Blacks joined the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction

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Summary: The 1872 Congressional Report on Mississippi, Volume II contains testimony documenting instances of black men participating in local Ku Klux Klan activities.

Although historians generally characterize the first Klan as a white supremacist organization, the historical record reveals its role as a paramilitary movement opposed to federal Reconstruction policies and organized around the defense of Southern interests. These documented cases of black participation add a lesser-known dimension to the organization's history and clarify its true membership and activities.

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During the Reconstruction era, the first Ku Klux Klan developed into a secretive organization made up largely of white former Confederates. Its activities were closely tied to resistance against federal Reconstruction policies and efforts to undermine the disruption of Southern culture.

The organization relied heavily on intimidation and violence to weaken imposed changes throughout the South. Although its membership and leadership were overwhelmingly white, congressional testimony from 1871 and 1872 documents cases in which black men were associated with local Klan groups, particularly in Mississippi.

One such account came from Washington Willis, a black freeman living in Monroe County, near Aberdeen, Mississippi. On Nov. 17, 1871, Willis testified before a subcommittee of the Joint Select Committee in Columbus, Mississippi. He described witnessing a nighttime raid involving approximately 65 to 70 riders who whipped an apparent thief identified as Alexander Willis. Among those participating, Washington Willis recognized two black men, Jefferson Willis and Burril Willis.

When questioned about how the two men became involved with the Ku-Klux, Washington Willis said he did not know. However, he revealed that he had also been approached about joining the organization. The person who extended the invitation was Barbour Quarles, whom Willis described as his "young master." According to his testimony, Quarles approached him before the group's first nighttime ride and presented membership as a way to protect property against theft. Willis explained that someone had killed one of his heifers and stolen his cotton, and Quarles suggested that joining the group would give him an opportunity to help prevent similar incidents.

Additional testimony from the same congressional investigation provides further insight. Joseph Davis, another Monroe County witness, testified that some black men had been invited to participate in Klan activities. According to Davis, these black men were pressed into service. He distinguished these individuals from Burril Willis and Jefferson Willis, whom he identified as voluntary participants.

The accounts appear in Volume 12 of the Joint Select Committee's published investigation, which contains extensive evidence of Klan activities against person perceived as traitors to the Southern cause.

Several decades later, black historian and journalist J.A. Rogers revisited the subject in The Ku Klux Spirit, originally published as a series of articles around 1923. Rogers claimed that thousands of black men had served as Klan members, sometimes acting as informants against other blacks and Northerners. However, the congressional testimony does not substantiate membership on the scale Rogers described. Instead, it documents isolated cases involving specific local groups. This does not necessarily mean Rogers' account was inaccurate; it simply means his broader claims are not corroborated by the congressional record.

According to the historical committee records, the subcommittee assigned to investigate Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee included the following members:

Sen. Daniel D. Pratt (Republican, Indiana)
Sen. Benjamin F. Rice (Republican, Arkansas)
Sen. Francis Preston Blair Jr. (Democrat, Missouri)
Rep. Charles W. Buckley (Republican, Alabama)
Rep. James C. Robinson (Democrat, Illinois)

None of the five were Confederate loyalists and would likely have been biased in favor of the Union. It is not known who actually were present to hear Willis's testimony. Washington Willis's testimony appears on printed page 1184 of the 1872 Congressional Report, Mississippi testimony, Volume II.

These distinctions are important when evaluating the historical record. The first Klan is presumed to have been overwhelmingly white in its leadership and membership, and its activities were fundamentally connected to restoring political dominance and reversing losses suffered during Reconstruction. The Joint Select Committee's majority report (ibid) described the organization as a "fearful conspiracy" responsible for widespread atrocities.

The documented presence of a black men within local Klan groups does not change that broader history. Some were reportedly forced into participation, while others apparently joined voluntarily. Their involvement represents an unusual but documented aspect of Reconstruction-era history, not evidence that the first Ku Klux Klan was a broadly integrated or multiracial organization.

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