Editing Hiram Wesley Evans (section)

==Downfall of the Klan==
n the 1930s, the Klan's public support nearly vanished and their membership dropped to about 100,000 people, primarily concentrated in the South, having lost most of their members in the Midwest and West. James A. Colescott, Evans' handpicked chief of staff, then increasingly shouldered Evans' responsibilities .After the Great Depression further damaged the Klan's finances, the group's leadership sold their Atlanta headquarters in 1936. Around then, Evans announced his intention to retire.

Although anti-Catholicism had been a consistent platform of the Klan, before leaving the organization, Evans renounced his anti-Catholicism and pronounced a "new era of religious tolerance." In 1939, he said that "in no other time in history has there been more need for all people who believe in the same Father and same Son to stand together." That year, Evans also publicly expressed an interest in learning aspects of Judaism to understand the Old Testament better. Chester L. Quarles, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Mississippi, argues that Evans repudiated anti-Catholicism because of his desire to fight unions and communism and his fear of having too many enemies at one time.[

After Evans sold the Klan's former headquarters, it was purchased by the Catholic Church. The Cathedral of Christ the King was later built on the site. Evans attended the building's dedication and spoke highly of the service, surprising many observers. His attendance at the service was his last significant public appearance as Imperial Wizard: he stepped down soon afterwards, having become deeply unpopular with members of the Klan, who felt that he had embraced their enemies. He resigned on June 10, 1939, and was replaced as Imperial Wizard by Colescott.