| Harry Miller worked as a
conductor and brakeman for the Western Ohio Traction Company from 1917 to 1929. He is
pictured at right with what he called the KKK Special. According to Harry, "We had
what we called a KKK car and that group would have a big party between St. Marys and
Celina at Sandy Beach...We had to go out there for pick-up...the car traveled to Ku Klux
Klan rallies between the two towns...they would burn a cross out there and have a big
time."
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 Harry Miller |
| Today, the Klan is
splintered into many different factions all espousing the same hate message to blacks,
Jews, immigrants and other minorities. Roman Catholics have been dropped from the target
list. It is an alienated organization with a membership of approximately 6,000
individuals; primarily in the South. As recently as December, 1997, someone apparently tried to burn a cross. It was planted next to the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. Racial slurs, KKK and a swastika were written on the cross which was made of lumber and stood about five feet tall. The museum opened in 1988 and its mission is to educate others about Afro-American history and culture. Said director John Fleming, "...it never occurred to me that in the ‘90s in Ohio that a cross would be burned at the place where I worked." [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge |
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