Kloran

The Kloran is the handbook of the Ku Klux Klan. Versions of the Kloran typically contain detailed descriptions of the role of different Klan members as well as detailing Klan ceremonies and procedures.

The letters "KL" were often used at the beginning of words to delineate a Klan association. Examples include: Kloran, Klonversation (conversation), Klavern (local branch, or meeting place), Klavaliers, etc. This differed from the practice of the Reconstruction Ku-Klux Klan; very few of the Reconstruction Klan's terminology was carried over, and those that were mostly were titles for high officials in the organization. The leader of an individual Klavern, for example, was an "Exalted Cyclops."

The original Kloran was written by William J. Simmons, for his revived "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan," circa 1915. He drew heavily on his previous experiences as a "fraternalist;" he was a member of many different lodges and had sold memberships in the Woodmen of the World before deciding to revive the Klan.

References

*cite book | author=Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner | title=Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything | publisher=William Morrow/HarperCollins | year=2005 | id=ISBN 0-06-073132-X
* [http://digital.lib.msu.edu/collections/index.cfm?TitleID=135 Text of one version of the Kloran at Michigan State University]