The Rise & Fall of the Ku Klux Klan
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2024
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A far-right hate group known the world over, the Ku Klux Klan emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War. So why did it emerge? Where did it get its name from? And how has its size, focus and influence changed in the years since?
To demystify this terrorist organisation, Don spoke to Professor Kristofer Allerfeldt from the University of Exeter, England. Kristofer is the author of 'The Ku Klux Klan: An American History'.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Anisha Deva. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
You can take part in our listener survey here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Martin Luther King Jr. writes to John F. Kennedy on September 15th, 1963, a day of the |
| 0:09.2 | Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. |
| 0:13.0 | Dear Mr President, I shudder to think what our nation has become when Sunday school |
| 0:19.4 | children and their teachers are killed in church by racist bombs. |
| 0:24.0 | Four young girls, dressing for church choir that Sunday morning, have been murdered. |
| 0:29.0 | Addie May Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. |
| 0:36.1 | Dynamite stacked on the back wall of their church destroyed the building, killing the |
| 0:40.4 | four girls and injuring others. |
| 0:44.2 | The savage bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church this morning is another clear indication |
| 0:50.1 | of the moral degradation of the state of Alabama and Governor George Wallace. |
| 0:55.0 | Mr President, you must call for legislation. |
| 1:00.0 | King is preparing to make the dreadful journey to Birmingham, to plead with the community there to somehow remain nonviolent in the face of senseless slaughter. |
| 1:10.0 | But it would be more than 10 years in 1977 before the first of the killers would be charged and found guilty on one count of murder. |
| 1:19.0 | 20 years after, the FBI reopened the case and indicted two other men. A fourth had |
| 1:25.5 | died in the interceding 30 years. All four of these men were members of the Ku Klux |
| 1:31.0 | clan, the K K. K. |
| 1:34.0 | This gruesome act galvanized public opinion in favor of the legislation King sought to pass. |
| 1:40.0 | A year later, on July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President |
| 1:46.4 | Lyndon Johnson. |
| 1:48.5 | Many today forget the tragedy and sacrifice that propelled that legislation forward. |
| 1:55.0 | The K K K K has a long and hideous legacy of unpunished crimes. |
| 2:00.0 | So many on full display for a nation and a world appalled. Hi everyone this is American History Hit. Greetings. I'm Don Wildman. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.