ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996             TAG: 9610140033
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-4  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI

HISTORY OF THE KLAN IN ROANOKE IS QUIET

The Ku Klux Klan had an established network in Roanoke during the 1920s and 1930s, using a Day Avenue home as its headquarters.

The local chapter was Robert E. Lee Klan #4, according to John Kneebone, director of publications and educational services at the state Library of Virginia. Kneebone is researching a book on Klan activity in the state.

Founded in 1921, the chapter was the fourth to be established in Virginia, Kneebone said. In the mid-20s, there was enough of a following for the group to charter its own bus for a rally in Washington, D.C.

But by the 1970s and early 1980s, the local chapter had faded. Membership lists are rare, making it difficult to prove who was involved with the group, according to Klan experts.

"In the 1970s, the numbers were pretty small and yet the name was so powerful it conveyed a mass movement," Kneebone said. "The name carries more clout than the reality of the group."

During the mid-70s, when an apparent race-motivated bomb attack at an apartment complex killed a toddler, there were no reports of Klan confrontations in the area. Authorities say they do not know if the bombing was a Klan-sanctioned act. Local leaders of the NAACP said they have rarely received complaints about Klan activity in Roanoke.

Nationally, Klan marches and civil suits filed by the group's victims gained attention at this time. But when the Klan solicited donations near Roanoke's Elmwood Park in 1981, a biracial group organized from the religious, business and professional communities fought back. They called themselves Roanoke Valley Together and urged residents to stay away from areas where the Klan handed out literature. According to newspaper accounts at the time, the community organization was successful.

Klanwatch, a national organization that tracks the Klan's activities, said only two Virginia localities - Stephens City and Newport News - currently show any active Klan groups.

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