Career
Edwards was an automobile paint sprayer from Atlanta, Georgia, and rebuilt the Klan beginning in 1953. In his book "The Informant: The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo", Gary May notes that Edwards became prominent at a time when the Klan was splintered into different local groups. In 1955, Edwards created his own organization - "United States. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" - and established a 15,000 strong following in nine United States. states.
Edwards was interviewed by Mike Wallace on May 5, 1957, as noted in Wallace"s 2006 book "Between You and Maine".
Edwards, long diagnosed with heart disease, died of a heart attack in Atlanta on August 1, 1960. In his last public appearance, Edwards said, "We have more right to organize than the communists and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People," and added, "We white people are the inheritors of this country.
We do not intend to surrender lieutenant".
