'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' star Ellie Kemper was named Queen of Love and Beauty in 1999 by a group with a racially exclusionary past. Now Twitter is on fire.
'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' star Ellie Kemper was named Queen of Love and Beauty in 1999 by a group with a racially exclusionary past. Now Twitter is on fire.
Was Ellie Kemper Crowned ‘Queen Of The KKK’ In 1999? Here’s The Truth About The Veiled Prophet Organization And Her Involvement
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Ellie Kemper is trending on Twitter because of something she was involved with over two decades ago with a controversial history, the Veiled Prophet Ball. There are a lot of inaccurate reports hitting the web, which is not surprising. Here’s what we know.
Ellie Kemper’s Upbringing
Kemper was born and raised in St. Louis, Misouri. Her family has a lot of history in St. Louis and the state of Missouri in general, with a long line of successful bankers going back generations. Her great-great-grandfather, William Thornton Kemper Sr., founded Commerce Bank in the early 20th century, and many of his descendants have since followed him into the banking business, including with Commerce. Her father, David Kemper, ran the bank as well.
Photograph courtesy of Che R. Applewhaite
On the day of a summer 2019 car-wash fundraiser for the R.C. Striders, a junior track team based in St. Louis, almost everyone from the 20-person squad spent more than five hours in the sweltering sun. They’d qualified for the Junior Olympics and needed funds to help get there. Usually, practice at the Normandy High School track was strenuous, not only from the physical exertion but from the ghosts: Mike Brown was once a student there. His killing by police officer Darren Wilson in 2014 ignited more than “400 days of sustained direct action,” as activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham put it the Ferguson Uprising.