Over 700 participants march through Bellingham in a KKK parade on May 15, 1926.

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The KKK initially tried to enter its float in the town’s Tulip Parade, which was held earlier in the day on May 15, 1926. Opposition at a tulip festival planning meeting led the Klan to withdraw and hold its own separate parade in the evening.

Starting after a picnic in Cornwall Park, the KKK parade included a float with a statue of liberty replica, the Klan’s women’s auxiliary, “Klavaliers” on horses, three members of the first-generation Klan from the 1860s, and over 700 people.

The parade followed a mile-long route through downtown Bellingham.

The KKK continued to make occasional appearances in Bellingham parades in the years that followed, such as this KKK float in 1938.

See:

Remembering Our History So We Never Repeat It: A Look Back at the KKK’s Public Presence in Bellingham and Whatcom County

The Ku Klux Klan in Bellingham 1900-35: Parades of 1926 and 1929