Lynching Cases - Georgia, 1926, 1930-1959

Scope and Contents

A letter to Carl Murphy describes the circumstances of the lynching of Joe Lockhart (Columbus, 1926). A photograph of Ernest Chester, Robert Ford, and Matthew Brown is captioned with a description of their attempted lynching (Columbus, 1949). Another photograph shows damage to a school in Smyrna from mob violence (1930). Named lynching victims include Dave Wright (Douglass, 1927), James Erwin (Ocilla, 1930), John Clark (Cartersville, 1930), J.H Wilkins (Locust Grove, 1930), George Grant (Darien, 1930), Willie Kirkland (Thomasville, 1930), John Williams (Camden County, 1933), Lamar Kinsey (Warrenton, 1933), Curtis James (Darien, 1934), George White (Savannah, 1934), Philip Baker (Box Springs, 1936), John Rushin (Pavo, 1936), A.L. McCamy (Dalton, 1936), Will Kirby (Mount Vernon, 1937), Willie Reed (Bainbridge, 1937), Austin Callaway (La Grange, 1940), Felix Hall (Fort Benning, 1941), Robert Lee (La Grange, 1944), George Hill (Toomsboro, 1946), Maceo Snipes (Butler, 1946), Joe Nathan Roberts (Sardin, 1947), Robert Mallard (Lyons, 1948), Hollis Riles (Bainbridge, 1949), Earnest K. Smith (Eatonton, 1959). Attempted lynchings covered inclue Charley Williams (Woodcliffe, 1939), Golden Lamar Howard (Atlanta, 1947), Charles Mosely (Mariette, 1947), Eddie Brown, Jr. (Carrolton, 1947). Coverage of a 1918 mass lynching of 18 people in Brooks and Lowndes Counties is found in a clipping from 1935.

Extent

3 folders

Dates

Creation: 1926
Creation: 1930-1959

Document Types

Clippings, Correspondence, Wire article, Photograph

May Contain Harmful Content

Harmful Content (general) Published photograph of victim, graphic cartoon of victims, graphic language describing violence in headline (in folder 2 of 3).

Additional Description

Arrangement

Arrangement is geographical; when multiple items referring to a single individual exist, a separate folder has been created with their name and the location in the folder title.

Processing Information

Lynching files have been processed using detailed processing procedures. All the information in the finding aid has been verified against folder content, dates and document types have been added, and more detailed arrangement and description work has been performed.

In files on lynching cases, names of victims are listed in the scope and content note for that folder, along with the locality and year of the incident. Unnamed victims are listed with location and date, and victims of attempted lynchings are also listed when named. When many documents are found for a specific victim, they are arranged in a separate folder with the victim's name in the folder title. Content warnings have been added to folder records where photographs of lynching victims are filed, or clippings with particularly graphic headlines, and such items are encapsulated within the main folders to allow researchers to choose whether or not to engage with this content.

The lynching legislation files appear to have been originally compiled around 1941, when correspondence is found between an AFRO librarian and a Congressional Research Service librarian. A 1939 report created by the Congressional Research Service is found, which may serve as an index to the content of these files.