The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.
In a dark time in local history, businessman Dan O’Hanlon spoke out against the forces of white supremacy and religious intolerance. With a simple proclamation of “Liar!” at a Klan rally 1924, he challenged the KKK, and likely gave others the courage to do so.
Dan O’Hanlon was born in England in 1887. During World War I, He served in the British army, at the front for nearly two and half years.
He married his wife Margaret (an American) in England and, after the War, they moved briefly to Nebraska before coming to Fullerton in 1920 at the request of his brother-in-law, Tom Eadington, who worked in the local citrus industry.
He slowly built up an insurance, accounting, and realty business. Meanwhile, he and his wife had seven children: Margaret, Daniel, John, Eileen, Mary, Thomas, Kathleen, Marjoria, and Larry.
He was a civic-minded businessman, serving as secretary of the local Kiwanis Club, director of the Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the Orange County Democratic Central committee, and president of the Holy Name society at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
In 1924, when he was 37 years old, O’Hanlon found himself in the eye of a storm as the Ku Klux Klan was amassing lots of members, power, and popularity locally.
In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan was experiencing a massive resurgence, with an estimated 5 million members, even outside the South. It became a major force in politics.
In Anaheim, four KKK members were elected to City Council. In Fullerton, many prominent leaders joined the hooded order. The Klan painted a large “KIGY” (Klan I Greet You) sign over Spadra (now Harbor) in Fullerton.
According to the Fullerton News-Tribune, “there is a membership of from 2500 to 3000 [Klan members] in this territory.”
Crosses were burned on the hills above town. Ku Klux Klan rallies drawing thousands took place throughout Orange County in 1924, including at least two large meetings at what is now Amerige Park, across the street from City Hall.
Perhaps out of curiosity, Dan O’Hanlon attended one such rally.
O’Hanlon, who was Catholic, was unhappy with the Klan speaker’s denunciations of catholicism, so he shouted “Liar!” during the speech.
This led to cries of “get that guy” and “where is a tar bucket?” from different parts of the crowd. O’Hanlon was taken by police officers, for his own safety, and booked him briefly at the city jail. He was released later that night, and according to an oral history interview with O’Hanlon’s wife Margaret, a cross was burned on their lawn that night.
“They burned their crosses in front of our house in the middle of the night. It scared me to death,” Margaret said. “I heard a couple of shots that went off and that waked me. Dan wanted to go out and I said, ‘No don’t,’ and I said ‘Just stay indoors.’ So in the morning before it was light, I went out and moved this burnt cross and threw it out.”
It was because of local residents like O’Hanlon, who spoke up against the Klan, that its popularity began to wane. Not long after O’Hanlon called out the rally speaker, the Rotary Club issued a public denunciation of the Klan.
To read more about the Ku Klux Klan in Orange County, including the individuals and groups that resisted, read my article HERE.
Fullerton History 