DENVER — The History Colorado State Historian’s Council will host a round table on Wednesday to discuss the Ku Klux Klan's history in the state.
Recently, History Colorado, the museum located in downtown Denver, digitized KKK ledgers to make them accessible to researchers everywhere.
“In our collection, we have KKK ledgers from 1924 to 1926 in the Denver area,” said History Colorado Chief Operating Officer Dawn DiPrince.
DiPrince said they’ve been in the museum’s collection since the 1940s.
“The KKK had a very powerful presence in Colorado and the Denver area. We think it’s important for us as Coloradans to understand that aspect of our history,” DiPrince said. “When you consider that there are 30,000 entries in these two ledgers, you really get a grasp of how widespread and pervasive this was in our city."
DiPrince said the ledgers show where Klan members lived and worked.
“That can really help you see how this was woven into much of public life and structures of power. … It can be hard to realize that we have these horrors and terrors of our past. But we cannot do the anti-racist work that we need to be doing if we cannot confront this type of evidence of our past,” DiPrince said.
Wednesday’s virtual round table, “Lifting the Hood,” begins at 7 p.m. Advanced registration is required and free.