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The collection includes Enders' research papers documenting the Ku Klux Klan, mostly the Michigan Klan. Papers include demographics, articles he wrote or published, articles (copies) from various sources, membership cards, photographic materials, and memorabilia.

The papers consists mostly of demographics and articles about the Michigan Klan, including chapters for Cal’s intended book; newspaper articles copied from microfilm and lists of the articles from Michigan and Klan newspapers; and membership information cards. The cards are disorganized and may contain census or local election information, marital status, type of employment, children, and address information. There is a nice variety of black and white and colored photographs and slides of Michigan Klan parades, meetings, a funeral, and the Chicora KKK quilt with members names embroidered on it. Also included are a sheeted figurine and Klan publications, including songbooks and copied articles about the Klan in Indiana and the U.S.

Most of the collection has been photocopied onto acid-free paper.

The collection is unique and valuable for the research of white supremacists in Michigan. It is particularly valuable for the study of average Michiganders, including men and women who joined the Klan up to 1924. There is substantial documentation of the activities of local Klans.

The problems leading to the failures of the 1924 attempt to elect a Detroit mayor and ban private schools are well documented, as are the financial problems and the high profile murders committed by Klan officials.

More Lewis D. Capen material may be found in the Ku Klux Klan (Mecosta County, Mich.) collection and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Millbrook Level Lodge No. 219 (Millbrook, Mich.) organizational records.

The collection contains biographical materials, genealogical materials, photographs, postcards, and township history materials.

The collection is organized into three series, Elden L. Brigham, Brigham family, and township materials. Contents of each series are then organized alphabetically and by size.

The collection includes for Millbrook Lodge (3.25 cubic ft. of the records): histories, a student paper, reports, financial records, membership materials, correspondence, published materials, minute books, and miscellaneous; and for Blanchard Lodge No. 183 (Blanchard, Mich., .75 cubic ft. of the records) correspondence, officers' bonds, financial records, membership records, minutes, among other materials.

The collection includes the records of both the Blanchard and Millbrook Lodges. It is important in documenting these local organizations, but it is of particular interest because of Lewis D. Capen’s membership in the Millbrook Lodge. The collection is organized by series into Blanchard and then Millbrook Lodge materials, and then alphabetically and chronologically within each series.

The records of Blanchard Lodge No. 183 (.75 cubic ft.) includes: correspondence, 1944; membership, roster books, 1903-1939; minute books, 1923-1932; and various financial records, 1903-1930.

The records of Millbrook Level Lodge No 219 (7.25 cubic ft.) include historical background in a student paper about the records by Bradley A. Jerdon, 2001, two anniversary histories of the lodge, 1973 and 1948; and a printed Third Degree (ceremonial?) piece; various membership certificates and applications; correspondence from state and national officers and committees, other local chapters, and Lewis D. Capen, while serving in various offices, 1904-1981, undated; Ephemera, including pins and stars, 1922, undated; various members and officer lists; mortgage and lease papers; bank account statements; proclamations and resolutions; receipts, 1923-1981; various reports, 1950, (state and local) 1973-1981; a Ledger and Treasurer’s account, cash, and receipt books, 1909-1959; record and minute books, 1919-1958; membership books, 1909-1979; and various miscellaneous items.

Collection includes organizational correspondence, membership cards, publications, forms, and photographic materials documenting the Ku Klux Klan of Mecosta County, Michigan.

In 1926, Lewis D. Capen of Millbrook, Mecosta County, Michigan, became the Exalted Cyclops of the Mecosta Klan No. 28. He served in the leadership position, an equivalent to chapter president, until 1929 when he became Great Kaliff or Grand Titan, a leadership position over Province # 4, which included the Klans of Ionia and Mecosta counties, and the towns of Petoskey, East Jordan, Hart, Manistee, Portland, and Muskegon, Michigan. Besides his Klan activities, Capen, born in Milbrook, Michigan, in 1892, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Level Lodge 219 of Milbrook. Note: a large collection of these records is also available at the Clarke. Capen was also a veteran of World War I and postmaster of Milbrook. On October 14, 1935 he married Hilda Hill, a teacher.

Capen’s accumulated organizational correspondence, membership cards, publications, forms, and photographic materials constitute the bulk of this collection. The Klans of Mecosta, Osceola, and Shiawassee, as well as those in Province # 4, mostly in lists, and the Women of the Ku Klux Klan mostly in forms and publications, are documented in this collection.

The membership cards for the Mecosta Klan are photocopies. They are organized alphabetically by surname. Each card usually includes the member’s name, age, home county, city or township, and address. A few remarks and financial notes maybe included.

Used in conjunction with other Klan collections and newspapers at the Clarke, this collection provides an insider’s view of life in the Michigan Klan during the 1920s-1930s.