Only in recent years has the Veiled Prophet’s identity been revealed. The pompous displays of grandeur were presided over by the secretive Veiled Prophet, who was chosen yearly by the organization’s members, which consisted of wealthy white men. The hope was that a grand parade would continually bring visitors into town via railways, thus strengthening the city’s economy while lining the pockets of the rich.
The founders of the Veiled Prophet not only wanted to assert their dominance over the working class, but to pull off an envy-inducing event in the face of Chicago, its industrial rival. A year before the first parade, both white and Black railroad workers joined forces against the city’s elite and pulled off a major strike before police and federal troops shut them down. The Veiled Prophet parade and ball was started in an effort to reaffirm the white upper class’ position of power over the disgruntled working class, according to a deep dive by The Atlantic in 2014. Kemper did not return The Daily Beast’s request for comment. Hagers’ own daughter Margaret “Molly” Hager won the Queen title of the ball in 1995.Įllie Kemper on the End of ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ and Reuniting With Former Teacher Jon HammĮven though this news about Kemper has been out there before, both the pictures and newspaper articles led to Kemper being branded a “KKK Princess,” as many dug up the history of the event, which dates back to 1878 and was founded by former Confederate soldier Alonzo Slayback. Louis high society, with their family’s company generating an estimated $250 million in revenue a year. The Hagers are a prominent fixture of St. “Rusty” Hager III, the fair chairman in 1995 and the former president of his family’s 170-year-old door hardware business, Hager Companies. Bush and the uncle of former president George W. “Bucky” Bush-the youngest brother of former president George H.W. He also noted that she was “paced through her royal court” by William H.T. Columnist Jerry Berger took it a step further, gushing that Kemper was “bred up to her pearls in the Prophet’s tradition of good manners, good works and good stock tips.”