This little town in the state founded by the Baptist clergyman, Roger Williams, as an assylum for the oppressed of all faiths as an exemplar of religious tolerance is in the throes of a heated religious controversy precipitated by a debate in the local high school on the merrits of Ku Klux Klan.
The winning team which contended that the Klan was not a menace was awarded the decision and the trio of school pupils composing the team received today letters of appreciation from Edward Young Clarke, Imperial Giant of the Klan.
Attacks on the Knights of Columbus and on the several faiths being fought by the Klan has resulted in a demand by the Knights of Columbus for an apology from the school committee for permitting the use of the schoolhouse for such utterances. The Klan debaters among other charges, contended that the religious groups which they opposed were seeking to run the country. Attacks, it is said, were also made upon the ceremonies of the faiths themselves.
The team which contended that the Klan is a menace was composed of a Catholic, Leo Rowan; a Jew, Jerome Solomon and a Seventh Day Adventist, Miss Mildred Saunders.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
