NORWICH – Chenango Links will present a program focusing on the history of the Klu Klux Klan in the Southern Tier at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1 at the Bohemain Moon.

Andrew Pragacz, the editor of the second edition of “The Forgotten Kapitol: The Klu Klux Klan in Binghamton, New York, 1923-1928” and the public history programs coordinator for the Bundy Museum of History and Art in Binghamton, will be the featured speaker at the program, which is co-sponsored by the Chenango County Historical Society.

While Pragacz will be focusing mainly on the second Klan’s existence in Binghamton after World War I, Chenango Links member Karol Kucinski said Pragacz will offer some information on the organization’s history in Chenango County as well.

Kucinski provided some history on the Klan in Chenango County ahead of Monday’s program, including details about the abolitionist after which the Town of Smithville was named.

“Garret Smith was the Petersboro philanthropist and abolitionist who was so important to the history of abolition in the country, and especially in New York State,” said Kucinski. “He was an important abolitionist because he was a local guy. He was also a candidate for president on the Liberty party ticket in the 1840s and 1850s.”

The program will focus primarily on the second Klu Klux Klan, which was formed after World War I and which differed from the first Klan formed after the Civil War.

Kucinski said the second Klan was not a secret organization; Klan members wore their hoods open and people were aware who were members. He said it was a legitimate and political organization, consisting of millions of middle class white Protestants who paid about $120 in annual membership fees in today’s dollars.