1872 drawing of three Mississippi Ku Klux Klan members arrested in September 1871 for attempted murder. Drawing of three hooded men posing with pistols in their hands. The caption reads: “Mississippi Ku-Klux in the Disguises in Which They Were Captured. (From a Photograph.)”
2 April 2021
The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist, terrorist organization in the United States. Originally founded in 1866, it has gone through three distinct periods of existence. The first Klan, formed to overthrow Republican governments that included Black legislators and officials in the southern states lasted into the early 1870s, when it was suppressed by the U.S. Army. The Klan was renewed in 1915, during the establishment of Jim Crow laws and the cementing of the “lost cause” myth of Confederate defeat in the Civil War. This second incarnation of the Klan was immensely popular, growing to some 4–5 million members in 1925—about 15% of the white, male population of the United States. It rapidly declined in the late 1920s but re-emerged in the 1950s as a violent response to the Civil Rights movement.
The name Ku Klux Klan comes from the Greek κύκλος (kuklos) meaning circle, with Klan added for alliteration. The imagery of a circle is often employed in conspiratorial enterprises (e.g., ringleader). The naming of the Klan is described in John C. Lester and D. L. Wilson’s 1884 history of the organization. Lester was one of the six founding members of the Klan, and in addition to detailing how the name was chosen, he also opines how the name was a fortuitous choice, adding to the organization’s mystery and appeal. Note also that Lester writes in the third person, distancing himself from his role as a terrorist ringleader:
The committee appointed to select a name reported that they had found the task difficult, and had not made a selection. They explained that they had been trying to discover or invent a name which would be, to some extent, suggestive of the character and objects of the society. They mentioned several which they had been considering. In this number was the name “Kukloi” from the Greek word Kuklos (Kuklos), meaning a band or circle. At mention of this some one cried out: “Call it Ku Klux.” “Klan” at once suggested itself, and was added to complete the alliteration. So instead of adopting a name, as was the first intention, which had a definite meaning, they chose one which to the proposer of it, and to every one else, was absolutely meaningless.
Had they called themselves the “Jolly Jokers” or the “Adelphi,” or by some similar appellation, the organization would doubtless have had no more than the mere local and ephemeral existence, which those who organized it contemplated for it. Hundreds of societies have originated just as this one did, and after a brief existence, have passed away. But in this case there was a wierd [sic] potency in the very name Ku Klux Klan. Let the reader pronounce it aloud. The sound of it is suggestive of bones rattling together! The potency of the name was not wholly in the impression made by it on the general public. It is a singular fact that the members of the Klan were themselves the first to feel its wierd [sic] influence; they had adopted a mysterious name. Thereupon the original plan was modified so as to make everything connected with the order harmonize with the name. Amusement was still the end in view. But now the method by which pose to win it were those of secrecy and mystery.
The organization started in Pulaski, Tennessee in May 1866 in response to the recent race riot in Memphis. Another of the founders was Frank McCord, editor of the Pulaski Citizen, and the author of the first appearances of the name Ku Klux Klan in print. McCord published the following on 29 March 1867 in the Citizen. The bit about the note being found under the door and the inquisitive tone of the piece are fictions:
What Does it Mean?—The following mysterious “Take Notice” was found under our door early yesterday morning, having doubtless been slipped there the night previous. Will any one venture to tell us what it means, if it means anything at all? What is a “Kuklux Klan,” and who is this “Grand Cyclops” that issues his mysterious and imperative orders? Can any one give us a little light on this subject? Here is the order:
“Take Notice.—The Kuklux Klan will assemble at their usual place of rendezvous, “The Den,” on Tuesday night next, exactly at the hour of midnight, in costume and bearing the arms of the Klan.
“By or of the Grand Cyclops
G. T.”
In subsequent articles, McCord described fictional visits by Klan officials to his office, such as this one published in the Pulaski Citizen on 26 April 1867:
Kuklux Klan.
The Grand Turk of the Klu Klux Klan favored us with another visit last Wednesday night, though we don’t think he was the same one who called on us last week. We measured him good with our eye, and don’t think he was over seven and a half feet high, maybe eight. We still hold that the other one was nine, and we won’t fall “narry snake.” This one was dressed entirely different, having on a flashy suit of scarlet velvet—roundabout and knee-breeches, and had the banner of the Klan partially wrapped around him. The banner seemed to be made of crimson silk, with numerous devices, and had “Kuklux Klan” worked or painted upon it in gold. There being several in our sanctum, the Grand Turk, after delivering the order published below, said he desired a private interview, and pointed to the door. We hesitated. What could he want with us? We decided not to go, but he waved his “concern” at us, and we followed. Now, thought we, surely we will be inducted into some of the mysteries of the Klan. He stopped at the door, and bending his majestic form, said in low, deep and measured tones: “The Grand Turk brings a message from the Grand Cyclops. Be silent that you may hear. Be discreet: Nix-cum-a-r-o-u-s-c-h!” We said, “Yaw, got for dam,” but when we looked up to see what effect this intelligent and emphatic reply had upon him, he had disappeared as noiselessly as a graveyard. For the life of us we couldn’t tell which way he went. Don’t much believe he went anywhere, but just disappeared.—But we know he was here by the following order, which he left in our hands:
Rendezvous in the Forest,
April 24th, 1867.The officers and members of the “Kuklux Klan” will assemble at an earlier hour, Saturday night, as business of more than usual interest will be transacted which will consume some time, and the Grand Cyclops is unwilling to encroach on the Holy Sabbath, by transacting business after 12 o’clock. The members of the “Klan” having become so numerous, our former place of holding meetings will have to be abandoned and a place selected that will afford more accommodation, and, as the weather is becoming more pleasant, the Klan” will assemble at the above named rendezvous until further orders.
The members will be prompt in attending all meetings, at the hour that may be designated by the Grand Turk.
By order of the Grand Cyclops
G. S.
Given McCord’s position as one of the founders of the Klan, these are clearly recruitment and meeting notices. The fictional visitors add a mythic tone and provide McCord with plausible deniability in case the U.S. Army investigated him. Decades later, McCord would admit to these fabrications. From the Pulaski Citizen of 18 December 1892 (again, take note of the resort to the third person):
I will only add that nearly all the BLOOD AND THUNDER proclamations and general orders issued in circular form or printed in the columns of THE CITIZEN when the order was in its incipient form and before it had assumed political significations, originated in the brain and were written by the Faber of the then editor of THE CITIZEN, solely for fun and sensational effect. What editor, pray tell me, imbued with the least journalistic enterprise, would have failed to take advantage of the circumstances and enlivened his cou[rse] with these sensational fulminations? Would you? This is my excuse and defense.
Some histories of the Klan claim that the organization was innocently founded for social purposes and was only later diverted to violent purposes. While it seems that some of the early activities of the Klan were indeed social—those early gatherings in the woods often included music and dancing—the claims of early innocence are based on the testimony of early members given many years later; men who had every reason to lie and deny violent and racist intentions. And the threatening tone of McCord’s early announcements belies any innocent purpose. Certainly by late 1867, only months after the organization was founded, the Klan was identified by the Army as a terrorist organization. From a report by Brigadier General Joseph A. Cooper, commander of the Tennessee State Guards:
Entire tranquillity [sic] has not yet been restored to society in Tennessee. Disorders are reported from time to time which are popularly attributed to the exploits of an organization known as the “Ku-klux Klan,” which exists in this and neighboring States.
It’s often the case that one should not take the claims about the coinage of words at face value, even from those who actually coined the terms. But seldom does one see such blatant attempts to rewrite such a dark chapter in history and place the participants in a better light.
Sources:
Cooper, Joseph A. (2 October 1867). “T: Circular, No. 10. General Orders, Kb. 11 Special Orders, No. 105 Special Orders, So. 111.” The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year ... (1861-1873), vol. 7 of 13 for 1967. ProQuest Magazines.
“Kuklux Klan.” Pulaski Citizen, 26 April 1867, 3. Library of Congress: Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers.
Lester, J. C. and D. L. Wilson. Ku Klux Klan. Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment. Nashville: Wheeler, Osborn & Duckworth, 1884, 13–15. HathiTrust Digital Archive.
Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989, s.v. Ku-Klux, n, Klan, n., Kluxer, n.
Parsons, Elaine Frantz. Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan During Reconstruction. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 2016, 27, 29–30.
Pulaski Citizen (Tennessee), 29 March 1867, 3. Library of Congress: Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers.
Image credit: Harper’s Weekly, 27 January 1872, 1. Public domain image.