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KKK Robes Donated To African American Museum

By: Rebecca Blatt // November 30, 2011
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Robes like those worn by the Ku Klux Klan members in this photo -- which dates from 1948 -- were donated to the Smithsonian's planned National Museum of African American History and Culture this week. 
(AP Photo/Horace W. Cort)
Robes like those worn by the Ku Klux Klan members in this photo -- which dates from 1948 -- were donated to the Smithsonian's planned National Museum of African American History and Culture this week. 

Two Ku Klux Klan robes were donated for the collection of the planned National Museum of African American History and Culture this week, and will eventually be on view in the museum, according to the Associated Press.  

The African American history museum is still years away from opening, but it is already acquiring items for its collection.

One robe donated this week comes from the late activist and writer Stetson Kennedy. He died in August, six decades after he infiltrated the KKK and exposed its secrets. Kennedy's widow, Sandra Parks, says the story of the Klan needs to reach the broadest audience.

The second robe, which belonged to a Klan chaplain, was donated by his great-great-grandson. Both families live in Florida. The museum is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015.

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