About This Collection
The Department of State Police was created in 1905 to help preserve law and order throughout the Commonwealth and to cooperate with and assist local law-enforcement officers in the apprehension of criminals. It was the first uniformed police organization of its kind in the United States. The original complement was limited by law to only 228 men to patrol the 45,000 square miles of Pennsylvania. The State Highway Patrol in the Department of Revenue, which had originally been established in the Department of Highways in 1923 to enforce motor vehicle laws, was merged with the Department in 1937 to become the Pennsylvania Motor Police. The name of the agency was changed to Pennsylvania State Police in 1943. In keeping with its responsibility to assist local police departments, the State Police administer professional training programs for municipal police, and provide direct assistance to State law enforcement agencies wishing to utilize the technical, scientific and data resources of the Department. They have jurisdiction in all political subdivisions in the state.This collection, arranged chronologically, contains official documents, such as Imperial Kligrapp appointments, applications for reinstatement of former Klansmen, as well as appeals for admission, are provided in this series. Numerous handwritten general interest letters from the public are also included. Official decrees for those Klansmen who had been banished are given, as well as obituaries for prominent members of the KKK. A large portion of the correspondence concerns the Grand Dragon, Samuel G. Stouch, and his letters concerning the establishment of Klan contacts in neighboring states. Kligrapp quarterly reports and requests for the establishment of Klan chapters are also given. Disclaimer: The Pennsylvania State Archives provides digital access to a wide variety of historical documents, some of which may be considered offensive by current standards. The Archives does not endorse views expressed in these historical collections, but presents these collections to aid in scholarly research.