Encyclopedia article about the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society dedicated to white supremacy in the United States, which has existed in various forms since it was organized in Tennessee shortly after the end of the Civil War (1861-1865). William J. Simmons, a recruiter for men's fraternal societies, established a new Ku Klux Klan in 1915, declaring its rebirth at a ceremony held at Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta. The group's membership was restricted to white American-born Protestant men. The Klan has waxed and wained and divided since its 1915 rebirth until a 1993 court order forced one of the groups to disband.

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Cite as: "Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.

Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.