Digital Exhibits

Kappa Kotton Klub news articles

Three news articles titled on an event called the "Kappa Kotton Klub," published in the Pacific University between 1946-1948. The event was a fundraiser that was put on annually by Pacific University's Kappa Delta sorority for several years after World War II. The evening event began with socializing, dancing and variety acts, and was capped off with a risque chorus-line of sorority girls who dancing in skimpy outfits. According to former members of the sorority, this event was originally organized by a member who worked in a dance chorus in Portland and correctly judged that such a show could raise a lot of money. The event had racist connotations, however. The "Kotton Klub" was a reference to the "Cotton Club," a famous nightclub in Harlem where Black musicians and exotic dancers performed for all-white audiences in the 1920s-30s. With the sorority's name added to the event and all of the initials changed to the letter "K," the Kappa Kotton Klub had the acronym "KKK." In 1948, the event was themed as the "Deep South" and the variety acts included a barbershop quartet in blackface and other minstrel show references. No objections to the event or its name were recorded in the school newspaper.

The Index (Pacific University newspaper)

Blackface--Sources

Minstrel shows

Student activities

Vaudeville

PUA_WH_100

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

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