William J. Simmons

Linked to Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century

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William J. Simmons, seated during a 1921 investigation of the Ku Klux Klan by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, was inspired by D. W. Griffith's film, The Birth of a Nation, and the Leo Frank trial in Atlanta to reestablish the Klan in 1915. Simmons designed the hooded uniforms and secret rituals associated with the organization.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division