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Bernard Bush Collection of the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey (1913 - 2010)
Collection IDMC 1402
Size8 cartons and 2 manuscript boxes
Collection Description
Bernard Bush, was appointed the first Executive Director of the New Jersey Historical Commission in 1969, and led the Commission for 22 years. He also served as President of the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey, as an editor at the former New Jersey Bureau of Archives and History, and as Librarian of the New Jersey Historical Society. Bush planned to write a history of Ku Klux Klan activity in New Jersey, and for many years collected material for that project.
Collection Contents
The Bush Collection on the Ku Klux Klan in New Jersey, focuses on Klan and pro-Klan organizations, leaders, activities, and publications, as well as on opposition to the Klan. The material includes geographical files organized by county, and subject files that document the Ku Klux Klan in relation to immigration, Prohibition, elections, Protestant churches, eugenics, African-Americans, Catholics, Jews, and the German American Bund.
The collection consists of research material: clippings, articles, and other printed material including issues of selected Klan publications, and excerpts from published histories; unpublished essays, bibliographies, notes, correspondence with archivists and librarians, original oral history interviews, copies of contemporary institutional records, a small number of photographs, and a small metal plate. The bulk of the material dates from 1915-1946.
Newark-related material includes, but may not be limited to, the following:
Box 1: Folder 111, Klan Activity in Newark: the Rev. Elmo L. Bateman; Folders 118-121, Klan Activity in Newark (1921-1923)
Box 2: Folders 1-4, Klan Activity in Newark (1924-ca. 1929); Folders 5-7, Newark Evening News clippings
Box 6, Folder 33: Clippings from the Monitor regarding Catholics; Folder 42, Clippings from the "Jewish Chronicle"; Folder 60, Clippings from the New Jersey Afro-American; Folder 61, Clippings from the New Jersey Herald News
Box 8, Folders 27-36: Newark Evening News clippings (1923-1940s)
Box 10, Folder 7: list of Klan-related articles in the Newark Evening News
The collection consists of research material: clippings, articles, and other printed material including issues of selected Klan publications, and excerpts from published histories; unpublished essays, bibliographies, notes, correspondence with archivists and librarians, original oral history interviews, copies of contemporary institutional records, a small number of photographs, and a small metal plate. The bulk of the material dates from 1915-1946.
Newark-related material includes, but may not be limited to, the following:
Box 1: Folder 111, Klan Activity in Newark: the Rev. Elmo L. Bateman; Folders 118-121, Klan Activity in Newark (1921-1923)
Box 2: Folders 1-4, Klan Activity in Newark (1924-ca. 1929); Folders 5-7, Newark Evening News clippings
Box 6, Folder 33: Clippings from the Monitor regarding Catholics; Folder 42, Clippings from the "Jewish Chronicle"; Folder 60, Clippings from the New Jersey Afro-American; Folder 61, Clippings from the New Jersey Herald News
Box 8, Folders 27-36: Newark Evening News clippings (1923-1940s)
Box 10, Folder 7: list of Klan-related articles in the Newark Evening News
FormatsArtifacts; Photographic materials; Textual materials
SubjectsAfrican-American History / Civil Rights; German-American History; Police / Crime / Law Enforcement; Politics and Government
Time Periods20th Century; 21st Century
LanguageEnglish
Access policyOpen for research
Finding AidYes
Finding Aid URLhttp://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/ead/