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Stetson Kennedy, a white author and folklorist, became an infamous figure of the 20th Century after he made the daring move to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. Kennedy also collaborated with the famed author Zora Neale Hurston and went on to become a notable activist.

Kennedy was born October 5, 1916 in Jacksonville, Fla. As a young student at the University of Florida, Kennedy left school and joined the Works Progress Administration writer’s program in Florida. During that time, he was assigned to record and report on slave folklore and oral history. This would lead to an eventual connection with Hurston, whom Kennedy supervised.

It was a tense working relationship due to the Jim Crow laws of the time. The pair couldn’t even enter certain facilities together despite the nature of their work. This early partnership would inform some of Kennedy’s political views later down the line.

Kennedy’s infamous exposure of the Klan began in 1946. After some years working as a journalist covering racial discrimination, Kennedy wrote several exposés of the Klan and Jim Crow’s effects on the nation.

In the most infamous of his exposés, Kennedy posed as an encyclopedia salesman to gain entry to the inner workings of the Klan, including their failing financial holdings. After observing the Klan for a period of time, Kennedy went public with his findings by providing insider information to the producers of the popular ‘Superman’ radio program of the ’40’s.

Writers of the ‘Superman’ program made a mockery of the hate group. Some historians note that around this time, membership in the group began to dwindle as a result. In 1954, Kennedy released a book titled I Rode With The Ku Klux Klan, which detailed his investigation in full. The book was re-released in 1990 under the title The Klan Unmasked.

Although initially praised for the books, critics and the Klan itself tried to discredit Kennedy’s research. However, it was proven to be a mostly accurate account after records show that in 1947 Kennedy’s findings helped shut down the national corporate chapter of the Klan in Georgia.

Kennedy went on to write several books focused on civil rights, activism and folklore. The author and activist died at the age of 94 in 2011.

(Photo: Public Domain)

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