KKK robe stirs interest in auction tonight By Joel Kost jkost@fosters Tuesday, December 30, 2014 DOVER — An auction tonight will feature the sale of a Ku Klux Klan robe believed to have come from Rochester in the early- to mid-1920s. The auction will be held at the Dover Elks Hall on 282 Durham Road in Dover at 6 p.m. Early previews start at 2 p.m. Two weeks ago, Scott Morrills 10th annual “End the Year With a Bang” auction had items one might expect from an antique auction; decades-old glassware, childrens toys, and books with yellowed pages. But then he received a call from a Rochester woman who had an item Morrill had never seen for sale in his 26 years of antique work. She wanted him to sell a 1920s Ku Klux Klan robe. “It was a phone call out of the blue.” Morrill said. The woman, who Morrill said wished to remain anonymous, found it in her attic. It had been there for years, and her family thought it was just a folded piece of cloth in a bag. Choosing to wash it, she removed the robes large patch with a white cross. Her fathers name was written on the back. No one in her family knew he was affiliated with the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan had a brief stint in Rochester from about 1923 to 1925, Martha Fowler, president of the Rochester Historical society, said. It was started by F.E. Farnsworth, a kleagle, or KKK recruiter, from Maine. He often came to Rochester and lectured about the virtues of “100 percent Americanism” and traditional values at Protestant churches and the Rochester Opera House. The Rochester KKK hit its peak in June of 1924, where 10,000 members from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts gathered in the city. Rochester members purchased a house on South Main Street, but the group faced a quick decline in 1925 after it couldnt afford to pay for the house. The house was torn down shortly thereafter. Morrill faced a tough decision. He found the Ku Klux Klans views offensive, and he knew other people would too. Hes sold Nazi paraphernalia in the past, like flags, and one time a winning bidder burned the flag immediately after purchasing it. The robe ultimately made the list of auction items, he said, because it is a part of history, and thats the only way people learn from their mistakes. “We sell history,” Morrill said. “Thats my job. Its one of those gray areas where we have to bite our tongues.” Morrill put it on his online auction listing, buried with the dozens of other items. Then the phone calls rolled in. About 20 people called him in two weeks, some excited to see a rare piece of history, others infuriated that Morrill would sell such a thing. A few bidders even asked to be anonymous, giving Morrill their bids ahead of time, because they didnt want their friends and neighbors to know what they might buy. The “End the Year With a Bang” auction usually draws in more than 125 people, Morrill said, but the robe alone could make the number go even higher. “I think theres going to be a lot of interest in it,” he said. Morrill doesnt know how much the robe is worth, even after scouring the Internet and eBay for some context. As far as he knows, the robes are almost never sold. “To have never seen one for sale anywhere,” he said, “I have no idea what its value is. It could sell for $20, it could sell for $2,000.”
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:57:55 +0000