The Memphis Daily Avalanche was a conservative newspaper that often appeared to support the Ku Klux Klan. Like other papers that gave aid to the group, it often described the Klan as having supernatural powers. This may have been done to sow fear among African Americans, or it may have been seen as a “joke” on Republican newspapers that were raising the alarm about Klan terrorism. A newspaper that would applaud the Klan in one issue, might deny it even existed in the next. As the Klan became increasingly tied to the Democratic Party in Tennessee, developing some level of deniability became important.
Memphis Daily Avalanche
Sunday, February 23, 1868
Memphis, Tennessee
