Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction

For ASL and Captions, watch on our website: On Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, at 5:45 p.m. CT, join us for an online conversation with historian and author Fergus M. Bordewich to learn about his newest book, “Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction.” Lauren Blanding, Civil Rights Memorial Center manager, will host. (If you're joining us in-person, please arrive by 5:30 p.m. CT.) In “Klan War,” Bordewich shines a light on a period in American history that many are unwilling to acknowledge: the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and its aim to obliterate the democratic power of newly emancipated Black Americans and their white allies, often by the most horrifying means imaginable. The event coincides with Hate Crimes Awareness Month, a campaign to alert the public, advocates, policymakers and politicians to the problem of hate crimes and the historical roots of hate. Bordewich has long been respected as one of the leading independent historians of the Civil War. Bordewich is the author of eight highly praised titles, including “Congress at War: How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America,” and “The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government.” Readers will be able to trace a direct line from present-day efforts of voter suppression and resurgent white supremacy to the Klan's violent and systematic campaign to nullify the Black vote. Learn more at .