Under the corporate laws of Georgia, a legal charter was obtained last August by the "benevolent and patriotic society" of Columbians. This disarming front shielded ominous trappings. The members wore Army khaki uniforms and startling insignia—a red thunderbolt. The Columbians also boasted a belligerent creed: "To create voting solidarity among all white American citizens. ... To encourage our people to think in terms of race, nation and faith."
Thus equipped, President Emory Burke, 31-year-old Atlanta draftsman and high-school graduate, began drumming up recruits. Secretary Homer L. Loomis Jr., 32, was an...
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