KKK Parade on Monument Avenue, 1920s
Collections in the Classroom
Grade Level
High, Middle
Time Period
1900-1950: Early 20th Century
Theme
Jim Crow, The Lost Cause Myth
Resource Type
Primary Source
Download Collections in the Classroom: KKK on parade on Monument Avenue (pdf)
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- What message does this image communicate?
- Who is the audience for this image?
- Why do you think the KKK members picked this location?
CONTEXT
The Ku Klux Klan is an American white supremacist hate group founded in Tennessee in 1865 as a vigilante group committed to violent intimidation against African Americans and others who supported equal rights and Reconstruction. The KKK, or Klan, has had several resurgences over time including in 1915 when they also were against Catholic and Jewish immigrants, and the 1960s when they worked against the Civil Rights Movement. Members wore white hoods to conceal their identities and prevent them from being arrested when committing acts of violence and intimidation. Many Black Americans left the South moving north during the Great Migration in the 20th century to escape the intolerable living conditions created by the racism fostered by white supremacists.
