POTSDAM -- A presentation on the local history of the KKK in St. Lawrence County will be hosted by the Potsdam Presbyterian Church and Black Lives Matter Potsdam. The talk will be held outdoors on the church grounds at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27.

Featured speakers will be local author and DeKalb Town Historian Bryan Thompson and John D. Youngblood, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, English, and Communications at SUNY Potsdam.

Thompson will share his research on the development of the second Ku Klux Klan in St. Lawrence County in the 1920s and regional KKK activities, holding rallies and cross burnings targeting Black, Catholic, and Jewish communities. Klan rallies were attended by up to 5,000 people in Ogdensburg at its peak, and the organization was involved in local and state politics, said a press release from BLM Potsdam.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held outdoors as dusk settles on the church lawn, at 42 Elm St.

Attendees are encouraged to dress for the weather and to bring a lawn chair. Masks and social distancing requirements will be applied.

In the event of poor weather, the “rain date” will be one week later on Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Street parking is available on Elm Street, with spots being held open for attendees with mobility issues.

A follow up program will also be held in the same location on September 10th, but earlier at 7 p.m., on the topic of the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad in St. Lawrence County.

Contact blm.noco@gmail.com for more information.