On Friday, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office posted a “Flashback Friday” tribute to Sheriff Marion Millis, who served from 1958 to 1973.
“His tenure represents a part of our department’s journey in law enforcement, highlighting the foundations that continue to guide our dedication to public service and community engagement today,” the post read in part.
While Millis did serve for 15 years, his time leading NHCSO was not without controversy.
In late 1965, he was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as part of its investigation into the Ku Klux Klan.
Millis was questioned for hours about why he and six of his deputies had joined the Klan, including Charles B. Goodwin – who had become ‘grand klaliff,’ essentially the vice-president of the state Klan. Millis claimed it was so that his office could keep an eye on local activity. However, committee members appeared skeptical of some of Millis’ answers, at times growing terse with him.
In addition to being immortalized in the congressional record, the story made the New York Times. And closer to home, the Wilmington Morning Star, which had already cast doubt on Millis’s leadership, and reported on the strength of the Klan’s activity in New Hanover County, called for his resignation. But Millis rebuffed criticism, ran again, and won. He finally left office in 1973.
According to Lt. Jerry Brewer, spokesperson for NHCSO, when a staff member posted the “Flashback Friday” post they were unaware of Millis’ complicated history. Shortly after the post went online, a commenter pointed out that it omitted some of that backstory. The Sheriff’s Office then decided to take the post down, Brewer said.
For now, NHCSO’s most recent “Flashback Friday” post is from September 1990, when children got a chance to meet the Sheriff’s Office’s robot at the Independence Mall. The robot does not appear to have been affiliated with the Klan or other hate groups.
Below: Millis' 1965 HUAC testimony.
Millis Testimony by Ben Schachtman on Scribd
