Two Previously Unseen Monographs Covering the Klan's History from 1865 to 1958

The Ku Klux Klan, Section I: 1865-1944
(Acrobat/PDF format | 44 pages | 3 meg)

The Ku Klux Klan, Section II: 1944-1958
(Acrobat/PDF format | 84 pages | 3.6 meg)

In "Selected Titles of FBI Research Reports, 1953-60," we listed several-dozen research reports that the FBI had written for internal use in the mid-1900s. The Memory Hole requested some of them under the Freedom of Information Act. Upon review, the FBI has released the two reports on the KKK. We've scanned and posted them above. They're based on often obscure public-source documents, internal Klan literature, and confidential material, such as informants and FBI investigative files.

Chapters in "Section I" (published July 1957) include "Ku Klux Klan Starts as a Social Club," "Klan Expands Rapidly," "William Joseph Simmons Revives the Klan in 1915," "Program of 'Pure Americanism' Based on Racial and Religious Prejudice," and "Klan Suspends Operations in 1944."

After the centralized Klan organization disbanded, a bunch of people who had been involved formed numerous groups using Klan principles and, usually, some variation of the name. "Section II" (published May 1958) examines 29 groups operating under the Klan rubric, including the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Inc., Federated Ku Klux Klans, National Ku Klux Klan, the Original Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy, Knational Christian Klan Kingdom Inc., Knights of the Kuklos Klan, Conscientious American Citizens Club, Bedford Forrest Club Inc., and Tennessee Klans.

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