Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pamphlet titled “Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan.” The eight-page pamphlet is printed on white paper in black text and outlines the principle beliefs of the organization. The front cover features the title of the pamphlet inside a decorative border. Below the title is a summary of what the pamphlet contains. The pamphlet is organized into sections: Character of the Organization, Radical Ideals, Citizenship Ideals, Patriotic Ideals, and Christian Ideals. In sub-section headings, the pamphlet states "THIS IS A WHITE MAN'S ORGANIZATION," "THIS IS A GENTILE ORGANIZATION," "IT IS AN AMERICAN ORGANIZATION," "IT IS A PROTESTANT ORGANIZATION," "WE STAND FOR WHITE SUPREMACY," and "WE MUST KEEP THIS A WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1925
• Printed by: Ku Klux Klan, 2nd, American, 1915 - 1944
• Subject of: Ku Klux Klan, 2nd, American, 1915 - 1944
• Type: pamphlets
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 9 × 3 15/16 in. (22.8 × 10 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Fraternal organizations
• Topic: Protestantism
• Topic: U.S. History, 1919-1933
• Topic: White supremacy movements
• Object number: 2013.231.14.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.