Interview with James R. Venable, 1977 February 20. He was 73 at the time. DeKalb County, Georgia.

Venable (1903 Jan 15 - 1993 Jan 18) was a lawyer and imperial wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

At the start of the interview Venable states that he joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1924; in 1962 elected to National Knights as an imperial wizard.

Topics covered in interview:

Family history in Ku Klux Klan back to 1866; Ku Klux Klan leaders "in it for publicity and money"; split in Klan; recruitment of teenage boys and girls; Women's Auxilary; qualification for membership; dues; robes; political influence particularly during the 1920s; famous members; purpose of Reconstruction Plan; fields of education and religion; "true patriots" versus liberals; infiltration into field of education; "minority element"; bloodlines; oath to uphold the law and the Constitution; brainwashing; religion and preachers; future of Klan and going underground; evil; truth; hate letters; National Knights and National Convention; Stone Mountain; rally on the Saturday night before Labor Day; news media; Jews and Catholics; cross burning; holy writ; cross lighting; violence; charitable acts; congressional investigations; 1966 investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities; Klan Kraft; 5 degrees of Klan Kraft; Col. Simmons; Knights of the Great Forest; Louisiana and David Duke; States Rights Party; rallies; anti-mask law; crimes by people wearing masks; law and order; "two guns" of ballot box and boycott; literature.