A 1905 Silent Movie Revolutionizes American Film—and Radicalizes American Nationalists

When filmmaker D.W. Griffith released Birth of a Nation in 1915, the revolutionary film changed the way America thought about the movies and in many respects launched the modern film industry. But lesser known is the role Birth of a Nation had in the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.

Listen to the Birth of a Nation episode of Southern Hollows:
​
​

​

​Now that you've heard the episode, take a closer look.

The movie.

Birth of a Nation (theatrical release poster above) was America's first film blockbuster.

That's filmmaker D.W. Griffith on the left in the hat. He's talking to the actor Henry Walthall, who stars as Confederate Colonel Ben Cameron in the film. It's believed this photograph was snapped on the set of Birth of a Nation. 

Scenes from the film (above) include the title card quoting President Wilson and the lynching of the character Gus.

Watch Birth of a Nation for yourself:

Again, a word of warning—it's unwatchably racist:

The Klan  is revived.

Meet William Joseph Simmons, the traveling salesman and preacher who revived the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 in a ceremony on top of Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta, Georgia. (Clipping is from the Atlanta Constitution, November 28, 1915.)

And, under the cover of night, Memphis removes its monument honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest. 

photo @NinaHarrelsonTV

Read about how the city's leadership unfolded a novel plan to remove the statue in The Atlantic. 

Learn more.

The Birth of a Nation:​ How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War

Dick Lehr's great book on the film focuses on the release of the film and the Boston protests led by Monroe Trotter—protests that would serve as a model for social action in the coming civil rights movement.

More about Lehr's book here.

D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time

Melvyn Stokes' book on the film and the response at the time is also a fascinating read. 

More about Stokes' book here.

​The credits.

Host/Producer:
Stinson Liles

Sound Design/Audio Engineer:
Justin Newton
 
Theme Music:
"Cold Sober" by Kevin MacLeod

Sources: 

Birth of a Nation. D.W, Griffith, Director. D.W. Griffith Corp., 1915.

Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke University Press, 1981.

Fleming, Walter J. Ku Klux Klan: Its Origins, Growth and Disbandment. Neale Publishing.

"Floggers Linked to Killings in Lover's Lane." Chicago Tribune, March 24, 1940.

Cutlip, Scott M. "Letters to the Editor: Klan Made Potent Use of Birth of a Nation." New York Times, May 12, 1994.

Lehr, Dick. Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War. Public Affairs Press, 2014. 

Lehr, Dick. Interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered, February 8, 2015.

McWhirter, Cameron. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Henry Holt and Company, 2011.

Stokes, Melvyn. D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

"The Various Shady Lives of the Ku Klux Klan." TIME Magazine, April 9, 1965.

"William J. Simmons" The (New London, CT) Day, October 17, 1921.