A KKK robe showed up at a Maryland auction house. They donated the proceeds to a Nigerian student

David Allen, owner of A&M Auctioneers and Appraisers, never quite knows what’s going to turn up from the old homes and shops of the Eastern Shore.

Once, he said, he came across a box of wooden and metal washboards from an old general store, 100 years old and looking brand new.

This month, though, the Wicomico County auction house handled an item with a somewhat darker history.

In an otherwise-humdrum estate in Cambridge — heavy on Persian rugs, china dolls and decorative crystal vases — was a white robe, with a deep red patch embroidered over the heart. A number, 127, adorned the left sleeve. The triangle-topped hood was stained brown at the edges.

A&M offered the robe as part of an online auction. The listing: “Cambridge Lodge #127 original Ku Klux Klan complete robe and cap with original patch and embroidered lodge number on sleeve ...”

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