Ku Klux Klan titles and vocabulary

Ku Klux Klan nomenclature has evolved over the order's nearly 160 years of existence. The titles and designations were first laid out in the original Klan's prescripts of 1867 and 1868, then revamped with William J. Simmons' Kloran of 1916. Subsequent Klans have made various modifications.

Reconstruction period

The sources of the rituals, titles and even the name of the original KKK may be found in antebellum college fraternities and secret societies such as the Kuklos Adelphon.[1] John Lester, one of the original members of the group, stated that the Klan rituals were "modeled on and embraced the leading features of the rituals of an order which has long been popular in many colleges and universities under various names" such as the Sons of Confucius or Guiasticutus but always styled Ancient and Honorable and Mirth-Provoking. Walter L. Fleming stated in a footnote to Lesters text that the contemporary (early twentieth century) Southern college fraternity that most nearly mirrored the early Klan was Alpha Sigma Sigma and the institution of snipe hunting.[2] The original prescript of the Ku Klux Klan was adopted by a convention in Nashville, Tennessee in April 1867. A slightly revised edition appeared the next year.[3]

Higher levels

In both there were four levels or "departments" of organization, above the basic level:

In the first prescript each officer is given the power to appoint Deputies to organize Realms, Dominions, Provinces and Dens until the latter can elect their own officers.[9] The Grand Wizard was to be elected by a majority of Grand Dragons, and each lower level was elected by a majority of the next lower level of officers (Dragons elected by Titans, Titans by Giants etc.), as soon as three units had been formed at each level (three Dominions within a Realm for Grand Dragon, three Provinces within a Dominion for Grand Titan etc.).[10] In the second prescript each officer appoints the lower officer with the approval of his superior.[11]

Dens

The Dens were the basic level of organization for the Reconstruction Klan.[12] In the original prescript, its chief officer was the Grand Cyclops, who appointed two Nighthawks, a Grand Turk, a Grand Sentinel and a Grand Ensign in addition to his Grand Scribe.[13] The Grand Cyclops, Grand Exchequer, Grand Magi (second officer) and Grand Monk (third officer) were elected by the body politic of the dens, identified as Ghouls[14] In the second prescript the Grand Ensign is dispensed with, while the Grand Exchequer was appointed by the Grand Cyclops, who was now appointed by the Grand Giant. Only the Grand Magi and Grand Monk were elected by the Ghouls.[15]

The exact function of these officers and meaning of the titles varied. The two Nighthawks have been identified as couriers.[16] The Grand Sentinel was in charge of the "Grand Guard", an organization which is not otherwise elaborated upon in the prescripts, but apparently served as the Den's security detail.[17][18] The Grand Turk was the den's "executive officer" and was charged with informing Klansmen of "all informal or irregular meetings" and helping the Grand Cyclops maintain the "control and government" of the Den.[19] The Grand Ensigns job was to take care of the Klan's flag.[20]

Initiation rites

The organ for initiation into the Klan was called the Investigating Committee, composed of the Grand Cyclops, Grand Magi and Grand Monk. Upon the nomination of a new member by a current member, the committee would investigate the candidate's "antecedents and his past and present standings and connections" and would then pronounce the candidate "competent and worthy" to become a member. The Grand Turk would escort the candidate to an "out post" where he would question him and administer a preliminary oath. After this the Grand Turk would conduct the candidate to the Den, where the Grand Cyclops would administer the final oath.[21] The second prescript elaborates that the candidate must have his left hand on the Bible and his right hand toward heaven and includes a ten-point "interrogation" that the candidate must answer satisfactorily in order to proceed with the final oath. The questions asked included: are you now or have ever been a member of the Radical Republican Party, Loyal Leagues or Grand Army of the Republic? Did you fight with the Union Army during the Civil War? Do you believe in Negro equality? among other things.[22] Although, before the K.K.K became a hate group, they had an initiation not unlike a college fraternity. The recruit would be blindfolded and sat in front of a mirror. A Ghoul would then put donkey ears on him and ask him to recite a couplet from the poem "To a Louse" by the poet Robert Burns. "O wad some power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us (O would some power the gift give us, To see ourselves as others see us.) Then the Ghoul would remove the blindfold and the recruit would see himself with donkey ears and surrounded by cackling men with hoods.

Tribunals

A system of "judiciary" organs was created in each prescript. In the first the judiciary was divided into a Grand Council of Yahoos, to try officers of the Klan, and a Grand Council of Centaurs to try regular Ghouls. In Art.IV Sec.4, the Grand Giant is charged with conducting the Council of Yahoo, but Art.VI Sec.2 states that the Council will be composed of officers of the equivalent rank as the accused and presided over by an officer of the next higher rank. A trial of the Grand Wizard would be held by a meeting of all the Grand Dragons, the most senior Grand Dragon presiding[23] It is unclear if these tribunals were ever functional.[24]

The second prescript presented an entirely different judiciary, with officers of the first three levels tried by three judges, appointed by the chief officer of the given jurisdiction, and the officers and attaches of the headquarters (presumably the Genii, Hydras and Furies). Trials of Den officers would be conducted at the provincial headquarters and include five judges, and ordinary ghouls to be tried at their dens with seven judges. As before a trial of the Grand Wizard would be conducted by the most senior Grand Dragon, this time with a quorum of seven dragons. All defendants had the right of appeal to the next higher court, and proceeding were to be govern as "ordinary court martials".[25]

Miscellaneous

In addition to the structure outlined above, there are documented cases of organs of slightly different nomenclature from Reconstruction. For instance, a group of twenty men who were arrested on April 6, 1868 at their "den" at the corners of Beale Street and Hernando street in Memphis, was called the Supreme Cyclopean Council. The constitution that the police captured outlined an organization with a Grand Cyclops, Vice-Grand Cyclops and Secretary and openly advocated assassination of the "murders and robbers" now ruling the South. Members were bound to participate in the activities of the order, even if it meant leaving the "embraces" of their wife.[26][27][28][29] A Grand Klan, composed of delegates from Spartanburg, York, Union, and Chester counties in South Carolina and a few from North Carolina met in Spartanburg, South Carolina and declared that no more raids or whippings would be conducted by members of the Klan except by their order and that the penalty for violating this order would be 100 lashes for the first offense and death for the second.[30]

An attempt was apparently made to make Ghoul titles for other officers in Maury County, Tennessee in 1867 and early 1868, but the result was only confusion. Additionally a "Grand Tycoon" notified Klansmen in Lebanon, Tennessee to cease nightriding and the order was apparently effective in restoring calm to Wilson County, Tennessee.[31] In some early reconstruction Klan units there was also a Lictor, whose role as a guard of the den was later subsumed by the Nighthawks.[32]

Second Era

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc. which existed from 1915 to 1944, elaborated on the original prescript in its Kloran and in the constitution and by-laws adopted in 1922. Some titles and jurisdictional designations were carried over from the Reconstruction prescripts intact, or slightly modified, and others were original with Imperial Wizard Simmons.

Jurisdictions

Officials

There was a nearly identical set of subordinate officers at each level:[41]

The officers at each level above the local Klan unit were designated by a unique prefix: Imperial at the Empire level; Grand at the Realm level; and Great at the Province level. Thus, for instance, an Imperial Kludd would be the chaplain for the whole organization, a Grand Kludd for the Realm, Great Kludd for a Province and simply Kludd for a local Klan.[42]

Not all offices were reproduced at each level. The Kladd, Klarogo, Klexter and Klokard were not present at the Province level, and the Kladd was not included on the Realm level.[43] The Klazik, second vice-president, and Klonsul, attorney, positions only existed at the Imperial level.[44] The Klaziks duties included being head of the department of Realms and organizing new Realms and Provinces[45] At the Province level there were three Klaliffs that served as an advisory board. A Klokann of three members, each one named a Klokan, filled this role at the local levels and a Klokann of four members at the Imperial level, in which they served as a "Supreme Board of Auditors and Special Advisers and was led by a Chief Imperial Klokan.[46]

The Imperial Wizards Genii constituted his Imperial Kloncilium; this was the Imperial Wizards supreme advisory board, as well as the Klans highest administrative organ in between Klonvokations. It met regularly every July, but could also be called when the Imperial Wizard or five Geniis petitioned him to do so. The Kloncilium was also the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of the organization with appellate jurisdiction and the right to finally determine disputes between Realms, Provinces, Klans and members in unorganized states[47]

Giant was adopted as an emeritus title: Imperial Giant for an ex-Imperial Wizard, Grand Giant for an ex-Grand Dragon, Great Giant for ex-Great Titan and Klan Giant for an ex-Exalted Cyclops.[48]

A Kleagle was a recruiter and was responsible for organizing local Klans.[49]

Post-1944

Since the dissolution of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc. in 1944, there have been many Klan groups. Details of the nomenclature have varied, somewhat, among the different groups, but some terms have had more currency than others. Over time, the term klavern replaced klan for local groups.[50] Imperial Wizard and Grand Dragon have still been generally used for the leader of a Klan organization and for state (realm) leaders. Exceptions included cases of one state Klans, such as the Association of Georgia Klans, whose leader Dr. Samuel Green, kept the title Grand Dragon until shortly before his death.[51] The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan created some innovations in their organization including a bicameral Klongress with an upper house Klonvokation and lower Klanburgess.[52]

In the late 1970s David Duke's Knights of the Ku Klux Klan dropped the Imperial Wizard title, and the leader was called national director.[53] That organization, now known as the Knights Party, no longer uses most of the traditional Klan titles, and the only fraternal titles used are Page, Squire and Knight for levels of membership.[54]

Vocabulary

Aside from titles and geographical designations, a distinctive vocabulary has grown around the Ku Klux Klan organizations. These include names for rituals, code words and practices of the various Klans.

Membership

There are terms related to membership and non-membership:[58][59]

Groups

Groups of Klansmen commissioned for "special activities"

Finances

Code words and phrases

Dates and times

Two KKK codes for dates and times have been developed, the Ku Klux Register in the original prescripts and the Kalender developed by William J. Simmons.

Ku Klux Register

In the original prescripts the register contained twelve designations, thought to correspond to months:[73][74]

The second prescript had a slightly different scheme.[73][75]

Colors were used for the days of the week:[73]

Twelve designations were used for the hours of the day:[73][76]

Kalender

The Kalender developed by W. J. Simmons included codes for days of the week, weeks, months and years. For months:[77][78]

For weeks and days:[77][78]

Years were reckoned according to reigns and cycles. The Reign of Incarnation was all time up to the American Revolutionary War. The First Reign of our Incarnation was the period between the Revolution and the establishment of the original Klan, which was reckoned to May 6, 1866 in this scheme. The Reign of our Second Incarnation was reckoned between 1866 and Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest's dissolution of the Klan, which is reckoned to 1872. The Reign of our Third Incarnation began in 1915.[79] The Klan year, Anno Klan, began in May of each year, and the cycle was reckoned from December of each calendar year.[80]

Footnotes

  1. Michael and Judy Ann Newton eds. The Ku Klux Klan; an encyclopedia Garland Reference Library of the Social Science Vol.499 London and New York; Garland Publishing inc. 1991, p.338
  2. Lester, John C., Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment Walter L. Fleming ed. New York; Neale Publishing Company, 1905. Texts of the first and second prescript as Appendices I and II p.60
  3. Lester, Texts of the first and second prescript as Appendices I and II pp.133-176
  4. Lester, pp.136–37, 157–58
  5. Lester, pp.136, 138, 155–56, 158–159. The states making up the "empire" were Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee
  6. Lester, pp.156, 158
  7. Lester, pp.136, 138–39, 158, 159–160
  8. Lester, p.160
  9. Lester, pp.137–140
  10. Lester, pp.143–144
  11. Lester, pp.136, 141, 158, 159–160
  12. Michael and Judy Ann Newton eds. The Ku Klux Klan; an encyclopedia Garland Reference Library of the Social Science Vol.499 London and New York; Garland Publishing inc. 1991 p.160
  13. Lester, p.141
  14. Lester, pp.141-3
  15. Lester, pp.160-1, 165-6
  16. Newton and Newton, p.428
  17. Lester, pp.143, 164
  18. Newton and Newton, p.236
  19. Lester, pp.142, 163
  20. Lester, pp.143
  21. Lester, pp.140-1, 142, 146-7
  22. Lester, pp.171-2
  23. Lester, pp.140, 144
  24. Newton and Newton, p.139
  25. Lester, pp.16-8
  26. Newton and Newton, p.348
  27. George Henry Townsend The Handbook of the year London: Wyman & Sons, 1868 p.293
  28. Allen Trelease White terror: the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction Greenwood Press, 1979 p.37
  29. The complete constitution, which identifies the group as part of the KKK was printed in Nashville union and dispatch. Vol XXXIV #105 April 09, 1868
  30. Report of the Joint Select Committee Appointed to Inquire Into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, So Far as Regards the Execution of Laws, and the Safety of the Lives and Property of the Citizens of the United States and Testimony Taken: Report of the Joint committee, Views of the minority and Journal of the Select committee, April 20, 1871-Feb. 19, 1872 Washington; GPO 1872 p.48
  31. Newton and Newton, pp.236-7
  32. Newton and Newton, pp.348
  33. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc Atlanta, Ga; Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc 1921 [pref. Nov. 1922] pp.12-4
  34. Constitution p.9
  35. Constitution p.23
  36. Constitution p.12
  37. Constitution p.13
  38. Constitution p.45
  39. Constitution pp.13, 47–48
  40. Constitution pp.13–14, 59
  41. Constitution pp.22–23, 59
  42. Constitution pp.23, 46, 48, 59
  43. Constitution pp.48, 59
  44. Constitution pp.29, 32
  45. Constitution pp.45–48,
  46. Constitution pp.23, 33, 59
  47. Constitution pp.22–23
  48. Constitution pp.35
  49. Constitution pp.33-35
  50. 1 2 Newton and Newton, p.322
  51. Newton and Newton, p.238
  52. Newton and Newton, pp.321-2
  53. Newton and Newton, p.173
  54. Structure
  55. Newton and Newton, p.321
  56. Anti-Defamation League Danger: Extremism; the major voices and vehicles on America far right fringe New York; Anti-Defamation League 1996 p.251
  57. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan The Practice of Klanishness 1924 p.6
  58. Newton and Newton, p.11
  59. Anti-Defamation League pp.392-3
  60. Newton and Newton, p.627
  61. Newton and Newton, p.623
  62. Anti-Defamation League p.393
  63. Newton and Newton, p.228
  64. 1 2 3 4 Anti-Defamation League p.292
  65. Newton and Newton, p.158
  66. Newton and Newton, p.285
  67. Constitution pp.48-9
  68. Newton and Newton, pp.30-1
  69. 1 2 3 4 Ku Klux Klan
  70. 1 2 Anti-Defamation League p.293
  71. "A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos". Archive.adl.org. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  72. Alan Axelrod International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p.144. This was one of a number of names for Klan women's auxiliaries
  73. 1 2 3 4 Newton and Newton, p.337
  74. Lester, p.148
  75. Lester, p.176
  76. Lester, pp.148, 176
  77. 1 2 Newton and Newton, pp.307-8
  78. 1 2 Constitution p.87
  79. Constitution pp.88, 89-90
  80. Constitution p.88

See also

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