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(CIVIL RIGHTS.) KU KLUX KLAN.
Hero’s Cross.
Sterling silver cross, with
the image of Nathan Bedford Forrest on the face and “Hero Cross, Presented Knights of
the Ku Klux Klan on the reverse; some even dark patina. (WGC)
Np, circa 1915
[1,000/1,500]
A RARE
“
HERO CROSS
,”
THE HIGHEST AWARD GIVEN TO KLAN MEMBERS
.
The image of
Klan founder, Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the
Klan appears on the face of the medal. He is surrounded by the four “arms” of the cross, bear-
ing the motto, Sans Reproche, Sans Peur, (Without Reproach, without Fear) and the dates
1866, and 1915. The first being the recognized date of the Klan’s founding; the second the
beginning of the so-called “New” Klan. Re-strikes of this rare medal appear on the collectibles
market with some frequency, but originals are rare.
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(CIVIL RIGHTS.) LYNCHING.
The lynching of four black miners in
Alleghany County, Virginia, 1891.
Composite cabinet card photograph, showing the
lynching victims before and after: “11 AM, 11 PM, in ink under the images; somewhat
toned with a few stains.
Alleghany, Virginia, 1891
[800/1,200]
A VERY RARE COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPH
depicting three of four black miners who were
lynched by a white mob following a bout of drinking and rowdiness that, had they been white,
might have landed them in the “drunk tank” and nothing more. These four started drinking in
the morning and even had their photos taken, holding revolvers and striking fierce poses. The
whites would later claim that the boys had been planning to “Take the town,” but it’s clear that
what really happened was that four young men got very drunk and acted very brash in the very
wrong Southern town. Not collected in James Allen’s definitive work “Without Sanctuary
(Twin Palms, 2003).
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