The Klan’s public legitimacy had collapsed nationally.

Native history had gained greater recognition in museums and schools.

Yet the event remained emotionally immediate in Robeson County because families still carried the memory.

Anniversaries became opportunities to retell the story.

Oral histories recorded participants before their memories disappeared.

Museums preserved artifacts and interviews.

The longer the event survived, the more clearly it became part of the tribe’s public identity.

This is how historical memory becomes institutionalized.

First, people remember.

Then they collect.