100 Years Of Lynchings

The hidden past of racial violence is illuminated in this skillfully selected compendium of articles from a wide range of papers large and small, radical and conservative, black and white. Through these pieces, readers witness a history of racial atrocities and are provided with a sobering view of American history.

Between 1850 and 1950, at least 115 women were lynched by mobs in the United States. The majority of these women were black. This book examines the phenomenon of the lynching of women, a much more rare occurence than the lynching of men. Over the same hundred year period covered in this text, more than 1,000 white men were lynched, while thousands of black men were murdered by mobs. Of particular importance in this examination is the role of race in lynching, particularly the increase in the number of lynchings of black women as the century progressed. Details are provided--when available--in an attempt to shine a light on this form of deadly mob violence.

Lynching has often been called "America's national crime" that has defined the tradition of extralegal violence in America. Having claimed many thousand victims, "Judge Lynch" holds a firm place in the dark recesses of our national memory. In Popular Justice, Manfred Berg explores the history of lynching from the colonial era to the present. American lynch law, he argues, has rested on three pillars: the frontier experience, racism, and the anti-authoritarian spirit of grassroots democracy. Berg looks beyond the familiar story of mob violence against African American victims, who comprised the majority of lynch targets, to include violence targeting other victim groups, such as Mexicans and the Chinese, as well as many of those cases in which race did not play a role. As he nears the modern era, he focuses on the societal changes that ended lynching as a public spectacle. Berg's narrative concludes with an examination of lynching's legacy in American culture. From the colonial era and the American Revolution up to the twenty-first century, lynching has been a part of our nation's history. Manfred Berg provides us with the first comprehensive overview of "popular justice."

Gruesome photographs document the victims of lynchings and the society that allowed mob violence.

Lynch mobs in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America exacted horrifying public torture and mutilation on their victims. In Lynching and Spectacle, Amy Wood explains what it meant for white Americans to perform and witness these sadistic spectacles and how lynching played a role in establishing and affirming white supremacy. Lynching, Wood argues, overlapped with a variety of cultural practices and performances, both traditional and modern, including public executions, religious rituals, photography, and cinema, all which encouraged the horrific violence and gave it social acceptability. However, she also shows how the national dissemination of lynching images ultimately fueled the momentum of the antilynching movement and the decline of the practice. Using a wide range of sources, including photos, newspaper reports, pro- and antilynching pamphlets, early films, and local city and church records, Wood reconfigures our understanding of lynching's relationship to modern life. Wood expounds on the critical role lynching spectacles played in establishing and affirming white supremacy at the turn of the century, particularly in towns and cities experiencing great social instability and change. She also shows how the national dissemination of lynching images fueled the momentum of the antilynching movement and ultimately led to the decline of lynching. By examining lynching spectacles alongside both traditional and modern practices and within both local and national contexts, Wood reconfigures our understanding of lynching's relationship to modern life.

A look at a 1906 Supreme Court decision that transformed justice in America examines the case of Ed Johnson, an African American man accused of raping a white woman, his lynching, and the response of the Supreme Court.

First published in 1962, 100 Years of Lynchings, is as relevant today as it was then. It presents the reader with vivid newspaper accounts of a "red record of racial atrocities." It is a simple and straight forward presentation. Lacking narration, the news articles speak for themselves. Through them, we witness a history of racial atrocities that we cannot afford to forget. Ginzburg skillfully selected articles from a wide range of papers, large and small, radical and conservative, white and Black. Through them, he has created a documentary of lynchings. The collection of articles which extend into the 1960s provides a sobering view of American history. Few who read the book will remain unaffected by this view. Through Ralph Ginzburg's 100 Years of Lynchings, we gain insight and understanding of the magnitude of racial violence. The hidden past is illuminated to rekindle the defensive vigilance of this generation.

This visual and textual study of lynchings that took place in California between 1850 and 1935 shows that race-based lynching in the United States reached far beyond the South.