University of Mississippi Libraries
Guide to the Ku Klux Klan Collection (MUM00254)
MUM00254
Table of Contents
PURL
http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00254/
Summary Information
- Repository
- University of Mississippi Libraries
- Creator
- University of Mississippi
- Title
- Guide to the Ku Klux Klan Collection
- ID
- MUM00254
- Date [inclusive]
- 1955-1978, undated
- Extent
- 2.26 cubic ft. 1 box (C-9) + 1 oversize box (G-9)
- Location note
- D-15
- Abstract
- Correspondence, pamphlets, publications, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the South after World War II. Contains materials about Klan activity in the following states: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Preferred Citation
Ku Klux Klan Collection (MUM00254). Archives & Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi
Historical Sketch
The Ku Klux Klan was the largest and best known of the secret societies and vigilante groups formed after the American Civil War by ex-Confederates and opponents of Reconstruction. Initially formed as a social group, the Klan became notorious for its efforts to maintain white political and economic control in the South by threatening, assaulting, or murdering freedmen, African American politicians, and white Republicans who supported Reconstruction. Some of the Klan's prominent members, despite their agreement with the principles of white supremacy, later distanced themselves from the lawlessness that characterized the organization. By the 1880s, when Democrats had regained political power in the South, the Klan began to wane in membership and influence.
In 1915, the Ku Klux Klan re-emerged, this time spreading well beyond the South. The Klan's popularity in this period reflected widespread nativist sentiment aroused by a flood of new immigrants, particularly Catholics and Jews from Eastern Europe, who were viewed by many Americans as threats to the economic and religious stability of the United States. The Klan continued to espouse white supremacy, and was responsible for many of the lynchings that took place across the South in the early twentieth century. Internal strife and federal intervention contributed to the weakening of the Klan, but it continued to exist in the 1930s and 1940s.
While the Klan never again reached its 1920s membership levels, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s inspired renewed Klan activity, especially in the South. Whenever African American citizens took action to gain their rights, the Klan gained in popularity. The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, located in Mississippi, was the most prominent order active in the post-World War II period. The White Knights and local Klan organizations in other states were responsible for numerous acts of intimidation, violence, and murder against civil rights activists and supporters. Violence by the Klan grew after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and throughout the 1960s, when civil rights groups increased their efforts to achieve desegregation and voting rights. The Klan also operated a wide-scale publicity campaign to disseminate its viewpoints and recruit new members.
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the second Ku Klux Klan revival following World War II. It contains printed material related to Klan organizations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee between 1955 and 1978. The material is housed in two boxes and is organized according to the state where it was created. Contents include Klan recruitment posters and flyers, literature about the Klan and its activities, clippings, correspondence, and general hate speech from Klan chapters and leaders.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
University of Mississippi Libraries 2004 September 15
Copyright Restrictions
This collection is protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Provenance
The Ku Klux Klan collection was created by compiling printed material drawn from the Knox Collection (79-1) and the Race Relations Collection (76-15), both housed in the Department of Archives and Special Collections at The University of Mississippi.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Ku Klux Klan (1915-) - Southern States
Geographic Name(s)
- Mississippi - Race relations - History
Subject(s)
- Hate groups - United States
- Violence
Collection Inventory
Box 1 |
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b1f1 10 May 1964 photocopied pages Scope and Contents noteBroadsheet, official publication of the KKK of Mississippi. |
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The Klan Ledger April 1965 |
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The Klan Ledger undated 5 copies |
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b1f2 KKK/Alabama |
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The Fiery Cross 15 December 1961 |
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Broadsheet, "Martin Luther King at Communist Training School" c. 1961 |
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The Fiery Cross 1973 |
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The Fiery Cross undated |
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Broadside, "Save Our Land, Join the Klan" undated |
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Broadside, "The Truth About Black History" undated |
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Broadsheet, "This Symbol has a Future Behind It" undated |
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Document, KKK General information undated |
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Pamphlet, "The Principles of the United Klans of America, Inc." undated |
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Pamphlet, "An Introduction to the Knight of the Ku Klux Klan" undated |
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Broadsheet, "The Ugly Truth about Martin Luther King" undated |
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Broadsheet, "What Will You Tell Your Children?" undated |
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Broadsheet, "Aren't You Grown-ups Ashamed?" undated |
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b1f3 "Preliminary Results of Investigation, Alabama, United Klans of America, Incorporated, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and Other Klan Organizations," By Richmond M. Flowers, Attorney General of Alabama 18 October 1965 |
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b1f4 KKK/Georgia |
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Charter of incorporation for the U. S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Georgia 24 October 1955 |
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Receipt from Ben W. Fortson, Jr., Secretary of State, Department of State, to Mr. J. J. Cooke for Copy U. S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for $1.50, and 3x5 card 21 May 1964 |
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T. L. S. James R. Venable, KKK, Tucker, Georgia, to "Dear Patriot" 22 June 1965 |
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T. L. S. James R. Venable to "Dear Patriot" 10 August 1965 |
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Card, Clayton County Province undated |
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KKK document, Tucker, Georgia undated 3 copies |
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Broadside, "Wanted for Impeachment, Earl Warren" undated |
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Form letter from the U. S. Klans, Inc., College Park, Georgia, to "Dear Friend" undated |
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KKK broadside, signed by James R. Venable, Imperial Wizard of the KKK undated |
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b1f5 KKK/Louisiana |
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Bumper sticker, "Secret Member of the Ku Klux Klan" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Beyond Human Belief" undated |
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Calling card from the KKK, Metairie, Louisiana undated 3 copies |
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Fiery Cross undated |
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Pamphlet, "Abraham Lincoln Speaks" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Race and Integration" undated 2 copies |
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Pamphlet, "An Introduction to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Nightmare" undated |
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Broadside, General Information Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Louisiana undated |
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T. L. S. (copy) David Duke, National Director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, to "Dear Patriot" n. d. |
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Broadsheet, "The Truth About David Duke" undated |
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Broadside, "Save Our Land Join the Klan" undated |
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General information, KKK Louisiana undated 2 copies |
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b1f6 KKK/Mississippi |
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T. L. S. Robert Patterson, Secretary of the Citizens' Council, with photocopied pages from KKK, "Twenty Reasons Why You Should Join the KKK in Mississippi," and "A Delta Discussion," undated 4 June 1964 |
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Broadside, "Klan Rally, Only the Truth Will Survive," Pelahatchie Creek 22 April 1967 |
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Pamphlet, "Big Wheels Move the Machinery to Destroy Law and Order of a Great Nation" 12 March 1968 |
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Broadside, "United Klans of America Americanism Rally," Biloxi 28 August 1976 |
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Document, KKK General Information, Natchez, Mississippi undated 3 copies |
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Pamphlet, "The Principle of the United Klans of America, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" undated 4 copies |
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Broadside, "My Fellow American" undated |
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Typed statement from the KKK to "People of Panola County" undated 2 originals and carbon |
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Pamphlet, "Some Questions that Need Straight Answers" undated |
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Broadside, "Save Our Land, Join the Klan," Brookhaven, Mississippi undated |
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Broadsheet, "God Commands Racial Segregation" undated |
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Pamphlet, "United Klans of America, Inc., Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Realm of Mississippi" undated |
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Broadsheet, untitled undated |
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Broadsheet, "Aren't You Grown-ups Ashamed" undated 2 copies |
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Broadside, "Save Our Land, Join the Klan," Olive Branch undated |
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Broadside, "Save Our Land, Join the Klan," Liberty undated |
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Pamphlet entitled "Lincoln on Negro-White Marriages" undated |
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The Fiery Cross Bulletin undated |
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Fiery Cross undated |
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Pamphlet, "Seven Symbols of the Klan" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Will the South Unite or Become a Black Communist Satelite [sic]" undated |
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Broadsheet, "Fifty Reasons Why You Should Become a Member of the KKK" undated |
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Pamphlet, "KKK Brings Real Facts to the Surface" undated |
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"Black Guard Organizers Manual," KKK, Jackson, Mississippi undated |
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b1f7 KKK/Maryland, New York, Ohio & Pennsylvania |
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Nightrider, Official publication of the KKK, Realm of New York July-August 1977 |
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Broadside, "KKK Rally," York, Pennsylvania 13 August 1977 |
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Nightrider, Official Publication of the KKK, Realm of New York October 1977 |
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Pamphlet, "The Principle of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" undated |
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Broadsheet, "The Symbols of the Klan" undated 2 copies |
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Calling Card, "You Have Been Patronized by the KKK" undated |
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Broadside, "On the Question of Law and Order" undated |
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Broadside, "Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion" undated |
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Broadside, "Ground Wanted We Pay Top Prices for KKK Rally" undated |
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Broadside, undated undated |
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b1f8 KKK/Tennessee |
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Broadside, "Open Meeting of the KKK" 17 October 1965 |
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Calling card, "Dixie Klan, Inc." undated |
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Broadside, undated undated |
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b1f9 KKK/General |
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Poem, "T. W. A. K.: Confederate Mother's Day" 1961 |
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Calling card, "Greetings-You Have Been Patronized by the KKK" undated |
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Bumper Sticker, "Kan the Kennedy Klan" undated |
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Document, General Information, KKK undated |
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Document, Dixie Klans, Inc. undated |
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Broadside, "Fifty Reasons Why You Should Be a Member of the KKK" undated |
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Broadside, "The Klan's Answer to Lyndon Johnson" undated |
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Broadside, "To All God Fearing People" undated |
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Broadside, "Invisible Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Knights of the KKK: Its Problems, Its Programs, Its Purposes" undated |
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Pamphlet, "Why You Should Become a Klansman" undated |
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b1f10 Facts, Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'Rith publications |
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Facts, "The KKK Revival" November-December 1956 |
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Facts, "The KKK in Its Present Phase" February-March 1958 |
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Facts, "The Ku Klux Klans" January 1961 |
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Facts, "The KKK-1965" May 1965 |
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Clippings re: KKK |
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Clippings re: KKK |
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Clippings re: KKK |
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Box 2 |
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b2f1 Imperial Office Newsletter (Alabama) 27 September 1977 |
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b2f2 The Klansman (Louisiana) May-August 1978 4 issues |
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b2f3 The Crusader (Louisiana) February 1977 |
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Issue # 19 |
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Issue #23 |
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Issue # 29 |
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b2f4 The Fiery Cross (Alabama) |
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20 May 1964 |
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1976 |
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1977 |
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1977 |
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1978 |
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1978 2 copies |
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No. 13 1978 |
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July undated |
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b2f5 The Fiery Cross (Alabama) (headlines: The UKA in Washington) undated 3 copies |
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b2f5 February Issue |
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b2f5 August 1964 |
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b2f5 Sex and Civil Rights issue undated |
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