>From The Denver Post December 16, 1992 By Steven Rosen, Dener Post Art Critic Contrasts The more things change, the more they remain the same. Take Colorado, for instance. It's now called the Hate State because voters passed Amendment 2, which repealed anti-bias laws that protected gays from discrimination in jobs, housing or public services in Denver, Boulder and Aspen. Back in the 1920s, Colorado also could lay claim to that title. For a brief period, the Ku Klux Klan controlled state government. That historic parallel gives great currency to the new exhibition "20th Century Colorado: The Roaring Twenties, 1920-1930," at the Colorado History Museum through June 13. Whatever your belief about the intent of Amendment 2 or of its sponsor, Colorado for Family Values, you can't help thinking as you see this show that people are concerned about these issues today. The Ku Klux Klan display is but one small, yet very compelling, section of this huge show, which includes 800 artifacts covering everything from the flappers worn by "flapper girls" to the constrution of the Moffat tunnel. But the Klan display is eerie. It is dominated by those frighteningly elaborate white uniforms and photographs of Dr. John Galen Locke, the portly Grand Dragon of the Colorado Klan who was described as "a buddha with a goatee. His view--that immigrants, Jews, Catholics, blacks and others had made native-born white Protestants "outlaws in the land of their fore- fathers"--swayed many here in the 1920s. Research thorough Carol Schreider,the museum's education director, and her staff have really done their research in finding artifacts from the brief period, 1924-1926, when Klan-backed candidates controlled the governor's office, state legislature and--until then-mayor Ben Stapleton broke with the organization--the city of Denver. Using "stealth" tactics, Klan members gained control of the state's Republican convention and nominated their supporter, Clarence Morley, for the top office. He won, as did many Klan-backed legislative candidates. However, there was enough of a minority to prevent enactment of such Klan-backed proposals as banning use of wine in religious communion services. Colorado's Klan was public-relations savvy. The exhibit has photographs of its women's auxiliary members distributing Thanksgiving food baskets to the poor. "In small towns, they'd frequently march into a Presbyterian Church during Sunday services and make large donations," she said. They painted themselves as protectors of solid-American values." Other artifacts are chilling. There is a series of pamphlets explaining "The Attitude" toward Jews, Roman Catholic Hierarchy and The Public School Problem. There is a sign from Denver's Radio Cafe, 1111 15th St,. advertising it as a "Kozy, Klean Kafe," a not-so-subtle way of showing sympathy with Klan ideals. "The major weapons of the Klan were economic boycotts and intimidation," Schreider said. "You could be boycotted by being the wrong person or hiring the wrong person." Also on display is one fascinating artifact detailing the resistance to the Klan, which was especially strong in Denver. Angered that Stapleton was a Klan sympathizer, attorney Philip Hornbein forced a recall election. The election certificate declaring that recall had failed is on display. Stapleton then broke with the Klan, hastening its political downfall. You might think that this is all that Colorado was since the 1920s--a state of hate. But, as the exhibtion shows, there was so much going on, so quickly, that even this period is but a footnote. Attack by militia The socialist International Workers of tthe World sponsored a bitter coal-mine strike in 1927, prompting an attack by state militia that killed five. This exhibit features a photograph of an IWW postser from the period--a defiant worker to whom the union's initials stand for "I Will Win." (Critics of the leftist union said its initials stood for "I Won't Work.) And during Prohibition, which lasted throughout the 1920s, Coors Brewing Co. switched from beer to malted-milk production. Several of its ads from the period are on display--one shows a group of children gathered around a kitchen table with Coors malted milk. Beyond the politics, the 1920s was a fabulous era of technological growth in Colorado. The first natural-gas supplies arrived; more than 30 schools, including the impressive East, South and West high schools, were built in Denver; radio and rotary-dial telephone service arrived in force; and the automobile became commonplace. In fact, as for-pleasure use of autos increased, Denver built an "auto-camp" in 1920 at Overland Park. An ad for it shows the city offering "free sites, electric light, shower booths, comfort stations and laundry." The decade of the '20s was tragic for one dog. "Jeff," the mascot of Colorado Air National Guard's 120th Observation squadron, was so faithful he safely parachuted with his masters 100 times. But unfortunately he made a 101st jump--at a National Guard circus on Aug. 16, 1924. "Jeff's" chute didn't open. Let this exhibit, with its photograph of "Jeff" and other squadron members, serve as a tribute to Colorado's most fearless dog ever.