Site of a cross lighting ceremony for the Four Star White Knights. Pennsylvania.
A young boy holding an Airsoft pistol while wearing his father's Klan helmet.
5/20/2017. Unknown location, Pennsylvania. USA. Posters of President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. used for target practice during a Ku Klux Klan gathering.
Carl, an Imperial Wizard of a southern-based Ku Klux Klan realm, takes aim with a pellet gun at a large cockroach (on the piece of paper just below the clock) while his wife and goddaughter try to avoid getting struck by a possible ricochet.
A former Imperial Officer of the since disbanded Dixie Rangers of the Ku Klux Klan shows off his engraved .45 cal Ruger pistol. The tattoo on his right palm is a “Mioak.” "Mioak" stands for: The Mystic Insignia of a Klansman. Today it is most commonly known as the Blood Drop Cross. It is displayed as the patch seen on the robes of Klansmen. It is also a part of the Imperial Seal of the Klan.
Baton Rogue, LA. 7/7/2012. Klansmen prepare for a protest-caravan through a neighboring town. Frustrated with an increased crime rate, which is filtering into their community, these Klan members decided it was time to make their presence known in an effort to gain support and new membership.
11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A six-inch vintage robed Klansman figurine made of plaster at the home of an Imperial Wizard.
The Imperial Wizard, whose power is supreme "within the limits of this Constitution" and whose edicts, decisions and rulings were binding on all members of the order.”
Mississippi. 7/25/2014. “Momma Ruth” (right) a 63-year old Ku Klux Klan robe maker on her porch during the first meeting of the MKR (Momma’s Knight Rider’s of the Ku Klux Klan). Momma Ruth is the first woman to hold the rank of Imperial Wizard within the Klan's hierarchy.
The home of Richard Bondira. Richard was in the process of sewing a Klan robe made out of vintage cotton.
"Momma Ruth," a seamstress who makes robes for the Ku Klux Klan in the process of taking an robe order for an Imperial Wizard (an officer within the KKK).
At her busiest, Momma Ruth was sewing one robe a day on average and could work 70 to 94 hours a week. After having two strokes, she’s had a difficult time keeping up that pace and has since slowed down production.
A 1923 membership card to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
Former Grand Blufustin of the Ku Klux Klan Richard Bondira.
The original Ku Klux Klan was founded here on December 24th, 1865 at the law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones. Pulaski, Tennessee.
The “Jolly Six” as they referred to themselves were former Confederate Army veterans. In 1917, the Daughters of the Confederacy placed this bronze plaque on the building to commemorate the Klan’s original gathering. The plaque remained on the building for over 70 years, until it the building was purchased in 1990 and the new owner reversed it with text facing inwards.
The plaque reads –
KU KLUX KLAN
ORGANIZED IN THIS,
THE LAW OFFICE OF
JUDGE THOMAS M. JONES,
DECEMBER 24TH, 1885
NAME OF ORIGINAL ORGANIZERS
CALVIN E. JONES. JOHN B. KENNEDY.
FRANK O. MCCORD. JOHN C. LESTER.
RICHARD R. REED. JAMES R. CROWE.
Museum Division, MS Dept of Archives and History. Jackson MS.
Left - Cross burned by the Ku Klux Klan at the home of Doris and G.T. Vaccarella Jr., on the night of August 12th, 1964.
Right - On the morning of June 12, 1963, civil rights activist, Medgar Evers pulled into his driveway after a meeting with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP shirts that read “Jim Crow Must Go,” Evers was struck in the back with a bullet fired from this 1917 .30-06 caliber Enfield rifle. Mr. Evers staggered 30 feet before collapsing. He was taken to a local hospital in Jackson, where he was initially refused admission due to his race, until it was explained who he was… he died in the hospital 50 minutes later. Klansman Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of the murder in 1994.
Woodville, MS. On February 28, 1964 while driving home from his late-shift at International Paper, Clifton Walker’s 1961 cream–colored Chevrolet Impala was brought to a stop three hundred yards after making a his usual shortcut turn onto an unpaved road outside of Woodville, MS around midnight. Ballistic evidence would later show that the gunmen gathered around Walker’s vehicle and fired inside at extremely close range, blowing Walker’s face apart with shotguns.
Two weeks prior to the murder, 200 members of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan gathered in Brookhaven, MS and agreed to a 40-page constitution that included the “extermination” of blacks as a rational response to the growing civil rights threat.
In the mid-1960’s, the U.S. Un-American Activities Committee, investigated the Klan in Mississippi. Documents obtained from the National Archives found during a cold case inquiry stated that more than 40 of Walker’s co-workers were Klansmen. Highway Patrol documents mention eight possible suspects, but do not explore their motives. Instead, the state reports primarily focus on allegations of Walker’s infidelities.
The White Knights of the KKK are believed to have been responsible for at least 10 killings in Mississippi, including the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, but the killing of Clifton Walker remains in the Cold Case Files.
Jackson, MS. 3/1/2016. Archives and Records Services Division, Mississippi Dept of Archives and History.
January 24, 1968 arrest photo of Sam Bowers, who was arraigned on a charge of arson in the 1966 firebombing of civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer's house and store.
Sam Bowers was the Imperial Wizard of The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi. It was Bowers, who in May, 1964, authorized “the elimination” of a “Goatee,” the Klan’s name for Mickey Schwerner, one of three civil rights workers who where abducted and murdered during the “Freedom Summer “ campaign for which he served six years in prison.
After four previous trials had ended in deadlocks, Bowers was finally convicted in August, 1998, over thirty-two years after the murder of Vernon Dahmer, by a jury of six blacks, one Asian-American and five whites. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Klansmen/women during a Klonkave (secret meeting) of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Missouri.
Klansmen/women during a Klonkave (secret meeting) of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Missouri.
Klavern of a mid-western based Ku Klux Klan realm.
Two Klansman partake in a civil war reenactment. Missouri.
Probates wishing to become initiated into the Ku Klux Klan take their oaths as part of the naturalization ritual.
2008 presidential candidate and former American Nazi Party leader John Taylor Bowles takes on the roll of Santa Clause outside the Redneck Shop, owned by the late and former emperor of the KKK John Howard. Laurens, South Carolina.
The late John Howard owner of the Redneck Shop and life-long Klansman.
Blood oath ritual.
Blood oath ritual.
11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. An oath of blood, sealed with the blood of the initiated. With his left hand over his heart and his right hand raised to heaven and with the promise that he will uphold the law of the sacred order.
During the cross lighting ceremony, the signed promise is set aflame at the base of the fiery cross and can only be broken by death or banishment.
Caught by surprise, April is given a cotton Third National Confederate Battle Flag, signed by all the members of her group.
A Klanswoman (L.O.T.I.E - Ladies Of The Invisible Empire) attempts to get the contents of her home back in order following an FBI raid and search.
Authorities were acting on a tip that her husband, the leader of a southern-based Klan realm who was previously arrested on an illegal weapons charge had posed with a firearm in a recent Facebook post (it is unlawful for a convicted felon to be in contact with a firearm).
The couple believes that the reason for the raid was exaggerated and the actual intent was to find a list of their members. The firearm was legally registered to his wife.
11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A Klansman helps a fellow Klansman adjust his “helmet” prior to a cross lighting ceremony. The black robe is worn by the Imperial Knighthawk, a security/courier position within the Klan
April 23, 2016. Rome, Georgia. Members of a North Carolina based Ku Klux Klan realm begin to form ranks prior to a “pro-white civil rights” rally sponsored by the National Socialist Movement.
April 23, 2016. Rome, Georgia. Members of a North Carolina based Ku Klux Klan realm begin to form ranks prior to a “pro-white civil rights” rally sponsored by the National Socialist Movement.
The Georgia Knightriders of the KKK during a rally at the Ejay Courthouse in Georgia.
April 23, 2016. Rome, Georgia. Members of North Carolina based KKK realm take a break from the midday sun during a “pro-white” civil rights rally.
Tupelo, Mississippi. October 20th, 2007. A confrontation immediately following a rally hosted by The Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan at the Lee County courthouse.
The rally included several Klan groups, including the Brotherhood of the Klans, Georgia Knightriders, Bayou Knights, MKA and the International Knights.
The last time the Klan made any major appearance in Tupelo was in the 1970's. The Klan marched down Main Street with the United States National Guard protecting citizens on both sides.
A Klansman shouts back at a group of counter protesters following a rally focusing on illegal immigration policies within the United States.
Chattooga County, GA 12/12/2015. A Klansman displays a coin from his collection of Klan collectables. The coin was used to signify a member in good standing. This particular coin was said to be from 1923.
Soldiers Of The Cross Bible/Klan weekend Camp.
Spokeswoman Rachel Pendergraft in front of the national office of The Knights Party. Harrison, Arkansas.
Sunday service with Pastor Thomas Robb, director of the National Knights party of the Ku Klux Klan, in Harrison, Arkansas. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was founded in Louisiana in 1956 with David Duke as it's first national director; this was also known as the 5th era of the Klan.
In 1989 Duke asked Pastor Robb an ordained Baptist minister, born in Detroit, Michigan to join the Knights and become the national chaplain.
Today, pastor Robb leads the 6th era towards a politically aware and more Christian based foundation. Pastor Robb along with Rachel Pendergraft host a weekly web radio show dedicated to white America.
National director of the Knights Party Thomas Robb (center) along with some of his family members. Arkansas.
Harrison, AR. 10/16/2015.
Imperial Wizard Ray Larsen (left) and his Knighthawk (security) at "The Farm."
In a bar known for its support of the white power movement, a local Klansman plays a solo game of pool.
The gravestone of KKK member Samuel Sutton. The bottom reads "Farwell my wife and children, all my love." Nov. 22nd, 1926.