As I read through the old newspapers, I am always disgusted by the reports of lynching. The report below, published in 1920, shows how prevalent, vicious, and unjust these lynchings were.
We cannot ignore our history, but we can acknowledge it and work towards creating a better world for all.
Full disclosure: I changed one of the words in this newspaper report to “black.” I also broke up the large paragraphs into individual sentences to make the content easier to read.
Link to the article: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1920-01-01/ed-1/seq-20/
Tuskegee Reports 82 Lynchings Last Year
The department of records and research of Tuskegee University yesterday issued its annual report of lynchings in 1919.
According to the report, there were 82 lynchings in 1919, of which 77 were in the south and 5 in the north and west. This is 18 more than the number 64 for 1918.
Of those lynched, 75 were black and 7 whites. One of those put to death was a black woman.
Nineteen, or less than one-fourth, of those put to death were charged with assault or attempted assault.
Seventeen of the victims were burned to death.
Nine were put to death and their bodies then were burned.
The charges against those burned to death were: Assault, 3; murder, 2; killing sheriff, 1; no charge given, 1.
The charges against those first killed and their bodies then burned were: Attempted assault, 3; shooting of officers of the law, 3; assault, 1; murder, 1; incendiary talk, 1.
The offense of murder was charged against all the whites lynched.
The offenses charged against blacks were:
Murder, 13
Attempted assault, 10
Assault, 9
Abetting riots, 4
Shooting officers of the law, 4
Insulting a woman, 4
Killing of officers of the law, 4
Alleged incendiary talk, 2
Writing improper letter, 2
Charge not reported, 6
Shooting a woman, 1
Robbery, 1
Murder sentence changed to life imprisonment, 1
Shooting night watchman, 1
Shooting and wounding a man, 1
Alleged complicity in killing officer of the law, 1
Killing man in self-defense, 1
Killing landlord in dispute over crop settlement, 1
No charge made, 1
For being acquitted of shooting an officer of the law, 1
Remarks about Chicago riot, 3
For keeping company with a white woman, 1
For being found under bed, 1
For making boastful remarks, 1
For alleged misleading of mobs searching for another, 1
Because appeal was taken from ten years’ sentence for attempting life of another, 1
For discussing a lynching, 1
The states in which lynchings occurred and the number in each state are as follows:
Alabama, 7
Arkansas, 12
Colorado, 2
Florida, 5
Georgia, 21
Louisiana, 7
Mississippi, 12
Missouri, 2
Nebraska, 1
North Carolina, 3
South Carolina, 1
Tennessee, 1
Texas, 4
Washington, 1
West Virginia, 2
Kansas, 1
Source: Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 01 Jan. 1920.
