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[WHEN “THE BIRTH OF A NATION” & KU KLUX KLAN PROPOGANDA CAME TO YPSILANTI’S MARTHA WASHINGTON THEATER] On Sunday, February 3rd, and Monday, February 4th, of 1918, one of America’s most notorious anti-African American, racist, xenophobic, and pro-Ku Klux Klan films, “The Birth of a Nation,” was shown at the Martha Washington Theater in Ypsilanti. In an article below, the Daily Ypsilantian-Press described it as the “World’s Greatest Production to Be Shown Here.” An advertisement in the Saturday edition of the Daily Ypsilantian-Press described it as the “World’s Greatest Spectacle” and highlighted themes of “Patriotism,” “Romance,” and “Love.” Below also includes the advertisement for the screening directed specifically towards Ypsilanti High School students in their Weekly Ypsi Sem student newspaper. Below are links to the entirety of each publication, digitized from physical copies and made available for free on the Internet Archive by the Ypsilanti Historical Society. The publications are open source and completely free and available to the public globally.

ypsilanti #ypsi #ypsihistory #ypsireal #easternmichigan #michiganstatenormalcollege #emu #MSNC

https://archive.org/…/daily_ypsilantian-press_1918.02.01 https://archive.org/…/daily_ypsilantian-press_1918.02.02 https://archive.org/details/ypsi_sem_1918.02.01_1.18