DeForest Henry Perkins | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 24, 1872 North Brooksville, Maine, U.S |
| Died | August 7, 1936 (aged 63) Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Education | University of Maine |
| Occupation | Educator, real estate developer, Ku Klux Klan leader |
DeForest Henry Perkins (December 24, 1872 – August 7, 1936) was an American educator, real estate developer, and political activist who was the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Maine from 1925 to 1928. Perkins served as Superintendent of Portland Public Schools from 1911 – 1918. He was then hired as secretary of the Portland Chamber of Commerce from 1918 – 1921. During his time as Grand Dragon, the Klan experienced both its peak in political strength before dramatically declining. of the Klan's ascendency nationally, and in Maine. He resigned in 1928 after a Klan-backed Republican candidate for U.S. Senator, Ralph Owen Brewster, lost his primary contest to Sen. Frederick Hale, signaling the eclipse of the Klan as a force in Maine politics.