Mississippi Officials Uncover Suitcase Filled With 1960s Ku Klux Klan Records, Propaganda, and Membership Documents
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is preparing to relocate to a new headquarters, but an unexpected discovery inside its current Jackson building is drawing attention.
According to Mississippi Today, officials found a small blue suitcase tucked away in a closet containing materials tied to the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Inside were a Klan robe, a handbook, recruitment materials, propaganda, meeting notes, financial ledgers, and membership records detailing who had paid dues and who had not.
Shortly after the discovery, the materials were turned over to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Officials say it is unclear how long the suitcase had been there or who left it behind.
Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said the decision to preserve the items is part of a broader effort to document the state’s history.
“Mississippi Highway Patrol Troopers and Agents with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety have worked for decades with our federal law enforcement partners to shed light on the darkness in which groups like the Ku Klux Klan chose to operate,” Tindell said. “By preserving these artifacts and shedding light on such organizations, we help ensure that future generations are never led astray by such hate.”
The artifacts will undergo processing before being digitized and made publicly accessible, a process expected to take several months. Incoming Archives and History director Barry White said the collection will provide researchers with expanded insight into Klan activity during the 1960s.
The department already houses related items, including a Klan robe and arrest photos of Freedom Riders displayed at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. However, the newly uncovered materials offer additional detail, including records suggesting the White Knights’ membership grew to nearly 100,000 and wielded enough influence that politicians sought their backing.
The White Knights were founded in 1962 by Samuel Bowers following the desegregation of the University of Mississippi by James Meredith. The group later became known for its role in the 1964 murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
Investigations into those killings prompted state authorities to examine possible ties between law enforcement and Klan membership, marking a significant moment in documenting the group’s presence in Mississippi.
Of the 18 men tried in the murders, seven were convicted, including Bowers, though sentences ranged from three to ten years. Decades later, Edgar Ray Killen, who was not convicted in the original trial, was found guilty of manslaughter in 2005 for orchestrating the killings.
The documents found in the suitcase outline internal Klan operations, including organizational rules, rituals, and committees such as one tasked with monitoring Black voter activity. Despite the group’s emphasis on secrecy, the records include explicit racist language and detailed member information.
The ledger was later verified by the son of Byron De La Beckwith, the man responsible for assassinating NAACP leader Medgar Evers in 1963. Beckwith was also a member of the White Knights.
