The South: Next Step: Button-Down Robes

Four hooded Klansmen drove into a ramshackle neighborhood of McComb, Miss., stopped at the home of a destitute Negro couple with 13 children, banged on the door—and left a box of groceries. At a Klan rally in Atlanta, K.K.K. bullies surrounded Negro spectators, moved in ominously. The shouts of their leader stopped them: "Klansmen, Klansmen, leave those Negroes alone—they have a right to be here."

Ladies' Auxiliary. By such tactics, the Ku Klux Klan is seeking a new respectability—and new members—throughout the Deep South. Its meetings are often held in the banquet...