A notebook with meeting minutes and a ledger are among Ku Klux Klan-related items that the Mississippi state government uncovered while clearing out an office, offering new glimpses into the violent white supremacist group known for its secrecy and links to law enforcement.
All the objects have been transferred to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Officials say it will take months to process all the materials.
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They can serve as a reminder of the Klan's history in the state and highlight the importance of preserving history so it is not repeated, according to Black civil rights advocates.
“I’m glad these stories are coming out because it was a real pain,” said Charles Taylor, executive director of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety last week disclosed the discovery of several KKK objects while preparing to relocate to new headquarters. Unearthed inside a suitcase were a handbook for the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Klan charters, a Klan robe, KKK recruitment materials, propaganda such as a "The Ugly Truth about Martin Luther King" pamphlet, meeting notes, ledgers and a list of members who paid and didn’t pay their dues.
Officials with the Department of Archives and History said they are not shying away from the discovery.
“Mississippi Highway Patrol Troopers and agents with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety have worked for decades with our federal law enforcement partners to shed light on the darkness in which groups like the Ku Klux Klan chose to operate,” said DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell. “By preserving these artifacts and shedding light on such organizations, we help ensure that future generations are never led astray by such hate.”
Formed just months after the end of the Civil War by six former Confederate officers, the Klan originally seemed more like a college fraternity with ceremonial robes and odd titles for its officers. But they began terrorizing freed Black citizens. Congress effectively outlawed the Klan in 1871 but it resurrected during World War I. With the enactment of the South's Jim Crow laws, the Klan's presence grew. By the 1960s, the Klan was responsible for lynchings, burning of churches and other attacks, Taylor said.
In 1964, Klan members abducted and killed three civil rights workers in what became known as the “Mississippi Burning killings.” The Klan also bombed the state's only synagogue in 1967. An arsonist set fire to the same synagogue in January.
Taylor says the newly found artifacts remind us that it wasn’t that long ago and underscores the importance of ensuring that no law enforcement officers serving now have the same beliefs as the KKK.
“It’s one thing to be able to say very clearly this was here but it was at their place," Taylor said. "Folks were studying (propaganda) as they were supposed to be providing safety for all Mississippians.”
Department of Archives and History Commissioner Barry White said items like administrative records and a charter are significant, as the Klan was notoriously secretive.
“MDAH is grateful to Commissioner Tindell for recognizing the historical significance of this material and transferring it to the archives," White said. “These records will give researchers broader access to documentation that deepens our understanding of Ku Klux Klan activities in Mississippi during the 1960s.”
Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, president of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, which focuses on archiving Black history, said protecting history even in this context is important.
Making the inventory accessible will allow members of the public to “look at the history that definitely harmed and was traumatic and remains to be harmful and traumatic here in the United States,” Johnson-Toliver said.