NCJ Number
176121
Date Published
1998
Length
585 pages
Annotation
This book chronicles the 1922 murder of two white men by the Ku Klux Klan to illustrate the influence of the Klan in the American South during the early 20th century.
Abstract
Violence against blacks has always been an accepted part of the Ku Klux Klan's credo. However, violence toward whites, particularly respected members of their communities, was virtually unknown until 1922. In the summer of that year, two white men in Morehouse Parish, LA, were kidnapped by the Klan, tortured and murdered. Autopsies of the bodies revealed they had been extensively mutilated. The book presents a detailed examination of the investigation that followed the murders and develops a picture of the Klan's grip on the South of the time, a society muted by fear and intimidation. The book includes a historical profile of Northeastern Louisiana; an introduction to the Ku Klux Klan; a description of the social setting and other events in the South in the summer and fall of 1922; the search and subsequent discovery of the two bodies; the open hearing and its aftermath; and the present-day Klan in Louisiana. Notes, lexicon, index