The Ku Kluk Klan came out into the open here for the first time in many years last night, when 1,000 hooded clansmen and women gathered around burning crosses on Stone Mountain during the initiation of several hundred new members.
Dr. Senmel Green, Grand Dragon of the Klan, asserted that the organization had more than 20,000 members in Georgia alone. He admitted that the Klan favors "white supremacy," but denied that it had religious or racial bias.
Opposition to the revived Klan was voiced by religious, social and labor groups. The Christian Council of Atlanta protested against "a misguided patriotism that clothes itself in secrecy." The Georgia Legislative Council charged that the Klan is attempting to discourage labor organization in the South by terrorism, while the Southern Regional Council, a joint Negro and white group working to improve race relations and economic conditions in the South, declared that the Klan "is not likely to get far in the awakening South."
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
