Finding Aid for the Tom van Riper Collection, 1964-1968
MS-2419 University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN
Encoded by: Elizabeth Dunham, July 13, 2006.
Summary Information
Tom van Riper Collection
Date/Date Range : 1964-1968
0.1 linear feet
Abstract: The Tom van Riper Collection, 1964-1968, contains materials (applications, The Klan-Ledger, applications, etc.) related to the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, as well as FBI posters and comics, in connection to the KKK.
MS-2419
University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN
Access and Use
Collection is property of the UT Special Collections Library. Part of original collection, including photographs, informant interviews, and handwritten notes by van Riper, was removed by the FBI in 1995.
Collection is open for research.
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
[Identification of Item], Tom van Riper Collection, MS-2419. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.
Arrangement
Collection consists of a single folder.
Biography / History
Thomas van Riper was an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and sheriff of Anderson County, TN. He worked with informant Delmar Dennis to obtain information on murders perpetrated by Ku Klux Klan members in Mississippi, which lead to the convictions of Klan leader Sam Bowers in 1967 and of Byron De La Beckwith in 1994 for the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evans. Van Riper died on August 11, 1997.
Former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, first Grand Dragon, established the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. As members moved toward more violent and deadly actions, Forrest ordered the group to disband in 1869, though no one listened. After achieving its goal of white supremacy in the South, the KKK practically disappeared during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. In 1915 William J. Simmons reformed the Klan. It rose to 4 million members by 1925. However, as government officials became exposed as corrupt Klansmen, membership declined and the Klan was again disbanded in 1944. The emergence of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s revived Ku Klux Klan organizations, including the most important called the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan led by Robert Shelton.
In the summer of 1964, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee organized a project in Mississippi to register voters, to build adequate schools for black students, and to establish community centers for medical and legal services. On June 20, 1964, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner traveled to Philadelphia, MS. They were last seen in Neshoba County after being arrested for a traffic violation, and on August 4th their bodies were found shot, beaten, and buried on a farm. In December 1964, deputy sheriff Lawrence Rainey and 18 others were arrested in state court on charges of conspiracy, which were dropped. FBI Agent Tom van Riper had been working with Ku Klux Klan member and preacher Delmar Dennis to infiltrate Klan meetings and to inform the FBI on illegal acts perpetrated by the Klan. Dennis provided information to later convict seven of the men, including Klan leader Sam Bowers, in the 1967 federal trial for the violation of civil rights laws. Federal courts tried Preacher Edgar Ray Killen on conspiracy charges, but the jury was hung. Killen was again arrested in January 2005 and charged with three counts of murder.
Collection Scope and Content Note
The Tom van Riper Collection, 1964-1968, contains materials of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, as well as FBI posters and comics, in connection to the KKK. Five of the 16 items date to 1964, one to 1968, and the others have no dates. There are several copies of articles, including some from the Klan-Ledger, applications, an unmarked oath, and examination forms for the Klan. There is also a traffic ticket signed by Lee Roberts, a subject of the FBI investigations.
Subject Terms
- United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation -- History -- 20th century.
- Ku Klux Klan (1915- ) -- Mississippi.
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
- Civil Rights -- Mississippi.
- van Riper, Thomas.
Contents List
| Folder
1
|
Item
1
|
FBI Missing poster for information on the disappearance at Philadelphia, Mississippi, of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner, with phone numbers and addresses of FBI departments across the United States, 1964 June 29
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
2
|
Meridian Police Dept. Traffic Violation Notice signed by Lee Roberts, 1964 December 17
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
3
|
Copy of comic of the "Investigation in Mississippi," 1964
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
4
|
Copy of article "On Being Investigated by the F.B.I." printed in The Southern Review, 1964 October 1
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
5
|
Copy of "The Klan-Ledger" from the Mississippi chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, with rebuttal to the Warren Commission Report, 1964 October
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
6
|
"The Klan-Ledger" from the Mississippi chapter of Ku Klux Klan about Jesus Christ, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
7
|
Copy 1 of "The Klan-Ledger" from the Mississippi chapter of Ku Klux Klan about Jesus Christ, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
8
|
Copy 2 of "The Klan-Ledger" from the Mississippi chapter of Ku Klux Klan about Jesus Christ, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
9
|
Copy 3 of "The Klan-Ledger" from the Mississippi chapter of Ku Klux Klan about Jesus Christ, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
10
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Comic of Ku Klux Klan men looking at another KKK member with black hands and feet protruding from under his robes (2 copies), undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
11
|
Copy of article about FBI agents arresting Neshoba County, Mississippi, Sheriff Lawrence Rainey and others in connection with the disappearance of three civil rights workers, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
12
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Copy of oath for joining members of the KKK, Mississippi chapter, to sign, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
13
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Copy of "Application for Citizenship in the Invisible Empire" in the Mississippi chapter of the KKK, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
14
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Copy of twenty reasons to join the KKK of Mississippi, undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
15
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"Standard Examination Form" to "aid in properly identifying all unknown Persons seeking information," undated
|
| Folder
1
|
Item
16
|
FBI Wanted poster and printer's plate for James Earl Ray for the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968
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