Ka Huliau or “The Turning Point” was a left leaning, underground, independent newspaper printed by  Hawaii Education for Social Progress, Inc..[1][2] Published in the 1980s (presumably from 1982-1986) Ka Huliau self-identified as “An independent newspaper focusing on Hawaii and Pacific issues.” These issues included labor strikes, nuclear proliferation, socialism and others primarily in the context of their effect on Hawaiians and other Islanders. The inclusion of Ku Huliau in the collections illustrates (as have some previous posts) that Gordon Hall collected items that really span the entire country. Admittedly items from Hawaii are fairly sparse. There are only a few copies of Ka Huliau in the Hall Hoag collection and I have included the covers of two of them from 1983.

Ka Huliau (1983)

Ka Huliau (1983)

[1] http://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-uiu/Record/uiu_4306676

[2] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94023109/

Gordon Hall and his team of volunteers would often write to extremist groups in the guise of someone interested in joining. In return groups would send them recruitment packages usually containing information about the group and some of their publications.

Below are some items from a package sent by the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The package includes a few copies of the “White Patriot” newspaper, a hand written note from the grand dragon of the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Michael Lowe, stickers and a few party balloons.

Stickers

Balloons

Lowe gained some publicity in the mid 90s because he was represented by an African American lawyer, Anthony P. Griffin [1] in a case that involved the harassment and assault of African American residents in Vidor, Texas.[2]

It can be difficult to track the history of all of the different branches of the KKK. This history of the KKK in Texas is similar to other parts of the country in that is was started in the 1860s during reconstruction with an ebb and flow of membership and activity in the decades that followed. The Texas Knights became well known KKK in the 1990s around the time that this package was sent to Gordon Hall and often found themselves in the center of controversy in Texas. Indeed, Lowe proudly writes in his letter that his Klan group is the one the Anti-Defamation League stated “were the one to be concerned about and to watch.”

Hand Written Note from Michael Lowe

Hand Written Note from Michael Lowe Page 2

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/10/news/a-klansman-s-black-lawyer-and-a-principle.html

[2] http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vek02

Gordon Hall interviewed Richard Bayer, a member of the National Renaissance Party, in June of 1968 about his involvement in the party and the party’s ideology. The National Renaissance Party was founded by James Madole (who was also interview by Gordon Hall) in 1949 and disbanded shortly after his death in 1979.  The NRP was a neo-fascist group based out of New York City known for violent riots in the 1960s and controversial publications.[1] Similar to other fascist groups like the American Nazi Party, the NPR was white supremacist, racist, anti-Semitic, and sought for a dictatorship in America.

Richard Bayer, a native New Yorker, one day became secretary[2] of the NRP, but was 28 years old at the time of this interview.  In the section of the interview below Bayer shares his views on the use of violence to achieve political ends. There are quite a few (~50-100) interviews in the Hall Hoag collection and 60 folders of material from The National Renaissance Party.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Renaissance_Party_(United_States)#cite_note-panel-3

[2] http://archive.org/stream/foia_NRP-HQ-17/NRP-HQ-17_djvu.txt