Temple For 'American Hitler' Once Stood In Redmond: Knute Berger

REDMOND, WA - Were you aware of Redmond's fascist history?

We weren't either until Crosscut columnist and local historian Knute "Mossback" Berger came out with his latest video in the KCTS 9 series "Mossback's Northwest." In the video, Berger describes a sort-of fascist uprising in the Seattle area in the 1930s centered round William Dudley Pelley, also known as the "American Hitler."

Pelley ran a fascist political group called the Silver Shirts (later the Christian Party), according to Berger. The group built a cabin in Redmond in honor of Pelley called the "silver lodge." At the peak of his popularity, Pelley had around 2,000 followers around Puget Sound, enough to get him on the state ballot when he ran for president in 1936.

Pelley was a big fan of Adolf Hitler - enough that Pelley went to jail for sedition in the 1940s during World War II.

Image via YouTube