Purdue history prof to appear on 'History Detectives'
July 23, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University professor will answers questions about the role the Ku Klux Klan played in Indiana as part of Tuesday's (July 24) "History Detectives" episode.
The PBS show will feature Cornelius "Neil" Bynum, an associate professor of history who specializes in 20th century African American history, as one of the experts talking about an old musical record produced by the Klan in Indiana. The episode will air at 8 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. CT.
"Indiana played a key role in the revival of the Klan outside of the South during the 20th century," Bynum said.
Bynum recorded the television segment in the spring at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis.
He is not sure which parts of his interview will appear in the final show, but during the interview he talked about the role the Klan played in Indiana politics and how the Klan's focus grew from African Americans to immigrants and religious groups such as Catholics and Jews.
Bynum also is the author of "A. Philip Randolph and the Struggle for Civil Rights," and he is working on his next book "West Indian Radicals and New Negro Opposition to Jim Crow, 1919 - 1939." He teaches classes on the black civil rights movement, African Americans and the 20th century labor movement, and African American thought and ideology.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Cornelius "Neil" Bynum, bynum@purdue.edu
