Upstate New York's KKK history:
2018: Ku Klux Klan spreads flyers and candy in upstate New York in an apparent attempt to recruit children
20th. century:
1920s KKK Recruiting Efforts in Northern New York
From Albany to Plattsburgh to Watertown to Syracuse, they recruited like-minded souls. We should be embarrassed to say that they did quite well in most quarters. In the Albany area, there were more than 11,000 members. Meetings across the North Country attracted hundreds, and sometimes more than a thousand. Hooded robes were a routine component of the gatherings, along with pamphlet distribution.
In most instances, the meetings were marked by cross-burnings. At other times, crosses were burned in the days preceding or following meetings. Sometimes it was spontaneously done by locals who felt compelled to display their feelings publicly.
By 1927, the KKK’s presence was drastically reduced in northern New York, and within a few years, their influence waned elsewhere. But be aware that the lunacy never ends. In every decade ― yes,
every decade ― since that terrible time in the 1920s, some misguided, uncaring, or hateful troglodyte in the North Country decided that burning a cross was a good idea.
