NC State

The History of The KKK in Chatham County

By aaalras3

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a famous white supremacy movement. Starting in 1868 [1] in Pulaski, TN, it had a broad base of followers across the South. The Klan was very active in North Carolina, specifically in Alamance and Caswell Counties during 1869-70, but its activities were not limited to those counties. Beside rallying and massive gatherings, the Klan mobs, during its movement in North Carolina, committed more than one hundred lynchings [2]. Huber reports that in 1885 about 100 disguised men raided the Pittsboro jail in Chatham County and lynched four black men [3]. The NAACP in 1922 urged the American public to support an anti-lynching bill proposed by Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from St. Louis, MO [3]. The Klan was also very active in the post-world-war-II era, reaching its peak during the civil rights marches. The Greensboro Massacre is a popular modern example of the atrocities committed by the Klan. The incident took place in 1979 when the Communist Workers’ Party (CWP) marched against the KKK in a demonstration they called “Death to the Klan.” Then they engaged in a shootout with the Klan and the American Nazi Party resulting in the death of 5 CWP members [1].

KKK Rally in Chapel Hill1987 [4]

NAACP Sponsored Advertisement Supporting Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill [3]

References:

  1. Trelease, A. (2006). Ku Klux Klan. Retrieved from https://www.ncpedia.org/ku-klux-klan
  2. Sorg, L. (2018, July 05). New report documents more than 100 lynchings in North Carolina, several in Chatham County. Retrieved from https://www.indyweek.com/news/archives/2015/02/11/new-report-documents-more-than-100-lynchings-in-north-carolina-several-in-chatham-county
  3. Huber, P. (1998). “Caught Up in the Violent Whirlwind of Lynching”: The 1885 Quadruple Lynching in Chatham County, North Carolina. The North Carolina Historical Review,75(2), 135-160. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/stable/23522619
  4. [Listen] Newly Discovered Images Document KKK Rally In Chapel Hill, 1987. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2018, from http://wunc.org/post/listen-newly-discovered-images-document-kkk-rally-chapel-hill-1987