Ku Klux Klan
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If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. KU \ , I, KLUX KLAN A REPORT TO THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY t;J ~ . ~t ., E J : li,:( {.:.<~ ~,' i .,i i " ,.~ i 1 , .. ,p~~ ; £~C(, .:~.~} ... t <.) ~ '":~~:~ ,~ \ BYTHE ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATING COMMISSION 300 West Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606 Telephone (312) 793-2606 ,= OCTOBER 1976 I. Printed bv the Authoritv of the State of Illinois Twenty-Five Hundred Copies TABLE OF CONTENTS HOUSE RESOLUTION 146.................................. iii LETTER TO HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY... v INTRODUCTION. • . • . 1 Chapter 1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE KU KLUX KLAN A. Introduction.............................. 3 B. Origin of the Ku Klux Klan................ 3 C. Transformation and Growth of the Ku Klux Klan. ... 5 D. Decline of the Klan....................... 10 E. Romanticizing the Klan.................... 11 F. Resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan.......... 16 G. 1950's Klan Revival....................... 23 H. F.B.I. Investigation Breaks the Klan...... 27 I. Present Klan Organizations................ 29 Chapter 2 ORGANIZATION OF THE KU KLUX KLAN A. Introduction.............................. 31 B. Invi sible Empire ......................... It 32 C. Adminis'trative and Command Structure...... 32 D. Purposes of the KKK....................... 35 E. Functions of Local Klans .............. ,... 37 F. A Final Comment on Klan Organization...... 38 Chapter 3 BRIEF HIS~ORY OF THE KLAN IN ILLINOIS A. Introduction.............................. 39 B. The Klan in Illinois during the 1920s..... 39 C. Later Klan Activity....................... 41 Chapter 4 ILLINOIS KLAN'S INITIAL ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITY A. Background. 43 B. The Illinois Klan's Early Organizational Efforts.................................... 44 C. Initial Infiltration of the Illinois Klan ...................... ~ . .. .. 45 D. Split in the Illinois Klan Leadership..... 50 Chapter 5 KLAN ACTIVITIES DURING THE SUMMER OF 1975 A. Jackson's Efforts to Organize a Kankakee Chapter. 53 B. Foreman's Activities in Aurora............ 54 - i - - 1 I 1 C. Organizational Efforts by Milam ....•........ 56 D. Establishment of a Danville Chapter and the Collapse of the Joliet Unit .•..•...........• 63 E. Indiana Klan Rally ...................... ell ...... fI: .... 65 F. The National Klonvokation .•.............•... 69 Chapter 6 A YEAR OF CONSOLIDATION ATTEMPTS A. Trosper Tries to Unify Illinois Klan •.••.... 73 B. Success and Failure .................•....... 74 C. The Aurora Klan Declares Its Independence •.. 76 D. Milam Resigns and is Banished ..........•.••. 78 E. Decatur Chapter Struggling for Survival ..... 82 F. UKA Rally at Pulaski, Tennessee ............. 82 G. Jackson's Recent Failures ...•............... 85 H. 1976 Summer Activities of the UKA •...•...... 86 Chapter 7 IN THE FINAL llNALYSIS....................... 91 Appendix A GLOSSARY OF KKK TERMINOLOGy .............•... 97 Appendix B OATH TAKEN BY A KLANSMAN .................... 101 Appendix C GOALS OF THE UNITED KLANS OF AMERICA .•...... 105 Appendix D MANUAL OF THE UNITED KLANS OF AMERICA, KNIGHTS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, INC ...........• 109 - ii - HOUSE RESOLUTION 146 This resolution was sponsored by the following Representatives: George H. Ryan, Sr. Edmund F. Kucharski Jane M. Barnes Arthur A. Telcser Jack R. Beaupre William D. Walsh Giddy Dyer James R. Washburn Charles F. Gaines The resolution was adopted by the Illinois House of Representatives on March 25, 1975, and is quoted below: "r'mEREAS, the Ku Klux Klan has in recent days begun a visible, loud and concentrated drive to propagandize the residents of many Illinois cities, including Cicero, Aurora, Joliet and Kankakee; and II WHEREAS , the Consitution of the United States and the Constitution of Illinois protect the free speech rights of those mouthing even such abhor rent and reprehensible preachings as those espoused by the Ku Klux Klan; and "WHEREAS, the Klan has been notoriously known to be less observant in its regard and respect for the constitutional rights of others than those it rails against; and II WHEREAS , rumor, controversy and violence all too often accompany an upsurge in Klan activity; now therefore be it "RESOLVED BY 'rHE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 79TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, that the Illinois Legis lative Investigating Commission be directed to undertake an imnlediate inquiry into the activi ties of the Ku Klux Klan in Illinois to determine whether the Klan, its officers or its agents are conducting Klan activities in a manner by design, intent or form which denies others their consti tutional rights, attempts to illegally defame ethnic, racial or religious minorities, attempts to incite violence, attempts to illegally stock pile arms and munitions, or attempts to create illegal paramilitary forces in order to incite - iii - violence, conduct insurgency missions or intimi date ordinary citizens; and be it further "RESOLVED, that the Commission seek the coopera tion and assistance of local, state and national police authorities in this investigation; and be it further "RESOLVED, that the Commission make its first re port of findings to this General Assembly no later than May 1, 1975, and that it make continu ing reports responsive to its charge under this resolution on the first day of the months of October, 1975, March, 1976, and October, 1976." - iv - ------,----------------------- CO-CHAIRMEN: HOUSE MEMBERS: SEN. PHILIP J. ROCK PETER P. PETERS REP. JOSEPH G. SEVCIK LELAND H. RAYSON GEORGE H. RYAN, SR. SENATE MEMBERS: W. TIMOTHY SIMMS DANIEL DOUGHERTY JAMES C. TAYLOR HOWARD R. MOHR JAMES "PATE" PHILIP JOHN B. ROE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: FRANK D. SAVICKAS STATE OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATING COMMISSION 300 WEST WASHINGTON STREET -SUITE 414 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60606 TELEPHONE: (312) 793-2606 TO: HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY This is our fourth and final report about the Ku Klux Klan in Illinois. We herein present our various findings and conclusions regarding this group pursuant to House Reso lution 146, adopted by the Illinois House of Representatives on March 25, 1975. The resolution mandated this Commission to investigate the general activities of the Ku Klux Klan and to determine the validity of reports that the Klan was rapidly growing. We were directed particularly to determine whether or not the members or officers of the Klan were planning or conducting activities in a manner that would deny certain groups their constitutional rights or would incite violence; or whether its members were organizing paramilitary forces for the pur poses of engaging in violent or intimidating acts. The resolution was prompted by a series of newspaper reports in March, 1975, that Ku Klux Klan leaders in Illinois had launched a major drive throughout the State to increase the organization's membership. The articles reported claims that Klan membership in northern Illinois numbered close to 2,000; that Klan chapters had been established in Aurora, Cicero, Joliet, and Decatur; and that the Klan was attempting to form new chapters in DeKalb County and Kankakee. In our first preliminary report to the General Assembly we were able to dispell some of these fears about a major Klan resurgence in this State. We found that claims by Klan leaders that the organization had nearly 2,000 members in northern Illinois were grossly exaggerated: 50 would be a more accurate count of active members. In our second and third preliminary reports, we provided sUbstantiation for our earlier membership figures, and we estimated that in the en tire State there were fewer than 100 Kla.nsmen. In response to our reports, Klan leaders contacted mem bers of the news media and scoffed at our estimates. They claimed that the Klan was still rapidly gaining members, that our estimates were absurdly low, and that the Commission could not possibly know about the actual number of members because of the guarded secrecy of the organization. - v - What we did not reveal in the earlier reports was that the Commission had three undercover investigators inside the Ku Klux Klan. In factI one of those investigators was to become the second highest officer in the largest of the three Klan factions in Illinois. Our estimates were, and are, ac curate. Based on our investigation we concluded that the reports of a major Klan resurgence were a hoax perpetrated by Klan leaders in order to gain free publicity. The news media, because it could not sufficiently investigate the Klan's claims, made fiction seem like fact. The r.eal fact is that there are still less than 100 Klansmen currently active in Illinois, and that these members, as we reported earlier, are divided unevenly among three sep arate factions. A completely independent Klan organization with about 20 members is active in Aurora. A second group, active in the Midlothian area, is affiliated with the Na tional Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and has fewer than 10 members. The third group is associated with the United Klans of America and has approximately 40 members in the Danville area, 20 in the Chicago Heights area, and less than 10 in Decatur. None of these groups is illegally stockpiling any arms, planning to incite any violence, creating any paramilitary forces, or planning to deny anyone his constitutional rights. All of the Klan groups are small, poorly organized, and cur rently pose no threat to the safety of Illinois citizens. During the initial stages of our investigation into the Klan, community leaders primarily