Douglases in the Americas: Virginia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, etc.

[Marian Douglas-Ungaro]

"Ground zero" for the Douglases whom I know, am related to, is a place which I have yet to visit, in the area of NASHVILLE, Tennessee (now USA).

The area of Tennessee where Nashville is located is called "middle Tennessee." This distinguishes it from mountainous EAST Tennessee which borders WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA (and state of VIRGINIA), and WEST Tennessee, where MEMPHIS, TN is located.

Memphis, TN is culturally & geographically related to the "Black Belt" and the neighbouring state of Mississippi.

It is said that the anti-Black Ku Klux Klan is related to the Scottish "clan" concept. The KKK was created in Pulaski, Tennessee, and, certainly, still exists today.

[Russell Lynn Drysdale]

 

 

The Birth of a Nation

Movie poster for The Birth of a Nation. It has been widely noted for reviving the Ku Klux Klan.

Director D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation glorified the original Klan. His film was based on the book and playThe Clansman and the book The Leopard's Spots, both byThomas Dixon, Jr. Dixon said his purpose was "to revolutionize northern sentiment by a presentation of history that would transform every man in my audience into a good Democrat!" The film created a nationwide Klan craze. At the official premier in Atlanta, members of the Klan rode up and down the street in front of the theater.

Much of the modern Klan's iconography, including the standardized white costume and the lighted cross, are derived from the film. Its imagery was based on Dixon's romanticized concept of old England and Scotland, as portrayed in the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott. The film's influence and popularity were enhanced by a widely reported endorsement by historian and U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson. 

 

The practice of cross burning had been loosely based on ancient Scottish clans' burning a St. Andrew's cross (an X-shaped cross) as a beacon to muster forces for war. In The Clansman (see above), Dixon had falsely claimed that the first Klan had used fiery crosses when rallying to fight against Reconstruction. Griffith brought this image to the screen in The Birth of a Nation; he portrayed the burning cross as an uprightLatin cross rather than the St. Andrew's cross. Simmons adopted the symbol wholesale from the movie, prominently displaying it at the 1915 Stone Mountain meeting. The symbol has been associated with the Klan ever since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

 

Note I do not and cannot support the Klan  and their actions .