Lynching Cases - Mississippi, 1927-1959

Scope and Contents

Named lynching victims are Arthur Wade (Lexington, 1926), Coleman (Clarkesdale, 1926, no first name given), Joe Smith (Yazoo City, 1927), unnamed man (Lexington, 1927), unnamed man (Luceville, 1927), unnamed man (Aiken, 1927), James and Max Fox (Louisville, 1927), Shug McEllee (Summit, 1928), James and Stanley Bearden (Brookhaven, 1928), Steven Jenkins (Macon, 1929), Emanuel McCallum (Hattisburg, 1929), Pig Lockett and Holly White (Scooba, 1930), George B. Robinson (Jackson, 1930), David Harris (Rosedale, 1930), Colman Franks (Columbus, 1931), Steve Wiley (Ivernes, 1931), Eli Johnson, (Vicksburg, 1931), Edward Dunlap (Greenville, 1932), unnamed man (Caledonia, 1933), Jesse Williams (Senatobia, 1933), Robert Jones and Smith Houey (Ashland, 1934), Joe Loe and Isaac Thomas (Clarksdale, 1934), Bodie Bates (Pittsboro, 1935), Ellwood Higginbotham (unnamed location, 1935), R.D. McGee (Wiggins, 1935), Bert Moore and Dooley Morton (Columbus, 1935), Malvin Thompson (DeKalb, 1935), Abe Young (Slayden, 1935; reported as "Ab"), Edward Earles (Utica Institute, 1936), Wash Adams (Columbus, 1938), Claude Banks (Canton, 1938), Tom Green (Rolling Ford, 1938), Joe Rogers (Canton, 1939), Jerome Franklin (Prentiss, 1940), Leon McTatie (Lexington, 1946), Alonzo Rush (Indianola, 1946), Versie Johnson (Prentiss, 1947), Hosea Carter (Cheraw, 1948), George Love (Ruleville, 1958), Mack Charles Parker (unnamed location, 1959), Booker T. Mixon (Jackson, 1959), Luther Jackson (Jackson, 1959). Attempted lynchings are reported of James Lockett (Pittsboro, 1935), Johnny Craft (Smith County, 1946), Frederick Chambers (Lexington, 1946). Johnny Catchings (Jackson, 1931) is reported escaped and missing with a potential for lynching. Victims reported along with Mississippi victims include John Hodaz (Plant City Fla.) and Allen Green (Walhalla, SC) in article re David Harris (Rosedale, 1930), and John Dukes (Arabi, Ga., 1938) in article re Wash Adams.

Extent

2 folders

Dates

Creation: 1927-1959

Document Types

Clippings

May Contain Harmful Content

Harmful Content (general) Published photographs of victims, graphic descriptions of headlines in folder 1 of 2.

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.