The Mississippi Department of Public Safety uncovers rare KKK artifacts in one of its offices
Ku Klux Klan-related items uncovered by the Mississippi state government while clearing out an office include a notebook and a notebook containing meeting minutes; These items offer new insights into the violent white supremacist group known for its secrecy and ties to law enforcement.
All objects were turned over to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Officials say it will take months to process all the materials.
To black civil rights advocates, they could serve as a reminder of the Klan’s history in the state and underscore the importance of preserving history to prevent it from being repeated.
“I’m glad these stories came out, because they were real pain,” said Charles Taylor, executive director of the NAACP’s Mississippi State Conference.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced last week that several KKK objects were discovered as it prepared to move into the new headquarters. Inside a suitcase, a handbook for the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Klan charters, a Klan robe, KKK recruiting materials, propaganda such as the “The Ugly Truth About Martin Luther King” pamphlet, meeting notes, notebooks and a list of members who had and had not paid their dues were uncovered.
Archives and History Department officials said they were not afraid of the discovery.
“For decades, agents with the Mississippi Highway Patrol Troopers and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety have worked with our federal law enforcement partners to shine a light on the darkness in which groups like the Ku Klux Klan choose to operate,” said DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell. “By preserving these works and shining a light on these types of organizations, we help future generations not be led astray by this type of hatred.”
Founded by six former Confederate officers just a few months after the end of the Civil War, the Klan initially appeared more like a college fraternity, donning ceremonial robes and odd titles for its officers. However, they began to terrorize freed Black citizens. Congress effectively outlawed the Klan in 1871, but resurrected During World War I. The Klan’s presence increased with the enactment of the South’s Jim Crow laws. In the 1960s, the Klan was responsible for lynchings, burning churches and other attacks, Taylor said.
In 1964, Klan members kidnapped and murdered three civil rights workers. “Mississippi Burning murders.” 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 this wasn’t that long ago, and he underscores the importance of ensuring that no current law enforcement officers have the same beliefs as the KKK.
“It’s one thing to be able to say very clearly that this happened here, but it happened at their place,” Taylor said. “People were making propaganda because they needed to keep all Mississippians safe.”
Department of Archives and History Commissioner Barry White said items such as administrative records and charter are important because the Klan is so 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 greater access to documents that deepen our understanding of Ku Klux Klan activities in Mississippi in the 1960s.”
Even in that context, preserving history is important, said Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, president of the Washington State Black Heritage Association, which focuses on archiving Black history.
Johnson-Toliver said making the inventory accessible would allow the public to “look at a past that was absolutely damaging and traumatic, and continues to be harmful and traumatic here in the United States.”
