Anne Braden’s Story
Remembering A Local Louisville Hero. Dr. Gary Straub. Memorial Day-‘25
Yesterday at 4am I began reading Braden’s “The Wall Between.” I finished at 2pm, with lots of questions. I was unfamiliar with Carl/Anne Braden. Jen’s Carol handed me her autographed copy last evening, and I got riveted!
Nancy McLean’s book on Klan sketches Braden’s backstory quoting Anne:
“the times when the Klan failed to grow are as instructive as those when it has. In neither the 1930’s or the 1960’s did it make much headway, because in each period “strong mass movements advocated real answers to social and economic problems” with a strong offensive against the ideology of racism.” (footnotes: McLean, “Behind the Mask of Chivalry” – p. 254)
The irony is not lost on Braden or McLean that history often anoints those with the least stake among ‘the least of these’ to play a critical role in defending democracy and keeping at bay reactionary populist movements. These words of MacLean’s would ring true in any turbulent time. “Thephenomenondeemedbythedominantcultureasleast ‘American’ (i.e. AfricanAmerican, Catholics, andImmigrants) mayhavecontributedmorethanwewilleverknowtokeepingthereactionarypopulistmovementsatbayduringtheGreatDepression.”
In Louisville, Braden’s story stood in the gap for equality— in solidarity with the countless, anti-kluxers hidden from public view. American history repeats as nationalist ideologies —from the White House to the poor house —challenge/confound justice. All to say: Braden’s willingness to step up came at great cost.
My reading notes may help track the Braden timeline of events and incidents:
- A rarely referenced episode of L-ville history: Bloody Monday 1855. A Louisville mob incited by the ‘Know Nothing’ party (kin to Klan) killed German/Irish immigrants. Fast forward 100 years: a Shively mob bombed & burned a cross at Roe Court, where Bradens bought & deeded a house to a black family—the Wades. This violated the illegal real estate practice of redlining. Although courts were “not officially privy to the identity of the true owners of Roe Court,” the full mortgage —not surprisingly—became due immediately! Public opposition resisted KKK threats, as Rev Perdue insisted: “if we let the KKK run the Wades out, Louisville goes back 10 yrs.”
2) Police warn the Braden house will be next! It was! Police even knew who bought the dynamite, but failed to get a conviction. The bombing trial dragged to a “no verdict!”
3) Braden friends rally. Like LaRue Spiker (Princeton grad) who authored “Life of Rev Elijah Lovejoy” (1802-37) recounting Lovejoy’s birth at China Lake, ME—home of Quaker Rufus Jones. Lovejoy settled in St Louis as an Abolitionist Editor. Got burned out! He crossed the river to Alton, IL, where mob attacks killed him & destroyed his press—with sobering implications for Louisville. Soon, the strong words of Lincoln’s Springfield Lyceum speech accompany Lovejoy’s martyrdom: “the Alton Mob disrespect of law will destroy America.”
4) Louisville prosecutor Hamilton invoked a law passed during the Palmer Raids of Red Summer in the 20s—when Attorney General Palmer appointed 25 yr old Hoover as FBI Chief w/ the mandate: stop Communism! FBI conducted anti-sedition raids on the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, arresting immigrants/anarchists & anyone suspected of red ties. Bombs plots against US Gov officials were foiled, while immigrant hysteria seethed. Hamilton invoked a law convicting Braden of sedition, charging him w/ buying a home; then blowing it up to stir a racial war to overthrow of Commonwealth of KY! Quickly convicted, Carl Braden served his sentence in La Grange. Hamilton entertained the notion that a grateful public would elect him KY Governor! Braden’s conviction got overturned— sedition is only a Federal statute — not State. Hamilton obsessed over his rightness in the Braden case: “I guess history will decide which of us is right.” Carl Braden’s rejoinder before committing suicide: “no doubt!”
5) Carl’s conviction was aided and abetted by Hamilton’s illegal raid on Braden’s library. He tricked Sonia-(Carl’s teenage daughter) into finding Marxist books. Even ownership of such books was automatic proof of commie conspiracy! The confluence of McCarthy and Brown v Bd/Ed was all around ‘bad juju.’ Seething beneath the plot was a deep hatred, covered over by hyped-up hysteria reiterated every day in local newspapers.
6) The witness of a secret FBI agent—Albert Athern damaged Carl’s defense. Later, Athern became reclusive, died in a home w/ his mentally ill daughter. And yet— Anne was not bitter: ‘they were very different times, public pressure to conform to hyped pressure– no one escaped unscathed.’ Side note: Anne drew her enormous spiritual strength from her church— St. Georges Episcopal Church—in Portland.
7) Classic scapegoat dynamics drove public opinion. Amazingly, no blacks got convicted. Carl bought a home & sold it to a black family. The house got blown up inciting a race riot. Did Braden’s legal sale really “overthrow KY”? Says Anne: “we slowly learned that every accusation was a teaching opportunity; but folks so completely overwhelmed by evil often despair of anything ever changing!”
As I studied this troubling local account back in the 50’s, I wondered how a hysteric that similarly sealed Braden’s fate might again be in play during the Breanna Taylor riots. At first, I convinced myself that Braden’s battle was ‘too local & long ago’ to impact the trajectory of today’s race relations in Louisville. As I dug deeper, I unearthed another buried but unnerving account —the ‘21 Race Massacre of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, OK.
I found myself asking: what if Lincoln got it right? Upon reflection, it is clear to me that Braden’s story is nowhere near “just local.”
