Ask classic-film fans how they feel about the actor Fredric March, star of legendary movies including Inherit the Wind, The Best Years of Our Lives, and the 1937 version of A Star Is Born, and chances are that question will be answered only with effusive praise for the Academy Award-winning actor and his work both onscreen and off.
That’s why dual decisions in recent years to remove March’s name from a pair of performing-arts venues at two campuses of the University of Wisconsin — March’s alma mater — have drawn confusion, frustration and anger from some film fans, the Hollywood community and activists alike.
Among those weighing in on the controversy: Turner Classic Movies primetime host Ben Mankiewicz, who will address the issue during a tribute to the actor on Friday, Sept. 30, marking the 125th anniversary of March’s birth. “To me, two actors from Hollywood’s golden age really stand in a tier above the rest, and that’s Spencer Tracy and Fredric March — both, oddly, from Wisconsin,” Mankiewicz says. “There’s an authentic humanity to every performance they deliver. Fredric March had a unique ability to embody a character. So yes, when I heard this news, my gut reaction was, ‘Wow, you’re kidding me. No way. How could Fredric March have been in the Klan?’” Mankiewicz addresses the controversy in an exclusive TCM video clip seen below.
Few phrases or organizations are more incendiary or draw more horror when examining the history of American culture than the Ku Klux Klan, yet this accusation was first leveled at March, posthumously, in 2017: that during a brief period while he attended the University of Wisconsin, he was a member of that group. The truth, however, requires interested parties to dig deeper than a tweet or a blog post.
What are the facts behind the accusation? In 1919, March, then a senior at the University of Wisconsin’s Madison campus, accepted an invitation to join an interfraternity honor society that shared a name with the Ku Klux Klan, though the group inviting March had nothing to do with the KKK as it’s known today. It’s unclear why the honor society chose that particular name, but research conducted by the Wisconsin Historical Society did not reveal any connections between that group and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the organization responsible for lynchings and other hate-fueled activities throughout the American South. Indeed, when the latter group arrived on campus in 1922 with the intent of recruiting members, the UW-Madison honor society quickly changed its name to avoid any association. George Gonis, a Milwaukee-based freelance journalist and public historian, unearthed research from the then-president of the honor society, who acknowledged that “so many people confused it with the name of the non-collegiate secret organization of the same name.” By early 1923, the honor society changed its name to Tumas, which can be derived from multiple meanings, including the name Thomas and, simply, “truth.” March, meanwhile, had graduated in June 1920, and after a brief stint in banking, headed to Broadway to forge his career as an actor. Few records exist of him taking part in any of the on-campus honor society’s activities—other than a yearbook photograph that would gain attention in 2017.
The confusion between the two organizations can be understood when one considers how slowly information traveled in early 20th century rural America, Mankiewicz says. “I think we all forget how hard it was to access information in the 1920s,” he points out. “These were the days when news was communicated via telegraph. It’s possible that a bunch of 18-year-old kids in Wisconsin had no idea what that name meant in another part of the country. But the evidence is clear that, once they found out, they changed the name [of their group] because they didn’t want anything to do with…
Read More: A KKK Member or Wronged Victim of Cancel Culture? – The Hollywood Reporter