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aving the opportunity to
examine a rare find is every
historian’s dream. The prospect of
examining nearly 20,000 items from a rare
Reconstruction-era collection is the chance
of a lifetime, so when Michael W. Fitzgerald,
professor of history at St. Olaf College in
Northfield, Minn., brought the Pickens
family to my attention in April 2016, I
knew I needed to take advantage of this
extraordinary opportunity. Recognizing the
unique value of the collection, we agreed
to co-author a book exploring the Pickens
family and their world, which we soon
discovered included involvement in the Ku
Klux Klan.
As a cultural historian, I am particularly
interested in understanding why people
turn to violence and how they justify their
actions when they do. The Pickens family of
Hale County, Ala., maintained an extensive
correspondence that has survived unedited,
opening a rare window into the experiences
of a family with Klan connections.
Scholars still know very little about the
private lives of Klan sympathizers and
participants. Klan leaders encouraged
members to commit little to paper. The
Klan was, after all, a secret organization
engaged in criminal acts, for which
hundreds of people were arrested. Both
the secrecy of its operation and the shame
it now inspires obscure understanding of
the Klan and the human appetites that
powered it.
A rare window into the
H
By Sarah L. Silkey, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
CREATE THE COVETED
DEGREE OF THE FUTURE
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F E AT U R E