The national leader of the Ku Klux Klan is called either a Grand Wizard or an Imperial Wizard, depending on which KKK organization is being described.
Second Ku Klux Klan
- William Joseph Simmons[1] (1880–1945) was the Imperial Wizard (national leader) of the second Ku Klux Klan between 1915 and 1922.
- Hiram Wesley Evans (1881–1966), part of a group that ousted William Joseph Simmons from the position of Imperial Wizard in November 1922. Evans was Imperial Wizard from 1922 to 1939, during which time the Klan's membership peaked.
- James A. Colescott (1897–1950), Imperial Wizard, 1939-1944. Colescott dissolved the organization after the IRS filed a lien for $685,305 in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest from 1920s against the Klan.
- Samuel Green[2] (1889–1949), briefly Imperial Wizard of a reorganized Klan in 1949, but died of a heart attack within two weeks of his election.
Other Ku Klux Klan movements
- Jeff Berry[3] (1968–2013)
- Samuel Bowers[4][5] (1924–2006)
- David Duke (born 1950)
- Virgil Lee Griffin[6] (ca. 1944–2009)
- Thomas Robb[citation needed] (born 1946)
- David Wayne Hull (born 1962)[citation needed]
- Johnny Lee Clary (1959–2014), Imperial Wizard in 1989 of the White Knights Organization but subsequently renounced his membership and became an ordained Christian minister speaking against racism and movements such as the Ku Klux Klan.
- Ron Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the Imperial Klans of America.
- Robert Shelton (1930–2003), Imperial Wizard of the now defunct United Klans of America.
- Louis Beam (born 1946)
- Bill Wilkinson, Imperial Wizard of the "Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan", from 1975–1981.
- Don Black (born 1953), formally imprisoned white nationalist and Imperial Wizard, from 1981–1987.
- Eldon Edwards (1909–1960), Imperial Wizard of the KKK from 1953–1960.
- Roy Elonzo Davis (1890-1967) Second in command of 1915 KKK under William Simmons, Grand Dragon of Texas under Eldon Edwards, Imperial Wizard of Original Knights of KKK 1958-1966
- Samuel Roper (1895–1986), law enforcement officer turned Imperial Wizard of the KKK, from 1949–1950. He was preceded by Samuel Green, and was later succeeded by Eldon Lee Edwards.
- Bob Jones (1930–1989), Grand Dragon of the United Klans of America in North Carolina from 1963–1967.[7]
- Tom Metzger (1938–2020), Grand Wizard of the KKK in the 1970s. Founder of the White Aryan Resistance (WAR).
References
- ^ Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in AmericaArchived 2006-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Samuel Green Archived 2006-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Key Leader Profile: Berry, Jeff". www.tkb.org. Archived from the original on 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
- ^ "CNN - Former KKK leader convicted of 1966 murder - August 21, 1998". www.cnn.com.
- ^ Samuel Bowers Bio Archived 2010-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Martin, Douglas (17 February 2009). "Virgil Lee Griffin, Klan Leader, Dies at 64". The New York Times.
- ^ Cunningham, David. Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan. Massachusetts: Oxford Scholarship Online, 2012. Print.