New Effort To Change Name Of Freeway Named For KKK Member

Certain stretches of I-30 and I-35 in Dallas are named for Robert L. Thornton. He served as mayor in the 1950s and 60s.

The banker and businessman played an important role with the State Fair of Texas. A statue of him stands at Fair Park, and there's an elementary school named after him.

Thornton was also a prominent member of the Ku Klux Klan.

https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/effort-change-name-r-l-thornton-freeway/

http://templeofdemocracy.com/r-l-thornton-freeway.html

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/thornton-robert-lee

In a letter to Dallas real estate executive Henry S. Miller, Jr^[74] after the publication of the 1994 edition, Payne acknowledged that Thornton was not listed on the individual member list. He further wrote Miller "the mention of Klan membership is a minor detail …Those who read my treatment of the senior Thornton, however, would surely agree that my portrait of him is overwhelmingly positive and that I fully acknowledge, appreciate and applaud his enormous contributions to this city’s growth and progress."  

There exists public records of two investigations into Klan participation in Dallas. The first was published by the Dallas Dispatch newspaper on May 12, 1922.^[75] Dallas Dispatch reporters were stationed at Fair Park for a large Dallas regional Klan meeting. They recorded and vetted license plates of the attendees' automobiles. The second was the 1923 Klan Day at the State Fair. This was billed as "One of the Greatest Gatherings in Klan History" with 160,000 attendees.^[76] Support was documented in the Klan Day souvenir program and in a 25-page detailed financial audit prepared by the Klan auditor, J.F. Collier, and his auditing firm Bell, Collier, & Doyle. The firm's Special Examination report of June 13, 1924, listed receipts, vendors, advertisers and individuals who provided support in exhaustive detail. Neither R. L. Thornton nor Dallas County State Bank were named in either listing.^[77][78]

A possible source of confusion may be that a younger brother of R.L. Thornton was indeed a member and leader of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. W. L. Thornton, a Dallas attorney and prominent judge, was active in both the Klan and the Democratic party locally,^[79][80] statewide,^[81] and nationally.^[82][83]  

Since the book’s 1994 publication, many authors and journalists have casually repeated and perpetuated the accusation that Thornton was a "member" of the Klan, while citing no original research on their part or from anyone else other than Payne, most without crediting him.^{[citation needed]}

^...Son Robert L. Thornton, Jr. (January 12, 1911 - September 24, 1992) was the founding chairman of the Dallas County Community College District (now Dallas College). He served on numerous boards including Texas Woman's University and Dallas Baptist College as well as a past chairman of the United Negro College Fund. The R.L. Thornton Jr. Building, 701 Elm Street in Dallas, was named in his honor by Dallas College. He was named chairman of Mercantile Bank in 1969.  

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Thornton}