Klu Klux Klan (KKK) Membership Card
Founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a white supremacy group that grew to having a presence in almost every southern state by 1870, and became a mouth piece for white southern resistance to the Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. In 1867, a general organizing convention was held, and the Klan established the “Invisible Empire of the South”. Former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was selected as their first leader, or “Grand Wizard” of the Klan, and he reigned over a hierarchy of Grand Dragons, Grand Titans and Grand Cyclopses. With a goal of restoring white supremacy in the south, the Klan conducted lynchings, tar-and-featherings, rapes and other violent attacks. Klan members, often dressed in their signature long white robes and hoods, held meetings and carried out their attacks at night.
After a period of decline, the Klan experienced a revitalization in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies and marches denouncing not only blacks, but also immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. After a second period of decline, the KKK again grew during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, accompanied by an increase in Klan activity including bombings of black schools and churches, as well as acts of violence against black and white activists in the South.
Although the KKK still persists today, Klan-related violence has become increasingly isolated as their membership has continued to decline over the past fifty years. In the 1990’s, the Klan was estimated to have less than 10,000 members, and to have fragmented, with individual groups sometimes aligning themselves with neo-Nazi and other extremist groups.
The item in my collection is a blank membership card that would have been issued to a KKK member.
After a period of decline, the Klan experienced a revitalization in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies and marches denouncing not only blacks, but also immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. After a second period of decline, the KKK again grew during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, accompanied by an increase in Klan activity including bombings of black schools and churches, as well as acts of violence against black and white activists in the South.
Although the KKK still persists today, Klan-related violence has become increasingly isolated as their membership has continued to decline over the past fifty years. In the 1990’s, the Klan was estimated to have less than 10,000 members, and to have fragmented, with individual groups sometimes aligning themselves with neo-Nazi and other extremist groups.
The item in my collection is a blank membership card that would have been issued to a KKK member.
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The item in my collection is a blank membership card that would have been issued to a KKK member.
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