They Called Themselves the K.K.K.

  To my gaffe-protection force, I extend a very special thank-you. These include my husband Joe; Dr. Lawrence Kennedy, professor of U.S. history with an emphasis in Reconstruction history, urban studies, and race and ethnic studies at the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania); middle school librarian extraordinaire Janice Borland, sixth grade teacher Becky Brown, and retired eighth-grade English teacher Esther Smith at the Garland Independent School District (Garland, Texas). All mistakes are my own.

  I thank the following individuals and institutions for their help in obtaining images, documents, and other important resources: Joshua Brown (American Social History Project, City University of New York); the South Carolina Historical Society; the New York Historical Society; the Beck Center Civil War Site at Emory College; Tim Turner, Tourism Coordinator, Giles County Tourism Foundation (Tennessee); George Newman, Giles County Historical Society (Tennessee); Robert Pickett (Vicksburg, Mississippi); Mark Putuck, Southern Poverty Law Center (Montgomery, Alabama); the amazing reference librarians in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress; the reference librarians at the National Archives; and Roxanne Loney at the Scranton Public Library.

  Susan Campbell Bartoletti

  June 2009

  Index

  A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X |Y | Z

  Page numbers in bold type refer to illustrations and their captions.

  A

  African Americans. See freedmen; slaves Amnesty Act, 142

  Avary, Myrta Lockhart, 93, 130

  Avery, Edward, 137

  B

  Belefont, Charles, 66–67

  Black Codes, 20, 20–21, 22

  black militia company attacks on, 122–27

  charter of, 116, 121

  drills and patrols, 122

  governor’s order to disarm, 124

  guns, 121–24

  blacks. See freedmen; slaves

  Blair, Francis P., 66

  Bond, Hugh, 139

  Bost, W. L., 82

  Bratton, James Rufus, 126, 137

  Brown, Henry Edwards, 100

  Brown, Mary Davis, 124

  Brown, William Garrott, 94

  Burnett, W. P., 49

  Butler, Benjamin, 130

  C

  Carroll, Milus, 117, 125–27, 130, 139

  churches

  attacks on, 110, 113–14, 114, 115, 116

  as center of community, 108

  establishment of schools, 90, 91

  failure of whites to defend, 118–19

  political meetings in, 108, 109–12, 113–14, 117–18

  preachers, 107, 113

  style of worship, 112, 112–13

  temporary locations, 108–9, 110

  worship under slavery, 107–8, 108, 111

  Civil Rights Acts

  of 1866 (citizenship and equal protection), 22, 22, 59–60, 141

  of 1871 (Ku Klux Klan Act), 129, 129–30

  of 1964 (ban on discrimination), 149

  civil rights movement, 149

  civil rights timeline, 151–56

  Civil War

  black Union soldiers, 39, 121, 144

  casualties and cost, 14, 15, 17, 30

  Chickamauga battle, 30, 30

  destruction of South, 2, 2–3, 8, 8, 15, 15, 95

  Fort Pillow massacre, 39

  friends and relatives on opposing sides, 13–14

  Memorial Day observances of, 144, 144–46

  Missionary Ridge battle, 15

  Sherman’s march to the sea, 8

  surrender of Confederacy, 6, 6

  Clansman, The (Dixon), 147, 147

  Clayton, Victoria, 8

  Coleman, Daniel, 28, 49–50

  Coleman, John Tayloe, 84, 85

  Confederacy. See also South

  casualties in war, 14, 14, 15, 30

  paper money, 9

  surrender to Union, 6, 6

  war debts, 9

  Confederates. See also Southern whites

  amnesty for, 142

  presidential pardon and oath of loyalty, 18, 19, 38, 38

  voting rights, 18, 24, 38–39, 142

  Congress. See United States Congress Cooper, Robert E., 119

  Craig, Patrick, 98

  Crowe, James R., 13, 13, 26

  D

  Davis, Jacob, 53

  Democrats

  fear of black political power, 71

  Jim Crow laws, 144

  Nashville state convention, 43–44

  white supremacy platform, 65, 66

  Dixon, Thomas, 147, 147

  Douglass, Frederick, 143–44, 150

  Dox, Peter, 137

  Du Bois, W. E. B., iv, 57, 58

  E

  education

  attacks on schools and teachers, 97–105, 101, 136

  black illiteracy at end of war, 93

  black teachers, 91

  church-established schools, 90, 91

  establishment of schools by

  Freedmen’s Bureau, 90, 91, 105

  Freedmen’s Second Reader, 94

  Northern teachers, 89–91, 93

  objections to education of blacks, 93–96

  preachers as teachers, 109

  school attendance, 106

  school desegregation, 143

  spread of learning to elders, 105, 106

  Emancipation Proclamation, 3, 4

  Evans, Ann Ulrich, 32

  Evers, Medgar, 148

  Ezell, Lorenza, 42, 69

  F

  Federal Hate Crimes Law, 149

  Fifteenth Amendment, 74, 75

  Ford, Sarah, 12

  Forrest, Nathan Bedford

  on disenfranchisement of Southern whites, 38–39, 39

  immunity from prosecution, 137–38

  on Klan membership, 49, 57

  leadership of Klan, 47

  order to disband Klan, 74–75, 138

  presidential pardon of, 39

  promotion of Klan throughout South, 51

  statue of, 163

  threat against Republicans, 58, 67

  on vigilantism in South, 47–49

  Fourteenth Amendment, 37, 59, 62, 129, 142–43

  freedmen. See also churches; education; voting by blacks

  achievements, 78, 119

  arming of, 98–99, 121–24

  Black Code restrictions on, 20, 20–21, 22

  challenge to white authority, 22–23

  departure from plantations, 18–19

  hopes for future, 87

  move to Liberia, 134, 135

  retaliation against whites, 116–18, 123

  sharecropping, 78, 78–82, 85–88

  violence against, 23, 23, 30–33, 31, 33, 52, 86, 86–87

  work as families, 77, 78–79

  work for former masters, 77–78

  Freedmen’s Bureau

  beneficiaries of, 36

  creation and expansion of, 34–35

  establishment of schools, 90, 91, 105

  improvement of working conditions for blacks, 77

  limited resources, 80

  presidential opposition to, 34, 35

  protection of blacks, 81

  Freeman, Mittie (formerly Mittie Williams), 1–2, 7, 150

  G

  Garner, George, 82

  Gelray, Joseph W., 84

  Gholson, Samuel, 8

  Gleed, Robert, 66

  Grant, James, 55–56, 113

  Grant, Ulysses S.

  action against Klan, 131, 136

  pardon of Klansmen, 142

  presidential election, 62, 63, 69, 70

  signing of Ku Klux Klan Act, 128–29, 129

  surrender of Confederacy to, 6, 6

  Green Isaiah, 65

  H

  Harrill, John, 55

  Harris, Frederick, 139

  Hayes, Rutherford B., 143

  Henry, Jefferson Franklin, 88

  Hill, Elias, 63, 107, 118, 134
/>
  Hines, Gabe, 76

  Horton, Samuel, 55

  Huggins, Allen P., 84

  J

  Jackson, Martin, 11, 140

  James, Fred, 80

  Jim Crow laws, 144

  Johnson, Andrew

  disputes with Republicans over Reconstruction, 21, 21, 35, 59–60

  impeachment proceedings against, 60, 60–61

  opposition to Fourteenth Amendment, 59

  pardon of Confederates, 18, 38, 38

  presidency, 11, 17

  reconstruction of South, 17–18

  stance on war and Reconstruction, 17

  veto of Civil Rights Act, 22, 59–60

  veto of Freedmen’s Bureau expansion, 34, 35

  veto of Reconstruction Acts, 59–60

  Johnson, Henry, 71

  Jolly, William, 56

  Jones, Calvin, 13, 13, 25, 26

  Judkins, Oscar, 97

  Justice, James, 54

  K

  Kennedy, John (Klan founder), 13, 13, 25

  Ku Klux Klan

  arrests and prosecutions of Klansmen, 136–39, 141–42

  birthplace of, 16, 16, 162

  corrupt officials in, 83–84, 115, 128

  costume, 26, 27, 28, 54, 56, 103

  cross-burning, 147, 168

  decline in power, 150

  favorable publicity for, 50

  ghost scare tactics, 30–32, 42

  glorified history of, 146–47, 147

  inception and naming of, 25

  induction of new members, 29, 53, 73–74

  as Invisible Empire, 46

  leader of, 47

  leadership positions and titles, 2526, 46–47

  membership, 49, 51, 56–58, 138

  obedience of members, 55–56

  as paramilitary organization, 43, 43–44

  party crashing, 27–28

  Prescript (outline of principles), 44, 44–45, 45, 47, 72–73

  racism in inception of, 34, 45–46

  raids, 54–55

  rebirth of, 147–50, 148, 168

  rites and rituals, 25–26, 26, 45, 45, 53

  secrecy and mysteriousness, 28, 55

  testimony against, 131–36, 136

  warning notices to victims, 50–51, 84, 85, 110

  women’s support of, 51–52

  Ku Klux Klan Act (Civil Rights Act of 1871), 129, 129–30, 132

  L

  Lee, Robert E., 6, 6

  Lester, John C., 13

  on bad Klansmen, 47

  denial of political agenda, 34

  on Forrest’s order to disband Klan, 74

  job and title in Klan, 26

  justification for formation of Klan, 26

  on Klan’s den, 27

  on Klan’s initiation rites, 29

  on Klan’s mysteriousness, 28

  on Ku Klux Klan name, 25

  return from war, 13, 16

  suggestion to form Klan, 25

  Liberia, 134, 135

  Lincoln, Abraham, 3, 4, 11, 11

  Lipscomb, Daniel, 134

  Lipscomb, Henry, 69, 133

  Little, Green, 98

  Liuzzo, Viola, 149

  Long, Burton, 65

  Luke, William, 97–100, 100

  lynchings

  of black militia leader, 126–27, 127

  during twentieth century, 144, 148

  of whites, 99–100, 100, 127

  M

  McBride, Cornelius, 91, 103–5, 134–36

  McCord, Frank, 13, 25, 41

  McCord, Luther, 28

  McCrea, George, 87–88

  Meacham, Robert, 71, 80

  Merrill, Lewis M., 128

  Merritt, Susan, 120

  militia company, black. See black militia company

  N

  Northerners. See also Republicans

  carpetbaggers, 18

  disbelief in stories of Klan violence, 89, 89

  establishment of schools in South, 89–91, 93

  opposition to education of blacks, 93, 96–97

  O

  Obama, Barack, 156

  Owens, William, 56–57

  P

  Pearce, Charles H., 63, 109–10

  Pelham, Charles, 100

  Phillips, Wendell, 91

  Pickens, William, 106

  public schools. See education

  R

  racism. See white supremacy

  Rainey, Julia, 125

  Randolph, Ryland, 50, 51, 53, 101

  Reconstruction

  corruption by Republican officials, 137

  disputes between president and

  Congress over, 21, 21, 35, 59–60

  end of, 143

  ideals of, 7

  Lincoln’s call for, 11

  military districts, 36–37, 37

  Reconstruction Acts, 35–37, 37, 59–60

  Southern whites’ concerns about, 16–17

  start of, 17–18, 21

  Reed, Richard, 13, 25, 26

  religion. See churches

  Republicans. See also United States Congress

  blame of South for war, 17

  corruption among, 137

  disputes with president over Reconstruction, 21, 21, 35, 59–60

  establishment of Freedmen’s Bureau, 34–35

  freedmen affiliation with, 63, 65–66, 67, 115

  Klan terrorism against, 66, 67, 127

  Roundtree, Doc, 85

  S

  Savery, William, 100

  Sayre, P. T., 80

  Schofield, John, 80

  schools. See education

  Schurz, Carl, 95

  Scott, Robert K., 116, 121, 124

  Self, William, 139

  Seymour, Horatio, 62, 66, 70

  sharecropping, 78, 78–82, 85–88

  Shaw, Sarah Frances, 92

  slaves

  abolition of slavery (Thirteenth Amendment), 3, 21–22

  control and intimidation of, 31

  liberation of, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12

  life under Confederacy, 87

  ownership and value of, 7–8

  plantation work, 1–2

  religious services, 107–8, 108, 111

  South. See also Confederacy; Reconstruction

  agricultural economy, 3, 9

  Black Codes, 20, 20–21, 22

  elected black officials, 71

  idealized history of, 146, 146–47

  Jim Crow laws, 144

  lack of legal justice for blacks, 83–84, 84

  military rule, 36–37, 37, 39–40, 101–2, 145

  poverty, 9–10, 94, 95

  racial etiquette, 10–11, 22

  racial tension, 23–24

  readmission to Union, 37, 61–62

  wartime destruction of, 3, 8, 8, 15, 15, 95

  Southern Poverty Law Center, 150, 168

  Southern whites

  cheating of sharecroppers, 79, 79–80

  despair and sense of loss, 13–14, 14

  economic classes, 1, 48

  fear of freedmen, 24, 49, 111–13

  financial losses, 8, 8–9

  poverty, 9–10, 93, 94, 95

  scalawags, 66

  school attendance, 106

  voting rights, 18, 24, 38–39

  white supremacy beliefs, 7, 10, 10, 22, 45, 83, 93

  Stanton, Edwin, 60

  Stevens, Thaddeus, 61

  Sullivan, Moses, 114

  Summer, Charles, 35

  T

  Tait, Christenberry, 56