HISTORY SUNDAY: KU KLUX KLAN: A SECRET HISTORY (TV)

Summary

This documentary program, hosted by Roger Mudd, chronicles the history of the Ku Klux Klan from its founding in 1866 to the present day. The program combines archival footage and images, interviews with scholars and experts, and historical narration. The documentary begins with scenes of modern-day Ku Klux Klan gatherings in North Carolina. Imperial Wizard Jeff Barry and Grand Dragon C. Edward Foster express their hatred of people of color and other minority groups, and they explain the symbolism of cross burnings. Next, Allen Trelease, author of "White Terror" and David Chalmers, author of "Hooded Americanism," discuss the original Klan organization, formed as a fraternal order of Confederate veterans in Tennessee. In spite of the KlanÕs innocuous beginnings, the group's members soon began using their hoods and costumes to terrorize the freed slaves in the region. After Congress passed the 1867 Reconstruction Act, Klan membership spread to other Southern states, and members began to fight what they perceived as heavy-handed federal policies and a threat to the traditional social order. University of California-Berkeley African-American studies professor William M. Banks notes that with the end of Reconstruction politics, the Klan was successful in destroying the civil rights of African Americans. Wyn Craig Wade then comments on the impact of the D.W. Griffith film "The Birth of a Nation," which presented the Klan as a heroic group defending white Americans against the violence and corruption of black people. This depiction in popular culture coincided with a 1915 Klan revival headed by William J. Simmons, and with an increase in the organization's power. Klan membership grew exponentially into the 1920s, responding to both Simmons' recruitment and anxieties among white Protestant Americans about the influx of immigrants into the United States. Information follows about Klan involvement in local and national politics, including the scandalous case of Grand Dragon David C. Stephenson of Indiana, whose conviction for assaulting and causing the death of a young woman harmed the image of the KKK. Also included is footage of the famous 1925 Klan parade in Washington, D.C. Although the Klan kept a low profile during the next three decades, the group resurfaced after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Next, the program offers a discussion of the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan during the tumultuous civil-rights era. Under Robert Shelton, the United Klans of America was formed in 1960 and immediately declared war on the civil-rights movement. Activist Julian Bond and Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center speak about the cooperation between Klan groups and Southern law-enforcement agencies in violence against civil-rights groups. Included is information about violent acts committed against the Freedom Riders; about the bombing of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham; and about the murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman. John Doar, of the Justice Department civil-rights division, explains the role of Federal organizations in trying Klan suspects acquitted in local courts; and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley recalls his determination to achieve justice in the Alabama church bombing. The program concludes with information about the Klan of the 1970s and 1980s, including information about leader David Duke, the 1974 battle between the North Carolina Communist Worker Party and the Klan, and the role of the Southern Poverty Law Center in shutting down the United Klans of America. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: History Channel
• DATE: February 1, 1998 Sunday 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:34:34
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:58150
• GENRE: Public Affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-Americans - History; Ku Klux Klan; Reconstruction; U S - Civil rights
• SERIES RUN: History Channel, The - TV, 1998
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Charlie Maday … Executive Producer
• Erik Nelson … Executive Producer
• Bill Brummel … Executive Producer, Producer, Writer
• Dave Harding … Supervising Producer
• De Hart, Greg … Co-Producer
• Michelle Lawrence … Segment Producer
• James Taylor … Director, For Recreations
• Steve Rice … Direction (Misc.), Assistant Director, For Recreations
• Mark Leggett … Music by
• D. Paul Thomas … Narrator
• Roger Mudd … Host, For The History Channel
• William M. Banks
• Jeff Barry
• Bill Baxley
• Julian Bond
• David Chalmers
• James Chaney
• Morris Dees
• John Doar
• David Duke
• C. Edward Foster
• Andrew Goodman
• D.W. Griffith
• Michael Schwerner
• Robert Shelton
• William J. Simmons
• David C. Stephenson
• Allen Trelease
• Wyn Craig Wade