In 2002, two Hope College professors, Dr. Fred Johnson, III, and Dr. David B. Schock undertook the task of going about the state and interviewing people who know about the Klan. Joining them was videographer Phil Blauw and often some exceptional students.
The purpose of their investigation was to make a series of films about the Klan in Michigan. Only one was made before Dr. Schock left Hope in 2006. But there were all the interviews! What to do with them? People had sat down with us and given all the good that they knew about a very bad organization.
Dr. Schock decided in 2019 that those long-form interviews would serve scholars. So, with minimal editing, he prepared them and posted them here.
We are NOT glorifying the Klan. It is, after all, very dull, an organization dedicated to hate. But its history is marked by people who espoused it, who fought against it, and those who suffered because of it.
If you have something to say, you might contact Dr. Schock by e-mail: schock@charter.net.