WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian's National Museum
of African American History and Culture has acquired two Ku Klux Klan
robes that will be exhibited in its future home on the National Mall.
One of the robes donated Monday comes from the
family of the late writer Stetson Kennedy, who died in August some six decades
after he infiltrated the KKK and exposed its secrets.
The second robe belonged to Phineas Miller
Nathaniel Wilds, a chaplain in the Klan. It was donated by his
great-great-grandson Richard Rousseau.
The $500 million museum is scheduled to open in
2015. Curators are planning exhibits spanning the journey of slaves from
Africa, the Civil War, the civil rights movement and accomplishments in music,
sports and culture.
Congress has pledged to provide about half of the
cost.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
