger Jr., a UD history professor, had in his research. It's unfortunate that this incident is kept under wraps by the university since it is a terrific story of regular Daytonians courageously standing up to prejudice and bigotry. Archdeacon quotes Dr. Trollinger near the end of the article regarding a similar incident at Notre Dame at around the same time. That university, however, is much more open about remembering what happened. He mentions that there is even a movie about what happened. I hope that this article will bring more attention to this event and that the University of Dayton will give Boujan and his courageous players the recognition they deserve.
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| Tom Archdeacon article in Oct. 25 DDN |
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