Invisible no more: Denver's Klan records available onlineBoard Member Posts
Posted on 04/23/21 by Deborah in SPE
It is an understatement that digital archival collections are making interdisciplinary creative and research works possible. Oral histories handed down in families or small town networks are coming to light in digitized unpublished source materials to confirm stories of an invisible network with power that tried to shape town, state and university politics. Today, History Colorado announced the launch of a searchable site of the Denver Ku Klux Klan membership ledgers. Note the upcoming events scheduled April 28 and June 15 that feature discussions of these Klan membership ledgers.
Public institutions are digitizing ledgers, vernacular scrapbooks, local newsletters, and myriad source materials that are a first step towards filling some gaps in the historical networks of local communities. Initially, the low hanging fruit of source materials out of copyright were the stuff of early digital libraries. Look at any college or university's digital library and the early administrative leaders and faculty are displayed in digitized yearbooks or early twentieth-century university photo archives. Although limited in presenting a university's history, combined with historical society scanning projects, writers and artists can access more content for visual narratives and recovered histories.
