In a previous blog post, “Porterville Mayor Greg Meister sends letter to FBI, invites Director to City event“, I included the above image in response to a comment the Mayor of Porterville, California, made about home-grown violence.

The image shows a large contingent of Ku Klux Klan members in a march in Porterville, California, sometime in the 1920s. I first saw this image hanging in a restaurant in Porterville, a place called “Stan’s Cafe” (since closed). I posted this image in a Facebook ‘share’ about the blog. Someone offered a correction.

“Mr. Reeves, this photo was actually taken in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Someone has apparently altered the photo so that it reads “Porterville” instead of “Bartlesville” underneath Hammond’s signature.“

I asked for some clarification, as I had seen this image before, but never in reference to Bartlesville. This is what that person added to the comment thread:

Screenshot

I think the AI hallucinated.

The University of California Press published this image, and as you can see, there is no visual evidence of a forged or altered signature.

In an internet map search, I turned up this image of the intersection of East Mill and Main Streets of Porterville. Note how the building on the left match in both images. The other buildings shown in the Klan picture are no longer in existence.

I’m satisfied the original image is indeed of a Klan march in Porterville, California, circa the 1920s.

If anyone can definitively prove otherwise, I’ll update this post.