William Stuart Simkins

Born in South Carolina and a cadet at the South Carolina Military Academy (later named The Citadel) in 1861, Simkins has long been credited with firing the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter. He rose to the rank of colonel during his service in the Confederate Army. After 1865 he resettled in Florida and, alongside his brother Eldred, drove the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan in that state—a role about which he vainly boasted for the rest of his life. He moved to Texas in the early 1870s, built a legal practice, became a prominent jurist and professor of law at the University of Texas, and “a lifelong, unabashed defender of the ‘Invisible Empire’ throughout his later tenure” at the University of Texas. Simkins received his honorary degree in 1917. His son, Ormond Simkins, was a graduate of the University and the star athlete of the 1899 football team. In his speech "Why the Ku Klux," Simkins railed against the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau and justified the actions of the Klan against innocent Black people in Florida:

"Thus, 1868 opened upon us; under the influence of the League the negroes became bolder, incendiary harangues were heard everywhere, white women could not appear on the streets without escort, and domestic duties were performed with a ready pistol at hand. Were we simply to sit quiet and cry out "take thy beak from out of our hearts, thy form from off our door"? Were we to lie down in quiet, hugging to our breasts the delusive phantom of hope that God in his infinite mercy would help us? No; God only helps those who help themselves...

“So to meet this saturnalia of crime and insolence; to suppress this volcano on which our women and children were nightly sleeping; to meet the military feature of this Loyal League, arose the "Invisible Empire." It was demanded for our safety and essential to our peace. In its organization and operation each state acted independently, and I can only speak of its organization and operation in Florida with which I was connected. Florida was more fortunately situated than other states to facilitate the operation of the Klan…

“We worked, of course, upon the fears and superstitions of the negroes, performing before their cabins at night apparently supernatural stunts. The immediate effect upon the negro was wonderful, the flitting to and fro of masked horses and faces struck terror to the race, and any belated negro on the road at night who saw us coming never stood on the order of his going. The spirit of "dem Ku Kluxers," as they called us, guarded the roads at night; in a word, the night prowlers now were satisfied to remain at home."

In 1954, amid massive resistance to the Civil Rights Movement and successful legal challenges to Jim Crow, the University of Texas named a new dormitory for Simkins. Publicity about the honoree’s role in the Klan and Confederacy developed in the spring of 2010. The University’s Board of Regents voted in July 2010 to remove his name from the residence hall.

https://deadconfederates.com/2010/07/12/william-stewart-simkins-the-klan-and-the-law-school/

“Goodbye Simkins,” Texas Tribune, https://www.texastribune.org/2010/07/15/ut-regents-remove-kkk-leaders-name-from-dorm/