Junior Ku Klux Klan Inaugurated at Lykens with Cross Burning, 1924

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on March 23, 2018

In mid-October 1924, Lykens residents were alerted by three blasts of the colliery horn to the igniting of a cross on the culm banks north of the town. This, along with the flaming “J” alongside the cross indicated that a junior Ku Klux Klan had been formed at Lykens.

This post is a continuation of the reporting on hate groups that were active in the Lykens Valley area in the years following the Civil War. It was a widely known fact that the third iteration of the Ku Klux Klan had a significant presence in the Lykens Valley and adjacent valleys during the early years of the 20th Century. This third iteration of the Klan was strongly white supremacist and was opposed to equal rights for African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.

From the Lykens Standard, 18 October 1924:

JUNIOR K. K. K. ORGANIZATION INSTITUTED

According to the symbol aside of the flaming cross of the refuse banks north of Lykens, the latter part of last week, a junior organization of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was organized here. Following three blasts there was a flare and a burning cross came into view beside which was a flaming “J” signifying the institution of the junior organization.

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