Conditions Governing Use

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

United Klans of American Collection, Special Collections and Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased with the Francis Randolph Howard Fund.

Processing Information

The collection received file level processing. This finding aid may be updated to reflect new descriptions and acquisitions to the collection.

Biographical / Historical

The United Klans oF America (UKA) was founded in Indian Springs, Georgia on July 8, 1961 after the merger of multiple Ku Klux Klan groups. Headquarted in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Robert Shelton, was the leader of the UKA from 1961-1987. UKA chapters existed throughout the United States including a Virginia Chapter headed by Grand Dragon Robert H. Hudgins. The UKA is linked to the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama,that killed four girls, the 1965 murder of Civil Rights Activist Viola Liuzzo, and the lynching of teenager Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama in 1981. A wrongful death suit was filed on behalf of Beulah Mae Donald, the mother of Michael Donald, by Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 1987, the UKA was sentenced to pay 7 million dollars in damages. The UKA became bankrupt from the suit and was forced to sell the Tuscaloosa, Alabama headquarters of which Beulah Mae Donald received $51,875.The United Klans of America Collection contains reports, newsletters such as the "Fiery Cross" and pamphlets that were dispersed throughout the Tidewater region of Virginia.

Content Description

Content warning: The United Klans of America (UKA) Collection contains racist, sexist and homophobic imagery, language and content. The materials have been processed and made accesible for fair use and research purposes.

The collection contains pamphlets, brochures, newsletters such as the "Fiery Cross," a Klan passport, items from Klan "neighborhood packets," and other UKA propaganda materials. A majority of the content originates from Virginia chapters of the United Klans of America (UKA).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, Birmingham, Ala., 1963
• African Americans
• Communism--United States
• Lynching--United States--History
• Race discrimination
• Race relations--United States--History--20th century
• Racism