Voices for Civil Rights: Encounters with the Klan

In the Jim Crow South, the black community faced frequent violence and intimidation. Today in our series Voices for Civil Rights, hosted by Eric Hodge, we hear stories of encounters with the Ku Klux Klan.

Seth Kotch shares excerpts of three oral histories conducted by the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Dr. Robert Hayling experiences sudden, horrific violence at a Klan rally in Florida.

Cecil Williams has an unexpected encounter when he arrives in the aftermath of a South Carolina Klan rally.

And Fletcher Anderson talks about arming himself to defend his neighborhood.

This series is part of a joint project between the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress.

These oral histories are being added to the holdings at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.