Wednesday, July 22, will be a red letter day in the annals of the history of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina. On that day Henderson Klan No. 55 will be host to every Klansman in the state at a great Klan demonstration and indications are that several thousand members form the mountains to the sea will be in attendance and participate in the ceremonies which have been planned for the day.
Henderson Klansmen have already begun to make preparations for this event and the people of that good city are joining wholeheartedly in those preparations and hope to be able to do their part in making the day one which will long be pleasantly remembered by all that great throng who will be on hand.
The feature of the day will probably prove to be the spectacular parade, which will be held Wednesday evening and in which every local Klansman and every visitor will be expected to take part. This parade will traverse the principal streets of the city, starting at 8 o’clock and the marchers will wend their way out to the fair grounds where the ceremonies proper are to take place.
It will be the first time that the Klan has staged a parade in Henderson, and the entire populace is looking forward with much anticipation to this part of the program.
The parade will be preceded by a fish fry at the fair grounds and immediately following the pageant Judge Henry A. Grady, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina, will introduce the principal speaker of the evening—Mr. O.K. Bennett, who will thrill his hearers with the powerful address on the principles of the Klan.
Henderson, incidentally, will be all dressed up in gala attire (for) the arrival of the visiting Klansmen. Every prominent merchant and business man has planned to do his part in making the gathering of the Klansmen an occasion of import for Henderson and all those who are planning to attend, and this means every Klansman who can possibly make the trip, are assured of a most pleasant visit.
The program as planned by the Henderson Klan is one fraught with interest from start to finish. There will not be a dull moment from the time the Klansmen begin to arrive until good-byes are said at the fair ground following the final event on the evening’s program. Hotels and boarding houses at Henderson have made ample preparations to take care of the influx of visitors, as have all the cafes, restaurants and the other places where the inner man can be satisfied with good wholesome food. There will be no extortion in any instance on the part of the operators of boarding houses, cafes or hotels. The average every-day price will be charged and the visitors will be made to feel at home.
City officials at Henderson and the public in general are joining the Klansmen at Henderson in extending a cordial invitation to the Klansmen of North Carolina and adjoining states to visit that town on July 22 and to do their part in making this occasion one of the greatest ever held in the state.
From the front page of the Carolina Jeffersonian, Durham, N.C., July 14, 1925. To see some nice photos of the Henderson downtown in 1925, go to:
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073001/1925-07-14/ed-1/seq-1/
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