Context: [Mapping the Klan](https://labs.library.vcu.edu/klan/) is a rough timeline of the rise of the second Ku Klux Klan between 1915 and 1940. Each red dot shows a local unit or "Klavern." The official numbers for each Klavern indicate a basic chronology for the chartering of the Klaverns, and they also reveal patterns of Klan organizing. Content: The data for Mapping the Klan is based on a variety of sources, mostly newspapers sponsored by or sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan. These publications reported on the activities of local units, known officially as Klaverns. Data includes approximate date of charter, location(lat/lon), nickname, source for data, and related notes. Dates: The dates for each Klavern come from the publication listed for that entry. So, it is likely that the Klaverns identified were established even earlier than the date indicated. The Klan’s recruitment methods make it harder to accurately date the beginning of a Klavern. Each local group had to recruit a set number of members before it could get its charter and number. Numbers: The Klaverns in each state were numbered in chronological order of their chartering. So we can assume that if a Klan number 40 is dated October 1923, Klans 1 to 39 were established before 1923. As historians agree, the busiest years of Klan expansion were 1922-1924, with big declines thereafter. The large number of klaverns established after 1925, when the Ku Klux Klan largely disappeared from the national news media, is intriguing. The continued organizing of Klaverns after 1925 is more difficult to study, for lack of sources. That history remains to be explored. [Learn more](https://labs.library.vcu.edu/klan/learn). Acknowledgements: Source data [here](http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/hist_data/1/) available through the [VCU Library](shttps://www.library.vcu.edu/) site. Data was compiled by: * John Kneebone, lead author and professor of History, VCU * Shariq Torres, lead web developer and data co-author, VCU Libraries * Erin White, project manager, VCU Libraries * Lauren Work, digital collections, VCU Libraries * Alison Tinker, web designer, VCU Libraries * John Glover, digital humanities consultant, VCU Libraries Inspiration: * Where was the densest concentrations of KKK? * What years saw the biggest rises?