Millie's Encounter with the KKK

My encounter with the KKK was really my father's encounter with them. It took place at Easter 1923.  Because the Dutch Reformed Church was the largest, the Methodist and Episcopalian Churches joined for a combined service. Our family was there with Mrs. Aronson, a friend of Mothers.

Suddenly the rear doors opeded in the midst of the service and in walked several white hooded figures (3 or 4). They marched up to the three ministers and handed each and envelope, then marched out again.

Pro Klan, anti Roman Catholic
cartoon by Branford Clarke
 published in Heroes of the Fiery Cross
by the Pillar of Fire Church
in Zarephath, New Jersey

The service ended with nothing said. This was too much for my father who got up and walked out with the rest of us trailing behind.

He was furious and announced he would never go back to that church again - which he never did except for a school graduation which was held there. We had a few uncomfortable years (we were ostracized) until interest in the KKK died down.

Sometime later some of the townspeople apologized for their actions. The Episcopal minister, Mr. Harper, spoke to my father and told him he had not kept the envelope when he found it contained money. At this time the Klan was against Catholics. There were a lot of Italians who worked on the estates and they were the objects.

My father always stood up for the underdog, He believed everyone had the same rights.

Millie also remembered....."I was in school one day when a cross was burned over on another hill, it was set off to scare the Catholics and perhaps force them out of town." 

I'm sure this colored Millie's opinion of churches.  She didn't belong to a church in all the years that knew her.  Among the many notes she left was a statement, "Please don't tell me that people who go to church are better than ones that don't.  The best church goers were all in the clan."

Read More:
The Ku Klux Klan was welcomed at the Jersey Shore
A History of the KKK in New Jersey
The History of the KKK in New Jersey - Wikipedia

School Days and Music

School parade

That Millie was a good student is evidenced by the books on our shelves that were presented to her at the end of the year during grade school for her work and attendance.

She remembers, "Janet Shoemaker and I went to Washington DC with Mr Shoemaker after we graduated from grade school in 1927. We were on our own every day and walked! walked! walked! Even walked up the Washington Monument." 








She graduated from Bernards Highschool (Bernardsville, NJ) in 1931 one of the few students who had taken a college prep course.  

Musicians

A talented musician, as a teenager she attended the Institute of Musical Art when Frank Damrosch (brother of Walter) was in charge. In 1926 it merged with the newly founded Julliard School of Music.  However, when the stock market crashed her older brother lost his job and her father said he couldn't keep both of them and insisted she give it up.

In later life, Millie reminisced, " The Chapmans seemed to be a musical family, I believe they all sang or played the piano and had musical evenings.  My father played the piano and could improvise after hearing just a few notes of something.

When I was about 5, one evening we visited friends of Aunt Millie who lived a couple of blocks away.  Aunt Millie played the piano and I sang, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny".  In later years I never sang at home -- too self-conscious in front of my parents, but I sang in several musicals in town in front of lots of people. Aren't people strange?"

Millie's son Greg remembers his father teasing her about her playing one day, and for years after she refused to play with anyone around.  But eventually he encouraged her to tape herself at least.  While living at Woodside Terrace she did play for sing alongs.  I never heard her really sing until I found the following recording.  If this is what she could do with arthritic fingers, imagine her playing in her heydey!!!

Millicent Chapman Trindle @1990  (age 77+)


History of Julliard