Guardians of Liberty is a three volume set of books published in 1943 byBishopAlma Bridwell White, author of over 35 books and founder of thePillar of Fire Church. Guardians of Liberty is primarily devoted to summarizing White's vehementanti-Catholicism under the guise of patriotism. White also defends her historical support of and association with theKu Klux Klan while significantly but not completely distancing herself from the Klan. Each of the three volumes corresponds to one of the three books White published in the 1920s promoting theKu Klux Klan and her political views which in addition toanti-Catholicism also includednativism,anti-Semitism andwhite supremacy. InGuardians of Liberty, White removed most, but not all of the direct references to the Klan that had existed in her three 1920s books, both in the text and in the illustrations. In Volumes I and II, she removed most of the nativist, anti-Semitic and white supremacist ideology that had appeared in her predecessor books. However, inGuardians Volume III, she did retain edited versions of chapters promoting nativism, anti-Semitism and white supremacy.

Guardians of Liberty

Author	Alma Bridwell White
Illustrator	Branford Clarke
Subject	Anti-Catholicism,Ku Klux Klan,White Supremacy,Antisemitism
Publisher	Pillar of Fire Church
Publication date	1943
Pages	139, 139, ukn.

Like their predecessor books, each of the volumes is primarily a compendium of essays and sermons written by White and of illustrations by ReverendBranford Clarke. Most of the text and illustrations had originally been published in the pro-Ku Klux Klan political periodicalThe Good Citizen, one of the numerous periodicals published by thePillar of Fire Church at their communal headquarters inZarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire ceased publication ofThe Good Citizen in 1933.Guardians was published when White was 81 years old, three years before her death, and one year before the secondKu Klux Klan declared bankruptcy.

Volume one ofGuardians of Liberty was an edited reprint of White's 1925 bookThe Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy. Of the 13 chapters inGuardians Vol. I, 7 are edited chapters fromKKK in Prophecy, and one chapter is fromHeroes of the Fiery Cross (1928).^[1]

An additional chapter,Rome’s Political Defeat defends thePillar of Fire Church and its members' role in two violent incidents that occurred nearZarephath, New Jersey, the church's headquarters.

It is devoted nearly entirely to promoting White's deeply held fears and hatred of theRoman Catholic Church and of Roman Catholic individuals. Most of the material promoting anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy that had originally been published inKKK in Prophecy was omitted inGuardians Vol. I, although some more-subtle reference were still included. Furthermore, most but not all of the references to theKu Klux Klan were either removed or substituted with the following euphemisms: Patriots, Patriots in White Robes, Our Patriots, Our American Patriots, 100-Per Cent Americans, A Great Patriotic Organization, Invisible Empire, Freedom, Liberty, The Star of Hope, and Our Guardians of Liberty. Two illustrations with Klan images were retained and included inGuardians Vol. 1.

Volume two of Guardians of Liberty contains fifteen chapters, thirteen are fromKlansmen: Guardians of Liberty and one fromThe Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy.^[1]

• Blee, Kathleen M. (1991).Women of the Klan.University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-07876-5.
• Kristin E. Kandt; Historical Essay: In the Name of God; An American Story of Feminism, Racism, and Religious Intolerance: The Story of Alma Bridwell White, 8 Am. U. J. Gender, Soc. Pol. & L 753 (2000)
• Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance by Lynn S. Neal Church History June 2009

• The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy
• Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty
• Heroes of the Fiery Cross
• The Good Citizen
• History of Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey