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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 165 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 93,000 items) |
| Abstract | On 3 November 1979, members of the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party attacked Communist Workers Party (CWP) demonstrators as they gathered for a public march in Greensboro, N.C. Five CWP members were killed and eleven others were injured. The Greensboro Civil Rights Fund (GCRF) was organized by the families and friends of the deceased CWP members and raised about $700,000 to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party, the Greensboro Police Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF). The collection includes material of the Greensboro Civil Rights Fund/Greensboro Justice Fund (GJF) relating to three court cases stemming from the casualties of the 3 November 1979 riot in Greensboro. There are subject files, beginning in 1979, including records of trial defendants, plaintiffs, and witnesses, as well as publications, propaganda, memoranda, reports, and notes from organizations related to the GCRF and the GJF; copies of investigative files, including correspondence, witness interviews, autopsy reports, and lab test reports; copies of official court records, including deposition transcripts, pleading books, transcripts of trial testimony, and discovery material; court exhibit files contain scene evidence collected by the police at the murder scene and copies of investigation reports from the FBI, the BATF, and the Greensboro Police Department; office and organizational files, including correspondence, address lists, memoranda, newsletters, position papers, press releases, research materials, and financial records; pictures mostly related to the 3 November 1979 march and subsequent court proceedings; audiocassettes including interviews with surviving Communist Workers Party (CWP) demonstrators and copies of cassette tapes from the civil trial depositions; copies of videotapes of the actual Klan-Nazi attack and three documentary television shows; clippings related to the 1979 incident; material related to the Workers Viewpoint Organization/Communist Workers Party; writings and reports related to the 1979 incident and race relations in Greensboro, N.C.; and museum items related to the 3 November 1979, anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration, including a bullhorn, banners, and a hanging effigy of a Ku Klux Klan member. |
| Creator | Greensboro Civil Rights Fund |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Gregory Smith, Jill Sahl, Anna Rabb, Ana Araujo, Linda Sellars, 1993, 2003
Updated by: Nathalie Wheaton, September 2005; Anne Wells, March 2021; Dawne Howard Lucas, July 2021 and December 2021
Processing information: The Addition of April 1995 is arranged in the same way as, and has been incorporated into, the original deposit of materials. Select videotapes found in this collection document the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party's 3 November 1979 attack on Communist Workers Party (CWP) demonstrators in Greensboro, N.C. These videotapes, which document the moments leading up to, including and after the shooting, include footage of death and blood. Digital viewing copies of these videotapes is limited to the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Historical Information
| Spring/Summer 1979 | Workers Viewpoint Organization (WVO) members in North Carolina became concerned about the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and began anti-Klan activities. |
| Fall 1979 | WVO members organized an anti-Klan march and conference for 3 November 1979 in Greensboro, N.C. |
| October 1979 | The WVO became the Communist Workers Party (CWP) for reasons unrelated to the march. |
| 3 November 1979 | Members of the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party from around the state came to Greensboro and attacked CWP members as they gathered for the march. Five CWP members were killed and eleven others were injured. Police were not present despite an official parade permit for the march. Police arrested three CWP demonstrators on misdemeanor charges and, over the ensuing weeks, arrested 16 Klansmen and Nazis on murder and riot charges. |
| Spring 1980 | The Greensboro Justice Fund (GJF) was organized by the families and friends of the deceased CWP members. The GJF began fund raising for a civil suit on behalf of the victims. |
| 5 May 1980 | State prosecutors brought felony charges against six anti-Klan demonstrators, including CWP leader Nelson Johnson. |
| Summer 1980 | Newspaper accounts revealed that Klansman Ed Dawson, who had organized and led the Klan on 3 November 1979, was a paid Greensboro police informant and past FBI informant. In another investigation, a Greensboro newspaper discovered that Bernard Butkovich, an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), had infiltrated the Nazi unit involved in the attack. Butkovich participated in a pre-attack planning meeting and encouraged at least one Nazi to bring guns to Greensboro. |
| 4 August-17 November 1980 | Six Klansmen and Nazis were tried on state murder and rioting charges (State v. Fowler, et al., Superior Court, Guilford County). No police officials were tried and neither Dawson nor Butkovich testified. All six Klansmen and Nazis were acquitted. Following the acquittals, felony charges against the CWP demonstrators were dropped. |
| 3 November 1980 | The GJF filed a $37 million Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit (Waller v. Butkovich) against the KKK, the Nazi Party, the Greensboro Police Department, the FBI, and the BATF. The case was filed by the GJF on behalf of the families of the five deceased CWP members and the others who had been injured or wrongfully arrested on 3 November 1979. |
| Spring 1981 | The GJF mounted a campaign to convince the United States Department of Justice to prosecute the Klansmen and Nazis for federal civil rights violations. |
| May 1981 | Outgoing United States Attorney H. M. Michaux released to the press a letter to Assistant Attorney General W. B. Reynolds suggesting that the Klansmen and Nazis should be indicted on federal civil rights conspiracy charges. |
| Fall 1981 | The GJF and the Christic Institute organized and recruited board members for the Greensboro Civil Rights Fund (GCRF), which subsequently carried on fund raising to finance the Waller v. Butkovich case. |
| January 1982 | Plaintiffs attempted to begin discovery in the civil rights suit. Federal and city defendants in Waller obtained a stay of all discovery pending determination of the motions to dismiss. All discovery was stayed until April 1984. |
| March 1982 | The federal Justice Department convened a 21-person grand jury in Winston-Salem, N.C., to hear evidence about the November 3rd events. That grand jury sat for 14 months, until April 1983. |
| September 1982 | In an attempt to force the United States Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the possibility of federal involvement in the murders, the GCRF filed a suit against the United States Attorney General (Nathan v. Attorney General). More than 20 groups, including the National Council of Churches and the Congressional Black Caucus, signed onto amicus briefs in support of the request for a special prosecutor. Judge Gerhard Gessell ruled for the plaintiffs, but was later overturned by the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia. |
| 22 April 1983 | The federal grand jury returned indictments against nine Klansmen and Nazis, including Ed Dawson, the Klan member who had been the informant for the Greensboro Police Department and FBI, on federal charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights and violation of civil rights. It was also revealed that Klansman Mark Sherer had already secretly pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in U.S. v. Mark Sherer. Sherer eventually served a few months in a minimum security facility--the only Klansman or Nazi to be convicted or serve time for the November 3rd murders. |
| 6 December 1983 | Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., conducted the first hearing in Waller v. Butkovich, declaring that he would uphold the stay on discovery pending conclusion of the federal criminal trial. |
| 9 January-15 April 1984 | Federal criminal trial of the nine Klansmen and Nazis in U.S. v. Griffin, et al. The trial began with secret jury selection, which was unsuccessfully contested by four North Carolina newspapers, and ended with the acquittal of all nine Klansmen and Nazis. |
| 22 April 1984 | Judge Merhige finally lifted the stay on discovery material and allowed the opening of the investigation in the Waller v. Butkovich civil rights suit. |
| Spring 1984-March 1985 | Trial preparation, which included submission of discovery material, legal battles over the scope of discovery material, jury issues, etc. |
| 11 March 1985 | Opening day of the Waller v. Butkovich civil rights suit in Winston-Salem, N.C. |
| 7 June 1985 | Jury found two police officers and six Klansmen and Nazis (including Ed Dawson, the Klan informant for the police and FBI) liable for the wrongful death of one of the deceased, and for assault and battery on two survivors. The jury awarded damages totaling close to $400,000. |
| 8 June 1985 | The police, Klan, Nazis, and plaintiffs filed notices of appeal. |
| 6 November 1985 | By consent order, the police, Klan, Nazis, and plaintiffs agreed to drop their motions for a new trial and any potential appeals. The city of Greensboro paid the entire wrongful death verdict against the two police officers and six Klansmen and Nazis. |
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Scope and Content
The collection includes material of the Greensboro Civil Rights Fund (GCRF)/Greensboro Justice Fund (GJF) relating to three court cases stemming from the casualties of the 3 November 1979 riot in Greensboro, N.C. The collection contains subject files, beginning in 1979, including records of trial defendants, plaintiffs, and witnesses, as well as publications, propaganda, memoranda, reports, and notes from organizations related to the GCRF and the GJF; copies of investigative files, including correspondence, witness interviews, autopsy reports, and lab test reports; copies of official court records, including deposition transcripts, pleading books, transcripts of trial testimony, and discovery material; court exhibit files contain scene evidence collected by the police at the murder scene and copies of investigation reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), and the Greensboro Police Department (GPD); office and organizational files, including correspondence, address lists, memoranda, newsletters, position papers, press releases, research materials, and financial records. Pictures include photographs mostly related to the 3 November 1979 march and subsequent court proceedings. Photographs also include stills from video footage of the rally, photographs from other marches, and photographs of Ku Klux Klan/Nazi gatherings with members in costume. Videotapes include footage of the actual Ku Klux Klan-Nazi attack and three documentary television shows. Audiocassettes include interviews with surviving Communist Workers Party (CWP) demonstrators and copies of cassette tapes from the civil trial depositions. Clippings contain newspaper and magazine clippings related to the 1979 incident and race relations. Material related to the Workers Viewpoint Organization, which later became the Communist Workers Party, includes leaflets and flyers, press releases, and issues of the publication Workers Viewpoint. Writings and reports relate to the 1979 incident and race relations in Greensboro, N.C. Museum items include artifacts related to the 3 November 1979, anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration, including a bullhorn, banners, and a hanging effigy of a Ku Klux Klan member.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Subject Files, 1980-1986.
Arrangement: alphabetical by file title.
A wide array of records relating to Waller v. Butkovich, the Greensboro Civil Rights Fund's civil rights suit against the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party, the Greensboro Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Included are files regarding trial defendants, plaintiffs, and witnesses as well as letters written to the plaintiffs by their GCRF attorneys explaining the legal situation and trial developments. Series 1 also contains publications, propaganda, memoranda, reports, notes and other material from the Communist Workers Party, the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party, and other organizations related to the GCRF. Researchers should see also Series 5 Photographs and Audiovisual Material and Series 7 Workers Viewpoint Organization/Communist Workers Party (CWP) for more information on the CWP.
Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. Folder numbers out of order are folders that were later added to the original deposit and incorporated into the original order.
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Series 2. Investigation Files, 1979-1984.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Copies of files from the five law enforcement agencies that investigated the murders of 3 November 1979. Included are correspondence, interviews of witnesses, transcripts of witness interviews, autopsy reports, lab test reports, reports of the physical evidence, reports of an internal investigation within the BATF, and FBI commentary on the activities of the Greensboro Justice Fund and Greensboro Civil Rights Fund.
Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. Folder numbers out of order are folders that were later added to the original deposit and incorporated into the original order.
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Series 3. Court Records and Exhibits, 1980-1985.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Court documents and case files related to lawsuits stemming from the 1979 incident. Copies of official court documents and records from the Greensboro Civil Rights Fund's civil rights trial ( Waller v. Butkovich), the North Carolina state criminal trial ( State v. Fowler, et. al.), and the federal criminal trial ( U.S. v. Griffin, et. al.). Included are deposition transcripts of plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses from all three trial proceedings; 45 volumes of pleadings from the Waller v. Butkovich case and some pleadings from U.S. v. Griffin; most of the transcripts from State v. Fowler, and some of the testimony from U.S. v. Griffin. Discovery material contains miscellaneous claims, counterclaims, motions, notices, orders, petitions, and responses filed by the plaintiffs and defendants of Waller. Court exhibit files contain copies of reports, maps, photographs, and investigation notes from the FBI, the BATF, and the Greensboro Police Department.
Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. Folder numbers out of order are folders that were later added to the original deposit and incorporated into the original order.