C. P. Ellis

Claiborne Paul Ellis (January 8, 1927 – November 3, 2005) was an American segregationist turned civil rights activist and trade union organizer. Ellis was at one time Exalted Cyclops, local leader of a Ku Klux Klan group in Durham, North Carolina, the city where he was born.

Early life Ellis was born on January 8, 1927, and was raised in Durham, North Carolina, as the son of a mill worker. He was deeply influenced by his father, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In his recorded memoir, he described his impoverished childhood and the worn clothes that he would wear to school. He would often feel embarrassed about how he and his father looked in public. Although his father drank, Ellis described the close relationship the two shared by going to ball games and fishing.

Klan career As he grew older, Ellis became disillusioned with the notion of the American dream. He worked for several years at a gas station before he got married and had four children. The financial strain of taking care of his wife and children (one of whom was blind and non-verbal) led him to what he described as the need to blame somebody. To him, it was natural to hate Black people because his father had participated in the Ku Klux Klan. He was invited by men he met while working at the gas station to join a local Klan group. He quickly became a very active member, climbing the ranks of leadership until his final pronouncement as Exalted Cyclops. Ellis attributed the elation of this period to the feelings of self-worth and the importance of being a respected member of this group. On the last night of the charrette, 1,000 people participated, including some of Ellis's fellow Klan members. At the microphone, Ellis held his Klan membership card up and said: "If schools are going to be better by me tearing up this card, I shall do so." Ellis thus renounced the Klan that night and never returned to it. The remaining Klansmen threatened his life and refused to talk to him again for the next 30 years. Ellis and Atwater formed an enduring friendship.

Ellis, having only an eighth-grade level education, went on to participate in a program called PEP (Past Employment Progress) and received his diploma. He also became heavily involved in union organization and was voted business manager of the union with a tally of 134 votes to 41 votes for the competition.

Posthumous recognition On November 2, 2019, Ellis and Ann Atwater were posthumously recognized as Main Honorees by the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission at the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony in Durham, North Carolina for their contributions to the desegregation of Durham Public Schools in 1971.