By Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
This week, in the midst of Black History Month, residents of four New Jersey towns reported receiving fliers at their homes soliciting enlistment in the Ku Klux Klan, saying "Love your race" and "Stop homosexuality and race mixing." While the phone numbers on the fliers aren't local -- they're for a North Carolina area code -- the NAACP has said the incidents show "the fight for civil rights is not over in New Jersey."
The KKK, which still has close to 200 chapters in the United States, has a history in New Jersey that dates back to the 1920s, some 60 years after the hate group got its start in post-Civil War America. Over the decades, it has collapsed and been reborn again and still has a presence today. The halcyon days of the 1920s saw a peak membership of about 5 million members, but would drop to 30,000 only a decade later.
Today, it is a "very very pale shadow of its former self," Southern Poverty Law Center senior fellow Mark Potok said. It's estimated that there are between 4,000 and 6,000 active Klan members across the country. However, the group's efforts to preserve American racial purity and traditional beliefs remain at the heart of its mission.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The grand dragon
In this undated photo, Arthur Bell is pictured. Bell became the grand dragon of the KKK in New Jersey around 1922 — one year after the first New Jersey chapter was organized. Despite decades of service with the group, he reportedly changed his point of view on race relations prior to his death in New Jersey in March 1973.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The early days
In this Aug. 31, 1929 "Patriotic Day" photo, the Pillar of Fire Church's annual meeting is shown in front of the assembly hall in Zarephath, New Jersey. The 1920s were an active time for the klan, with thousands to tens of thousands attending rallies across the state. Come 1944 however, an IRS tax lien led to the national organization giving up the ghost and local chapters shuttered soon after.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The first burnt cross
Klan presence in Kenilworth, Union County, dates back as far as the 1920s. It was also said that the state sect of the group was headquartered there. According to newspaper reports at the time, the first blazing wooden cross to be seen by Kenilworth residents was reported on April 6, 1925. "The cross was constructed of 2-by-4s and over 10 feet high. Burlap rags soaked with kerosene were wrapped around the cross and held in place by wire," one report read.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The pillar of fire
Pictured here is Alma White, founder of the Pillar of Fire Church. Her anti-Catholicism, antisemitism and reported anti-immigrant beliefs echoed the viewpoints of the Klan at the time. She died at 84. The Methodist Christian-based church had amassed some 4,000 followers and had a footprint of 61 churches.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The higher calling
The KKK in 1923 funded the Pillar of Fire Church to establish the Alma White College, in Somerset County. The college was rooted in Klan beliefs in the hopes of furthering its ideology. It was shuttered in 1978. At the time of its founding, the Pillar of Fire Church was publishing pro-KKK materials. Pictured here, an edition of "The Good Citizen" as published by the church.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The secret society
In this 2013 NJ.com file photo, the InfoAge grounds in Wall Township are pictured. The U.S. government purchased the Camp Evans property just before the outbreak of World War II. Before that, it was owned by the Monmouth County Pleasure Seeker's Club and reportedly had ties to Grand Dragon Bell with plans to sell property solely to klansmen. Oddly enough, the property would later house former Nazi scientists as research into rockets began in earnest in the U.S.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
Re-birth of a nation
Rev. S. Rea Crawford, general manager of Pillar of Fire International, left, and Robert W. Cruver, president of the Zarephath Bible Institute, right, are seen in this 2000 file photo. The two were speaking about a radio commercial that implied their church was linked to the KKK. After the first incarnation of the Klan collapsed in the 1940s, the national group saw spurts of energy during the Civil Rights era. According to the website for the Traditionalist American Knights, the group is "fighting for an entire outlook on life ... We are not only crusading for ourselves and our families, but are vanguards of a new idea: human quality!"
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The leaflets
With reports of pro-KKK fliers popping up in at least three Burlington County towns, a local NAACP branch has condemned the anonymous acts by saying that "the fight for civil rights is not over in New Jersey." Local police departments are continuing to investigate the acts. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a total of 190 KKK chapters exist across the U.S.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The grand wizard
Former Klan leader and Holocaust denier David Duke is pictured in this undated Associated Press photo. Duke came to Barnegat Township, Ocean County in 1979 for a "misguided" rally, according to previous report. More recently, he was an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump during his run for the office and said that "our people" played a huge role in Trump's election. On the campaign trail, Trump would say that he knew little about Duke, who was former state representative in Louisiana.
Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com
The current footprint
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Militant Knights of the Ku Klux Klan — which is what's listed on the leaflets left earlier this week in three Burlington County towns — and a Toms River-based group are New Jersey's lone KKK chapters. New Jersey is also host to a slew of alleged skinhead groups and one avowed "white nationalist" organization in Burlington County.
Ad Choices