Ku Klux Klan Rallies in Worcester: October 19, 1924

On this day in 1819, a crowd gathered on a Boston wharf to bid farewell to the first Protestant missionaries bound for Hawaii. Among them were seven Massachusetts couples, four of them recently married. After a difficult five-month voyage, they got their first glimpse of the Big Island and its people. The islanders were friendly, curious, and easy-going, but their near-nakedness, ignorance of "civilized" ways, and apparent laziness shocked the missionaries. Although frustrated by the natives' lack of interest in farming, sewing, cleaning, and cooking, most of the couples stayed for years, building New England-style churches and schools, translating the Bible and other Protestant works into Hawaiian, and providing medical care. Most never returned to New England.

On this day in 1844, tens of thousands of people in Massachusetts expected the world to come to an end. They were followers of William Miller, a man who claimed to know the date of Jesus's second coming. Many "Millerites" sold all their possessions to prepare for the day when Christ would return to earth, gather them up to heaven, and purify the rest of the world in an all-consuming fire. As the date approached, a great comet blazed across the Massachusetts sky, and the number of believers grew. On October 22nd, the Millerites donned white robes and climbed mountains or trees to speed their ascension into heaven. When the prophecy failed, most abandoned Miller's apocalyptical teachings and returned to their original churches.

On this day in 1797, USS Constitution was launched in Boston. It took three attempts to set the immense ship, reinforced with heavy diagonal planking and copper sheathing, afloat. Shipyard officials warned townspeople to be prepared for a great wave when the boat was finally launched, but none appeared. Her greatest moment came during the War of 1812, when in less than 20 minutes her guns turned a British warship into a hulk, not worth towing to port. When British cannonballs appeared to bounce off her thick wooden hull, a sailor exclaimed, "Huzzah, her sides are made of iron!" Ever since, people have referred to the ship by her affectionate nickname "Old Ironsides." Berthed at the Boston Navy Yard, she is the oldest commissioned warship in the world.

On this day in 1880, Lydia Maria Child, whom abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called "the first woman in the Republic," was buried in Wayland. A successful novelist and magazine editor and the author of a widely read guide to household economy, she sacrificed her career by taking a highly unpopular stand against slavery. Her anti-slavery work enraged most of the nation and cost Child dearly. She could no longer sell her books or publish her writings, and she lost her job at a children's magazine. But Child continued to argue eloquently and courageously against injustice of all kinds. The eulogist at her funeral declared that Lydia Maria Child was "ready to die for a principle and starve for an idea. . . ."

On this day in 1924, the largest gathering of the Ku Klux Klan ever held in New England took place at the Agricultural Fairgrounds in Worcester. Klansmen in sheets and hoods, new Knights awaiting a mass induction ceremony, and supporters swelled the crowd to 15,000. The KKK had hired more than 400 "husky guards," but when the rally ended around midnight, a riot broke out. Klansmen's cars were stoned, burned, and windows smashed. KKK members were pulled from their cars and beaten. Klansmen called for police protection, but the situation raged out of control for most of the night. The violence after the "Klanvocation" had the desired effect. Membership fell off, and no further public Klan meetings were held in Worcester.

On this day in 1786, Malden's selectmen put up for "vendue" Mary Degresha, who was unable to support herself. They auctioned her off to the lowest bidder, who agreed to accept payment of six dollars a week for housing and "taking proper care" of her. For two centuries, Massachusetts towns were responsible for supporting those who could not support themselves. Sometimes this meant providing necessities, such as clothing, firewood, or food. Other times, a household was compensated for taking in an indigent man, woman, or child. In the 1820s, a gradual shift began toward institutionalizing the poor in almshouses or workhouses. Early in the twentieth century, the state took over responsibility for the Commonwealth's poorest citizens.

On this day in 1978, a trial began on Cape Cod to determine whether the Mashpee Indians met the legal definition of a tribe. If they did, they could sue for the return of land granted to them in 1685. With huge amounts of undeveloped land at stake, Mashpee's non-Indian residents hired lawyers. The defense argued that the Mashpee Wampanoag had intermarried with so many different groups over the years that they were no longer genetically the same people as the original Mashpee. The lawyers also claimed that the Mashpee had not maintained their traditions. After a 40-day trial, the judge declared that the Mashpee Wampanoag did not meet the legal definition of a tribe and therefore had no standing to sue. The case was dismissed.