Researching Hiram Evans

Evans had led the kidnapping and torture of a black man while leader of the Dallas Klan, but as Imperial Wizard, he publicly discouraged vigilante actions for fear that they would hinder his attempts to gain political influence. In 1923, Evans presided over the largest Klan gathering in history, attended by over 200,000, and endorsed several successful candidates in 1924 elections. He moved the Klan's headquarters from Atlanta to Washington, DC, and organized a march of 30,000 members, the largest march in the organization's history, on Pennsylvania Avenue. Evans' efforts notwithstanding, the Klan was buffeted by damaging publicity in the early 1920s, partially because of leadership struggles between Evans and his rivals, which hindered his political efforts.

In the 1930s, the Great Depression significantly decreased the Klan's income, prompting Evans to work for a construction company to supplement his pay. He resigned his position with the Klan in 1939, after disavowing anti-Catholicism. He was succeeded by his chief of staff, James A. Colescott. The next year, Evans faced accusations of involvement in a government corruption scandal in Georgia; he was fined $15,000 after legal proceedings.

Evans sought to promote a form of nativist, Protestant nationalism. In addition to his white supremacist ideology, he fiercely condemned Catholicism, unionism, and communism, which were associated with recent immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. He argued that Jews formed a non-American culture and resisted assimilation although he denied being an anti-Semite. Historians credit Evans with refocusing the Klan on political activities and recruiting outside the South; the Klan grew most in the Midwest and industrial cities. However, they note that the political influence and membership gains he sought were transitory. Some commentators argue that Evans was more focused on money and power than any particular ideology.

Born in Walnut Township, Wayne County, Iowa, Evans attended the country schools and Seymour and Allerton (Iowa) High Schools. He graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law at Iowa City, Iowa in 1886. He was admitted to the bar that year, and commenced practice in Holdrege, Nebraska. He moved to Seymour, Iowa in 1887, and to Corydon, Iowa in 1889 and continued the practice of law. He served as prosecuting attorney for Wayne County, Iowa from 1891 to 1895.

He was elected to one two-year term as member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 1896 and 1897. He was appointed as a member of the board of regents of the University of Iowa, serving from 1897 to 1904. He was elected mayor of Corydon, serving from 1901 to 1903. He was a judge of the third judicial district of Iowa from 1904 until 1923, when he resigned.

In 1923, Horace M. Towner resigned his seat representing Iowa's 8th congressional district in the U.S. House, soon after his sixth term began, when President Warren G. Harding appointed him Governor of Puerto Rico. In a special election, Evans was elected as a Republican to serve out the remainder of Towner's term in the Sixty-eighth Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1924. In all, Evans served from June 4, 1923, to March 3, 1925.

After returning from Washington, Evans resumed the practice of law in Corydon. He was appointed by the Governor of Iowa as a member of the State Board of Parole on July 1, 1927, and served to July 1, 1933.He died in Corydon on July 9, 1941, and was interred in Corydon Cemetery.