Daisy Barr

Background

Daisy Douglas was born in Jonesboro, Indiana.

Career

She served as the vice-chair of the Republican Committee in Indiana as well as president of the Indiana War Mother"s organization. However, she lived much of her life in Muncie, Indiana and Indianapolis. The couple had one son, Thomas Junior. in 1895.

By 1896, Barr was ordained a minister and began preaching.

She was noted as an excellent preacher, which served her well when she began to speak on social issues. The first social issue that Barr promoted was prohibition.

In 1911, she recruited many people to join the anti-liquor movement. Her speaking abilities were so profound that she was able to attract as many as 1600 people to a single meeting and began to travel around the states and speak at various forums against alcohol.

In addition to being against alcohol, Barr also preached for women's right to vote.

She saw women's dependence on men as one of the key problems with alcohol abuse. After years of hard work by Barr, the Young Women's Christian Association, and other prohibitionists, the city of Muncie went dry in 1914. Shortly after this victory in Muncie, Barr fell ill and then resigned from the ministry.

By 1917, the family had relocated to Indianapolis, and in the 1920s Barr re-emerged as a political and religious leader.

She became the president of the Indiana War Mothers and was the first woman vice-chair of the Republican Committee. Because of this admission, Barr also resigned from Indiana War Mothers.

In 1923, District of Columbia Stephenson chose Barr to head a woman’s order of the Klan. Barr became the Imperial Empress of this organization.

Eventually, the Queens of the Golden Mask were absorbed into the Women of the Ku Klux Klan.

At this time, the Klan was a very popular organization in Indiana. Estimates place the number of members between 125,000 to 500,000 men in Indiana. However, in 1924, the Klan charged that Barr "had amassed a fortune off the dues of Klansmen." Two years later, she was replaced in her leadership position in the WKKK by Lillian Sedwick who was a state official in the WCTU. Barr died on April 3, 1938 in Clark County, Indiana north of Jeffersonville after sustaining a broken neck in a head-on car collision on United States Highway 31.

Membership

Ku Klux Klan]

By 1923, both Barr and the Chair of the Republican Committee resigned when it became public that they were both active members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Connections

Friend:

Muncie, Indiana