Smithsonian Black History Museum Accepts KKK Robes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired two robes of the Ku Klux Klan to be shown in its future home on the National Mall.
One robe donated Monday comes from the late activist and writer Stetson Kennedy, who died in August six decades after he infiltrated the KKK and exposed its secrets.
It was donated by Kennedy's widow, Sandra Parks, who said the story of the Klan needed to reach the broadest audience.
The second robe belonged to Phineas Miller Nathaniel Wilds, a chaplain in the Klan. It was donated by his great-great-grandson Richard Rousseau.
Both families that donated the items live in St. Augustine, Fla.
The museum is scheduled to open in 2015.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
