Eldon Edwards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eldon Edwards
7th Grand Wizard of the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
In office
1950–1960
Preceded bySamuel Roper
Succeeded byRoy Elonzo Davis

Eldon Lee Edwards (June 8, 1909 – August 1, 1960)[1] was an American Ku Klux Klan leader.

Biography[]

Edwards was an automobile paint sprayer from Atlanta, Georgia, and rebuilt the Klan beginning in 1953. In his book The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, Gary May notes that Edwards became prominent at a time when the Klan was splintered into different local groups. Edwards succeeded Samuel Roper and was elected leader of the third KKK which was reestablished at Stone Mountain by Samuel Green in 1946, the successor of the second KKK.[2] In 1955, Edwards created his own organization, "U.S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan", and established a 15,000 strong following in nine American states.[3] He joined forces with Roy Elonzo Davis who was Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Flaming sword, and one of the founding members of the second KKK. He appointed Davis as leader of the third KKK in Texas in 1958, and Davis was elected leader of the national organization the following year.[4] The succession was disputed and the KKK fractured in the following years with Robert Shelton taking leadership of the largest faction.

Edwards was interviewed by Mike Wallace on May 5, 1957, as noted in Wallace's 2006 book Between You and Me.[5]

Edwards, long diagnosed with heart disease, died of a heart attack in Atlanta on August 1, 1960. In his last public appearance, Edwards said, "We have more right to organize than the communists and the NAACP," and added, "We white people are the inheritors of this country. We do not intend to surrender it."[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Sims, Patsy (1996). The Klan. University Press of Kentucky. p. 34. ISBN 0-8131-0887-X.
  2. ^ Staff report (March 4, 1986). Samuel W. Roper, 90, was second director of GBI in early 1940s. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  3. ^ Review of The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo by May, Gary, 2005 at www.wnyc.org Archived April 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Minister May Take Over Klan". Corsicana Daily. March 28, 1958.
  5. ^ "Review of "Between You and Me" by Wallace, Mike, 2006 at www.mvtimes.com". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2006.
  6. ^ "Klan Wizard Dies of Heart Attack", Pacific Stars and Stripes, August 4, 1960, p. 3.

External links[]

Preceded by
Samuel Roper 		Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan
1950–1959 		Succeeded by
Roy Elonzo Davis, Robert Shelton


Flag of United StatesBiography icon

This biographical article about a United States activist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""