Today marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini's spiritualism lecture at the Ku Klux Klan Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 18, 1924. Yes, you heard me right. Houdini, a Jewish immigrant, spoke at a Ku Klux Klan Auditorium.
However, this was
not a Ku Klux Klan event. While the auditorium bore the Klan's name and held Klan gatherings, it also served as a general civic auditorium for Fort Worth. The 2000-seat theater saw many varied events, including a concert by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. It was also where the Lyceum circuit booked their lecturers, so...
The lecture that night proved to be one of Houdini's more combative. He was confronted by a medium named Howard Whitesides, who had failed to produce spirit photographs for Houdini earlier that day. The account in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gives a blow-by-blow:
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| Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oct. 19, 1924. |
If Houdini had any reservations about appearing at an auditorium bearing the name of the Ku Klux Klan, he never voiced them, as far as I know. But some citizens of Fort Worth voiced theirs. Just three weeks after Houdini's appearance, the auditorium was destroyed in a bombing.
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| The Paterson Evening News, Nov. 13, 1924 |
Want more? I've uploaded a collection of clippings related to Houdini's infamous Klan auditorium lecture, including the full
Star-Telegram review, for my "Scholar" patrons below.
Stereoptican is most likely the reporter's term for the photo slides Houdini presented. The audience was entertained at this lecture with lots of clapping and laughing, and they were informed about fraudulent mediums. That's what it was about: Entertain and educate.
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ReplyDeleteHere is an article from the Dallas Fort Worth news of a couple years ago that show the building survived, and is now being re-purposed.
Dave
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/dallas-fort-worth/news/2022/02/09/historic-kkk-building-in-fort-worth-purchased
Nice article! Thanks for posting it Dave!
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