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When evil lived in Laurel : the "White Knights" and the murder of Vernon Dahmer  Cover Image Book Book

When evil lived in Laurel : the "White Knights" and the murder of Vernon Dahmer / Curtis Wilkie.

Wilkie, Curtis, (author.).

Summary:

"The inside story of how a courageous FBI informant helped to bring down the KKK chapter responsible for a brutal civil rights-era killing. By early 1966, the civil rights work of Vernon Dahmer, head of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP and a dedicated advocate for voter registration, was well-known in Mississippi. This put him in the crosshairs of the White Knights, one of the most violent sects of the KKK in the South-which carried out his murder in a raid that burned down his home and store. A riveting account of the incident and its aftermath, When Evil Lived in Laurel is a tale of obsession, in which the infamous Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers became so fixated on killing Dahmer that the bungled attack ultimately led to Bowers's downfall and the destruction of his virulently racist organization. Drawing on the diary of a former Klan infiltrator who risked his life to help break the White Knights, veteran journalist Curtis Wilkie brings fresh light to this chapter in the history of civil rights in the South"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781324005759
  • ISBN: 1324005750
  • Physical Description: 382 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : W. W. Norton & Company, [2021]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subject: Dahmer, Vernon Ferdinand, 1908-1966.
Landrum, Tom, 1932-
Bowers, Samuel Holloway, 1924-2006.
Ku Klux Klan (1915- ). White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan > History.
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation > Officials and employees.
African Americans > Crimes against > History > Mississippi.
African American civil rights workers > Mississippi > History.
Laurel (Miss.) > Race relations.
Genre: Biographies.
True crime stories.

Available copies

  • 12 of 12 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at North Kansas City.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 12 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
North Kansas City Public Library 305.8009 WILKIE 2021 (Text) 0001002455481 Nonfiction Available -

Summary: "The inside story of how a courageous FBI informant helped to bring down the KKK chapter responsible for a brutal civil rights-era killing. By early 1966, the civil rights work of Vernon Dahmer, head of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP and a dedicated advocate for voter registration, was well-known in Mississippi. This put him in the crosshairs of the White Knights, one of the most violent sects of the KKK in the South-which carried out his murder in a raid that burned down his home and store. A riveting account of the incident and its aftermath, When Evil Lived in Laurel is a tale of obsession, in which the infamous Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers became so fixated on killing Dahmer that the bungled attack ultimately led to Bowers's downfall and the destruction of his virulently racist organization. Drawing on the diary of a former Klan infiltrator who risked his life to help break the White Knights, veteran journalist Curtis Wilkie brings fresh light to this chapter in the history of civil rights in the South"--

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