Pictured is an image taken during a performance of “Kluckers: Indiana and the 1920s KKK.” The play will be presented Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Elkhart County Historical Museum. Photo provided by Patrick McGuire.

News Release

ELKHART — The Elkhart County Historical Museum will be presenting a performance of the Acting Ensemble’s “Kluckers: Indiana and the 1920s KKK,” a play written and directed by Jim Geisel.

The performance will be taking place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased ahead of time at www.actingensemble.com/box-office/ or at the door.

In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan made a resurgence in Indiana and nationally. The press was instrumental in beginning the decline of the KKK, especially Boyd Gurley, editor of the Indianapolis Times, during the 1920s. Under his leadership, the newspaper doggedly pursued information about the corruption and political influence of the Ku Klux Klan. That exposure led to a significant reduction in membership and influence of the Klan and to the receipt of a Pulitzer Prize by the Indianapolis Times in 1928. This saga has now been brought to the stage by Geisel in “Kluckers,” a play about the Klan in Indiana and their decline as a result of the investigative reporting of Gurley and the bravery of the Indianapolis Times in publishing the true story. Geisel is a local playwright who researched, wrote and now directs “Kluckers.”

Following the production, the audience will be led in discussion about the role of the news media in exposing corruption, the parallels today in the nation, in Indiana and locally and what individual citizens can do to support truth and honesty of the press.