"Big Mule" industrialists and especially the Black Belt planters who had long dominated the state. In 1926, Democrat Bibb Graves, a former chapter head, won the governor's office with KKK members' support. He led one of the most progressive administrations in the state's history, pushing for increased education funding, better public health, new highway construction, and pro-labor legislation. At the same time, KKK vigilantes—thinking they enjoyed governmental protection—launched a wave of physical terror across Alabama in 1927, targeting both blacks and whites. The Republicans responded: The major newspapers kept up a steady, loud attack on the Klan as violent and un-American. Sheriffs cracked down on Klan violence, and a national scandal among Klan leaders in the 1920s turned many members away. The state voted for Democrat Al Smith in 1928, although he was Roman Catholic (a target of the KKK). The Klan's official membership plunged to under six thousand by 1930. World War II During World War II, most of Alabama would contribute its vast agricultural resources for the war effort, with Birmingham contributing industrial resources. The iron and steel industries in Birmingham smoothly transitioned to wartime production, with furnaces that had closed during the Great Depression reopening to meet the demands of War Production Board contracts. Alabama's Ingalls Iron Works became a leader in the construction of Liberty ships, launching the first fully welded ship in October 1940, helping revolutionize the ship building industry. Civil Rights Movement and redistricting (1945–1975) Economically, the major force in Alabama was the mechanization and consolidation of agriculture. Mechanical cotton pickers became available in the postwar era, reducing the need for many agricultural workers. They tended to move into the region's urban areas. Still, by 1963, only about a third of the state's cotton was picked by machine. Diversification from cotton into soybeans, poultry and dairy products also drove more poor people off the land. In the state's thirty-five Appalachian counties, twenty-one lost population between 1950 and 1960. What was once a rural state became more industrial and urban. Following service in World War II, many African-American veterans became activists for civil rights, wanting their rights under the law as citizens. The Montgomery bus boycott from 1955 to 1956 was one of the most significant African-American protests against the policy of racial segregation in the state. Although constituting a majority of bus passengers, African Americans were discriminated against in seating policy. The protest nearly