Program will look at rise of Klan locally about a century ago
Photo courtesy of Orleans County Department of History – Members of the Ku Klux Klan met in Albion for a rally in September 1925 at the Fairgrounds on Washington Street.
MEDINA – Lee-Whedon Memorial Library on Monday will host a program that explores the rise of the Ku Klux Klan locally in the early 1900s.
The waves of European immigrants who moved to the United States early in the 20th Century faced hostility and prejudice. The attitudes and fears of the established “old immigrants” brought about a revival of the KKK in the North.
Guest speaker Ray Cianfrini will present a program, “Clash of Cultures: the Rise of the KKK in Genesee County,” at 7 p.m. Monday at library, 620 West Ave.
Cianfrini, an Oakfield attorney and chairman of the Genesee County Legislature, has researched the Klan in Genesee and Orleans counties and unearthed a trove of photographs, newspaper articles and other documents that chronicle the sudden and frightening popularity of this fearful group in this area.
Cianfrini’s program is presented by the Medina Historical Society.
