Lynchings Collection
A Red Record - Revealing Lynching Sites in North Carolina and South Carolina
A Red Record documents lynchings in the American South, starting with North Carolina. The title, A Red Record, is drawn from Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s work by the same name and is intended, in a small way, to recognize Wells-Barnett’s remarkable courage and commitment to justice.
Anthony Crawford
New Documentary On Wealthy SC Black Cotton Farm Owner Who Was Lynched For Success
By Kalyn Oyer /Post And Courier Nov 17, 2020 Updated Nov 23, 2020
In 1916, just over half a century after slavery was abolished, a wealthy Black farmer who drew the ire of his jealous and bigoted White business peers in Abbeville was murdered by a lynch mob.
Bob Brackett
The Lynching of Bob Brackett
EJI-Community Remembrance Project - Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker inscription:
On August 11, 1897, Bob Brackett, a Black man, was lynched by a mob of at least 1.000 white people in Reems Creek Township. Mr. Brackett was a traveling laborer working in the Asheville, North Carolina area.
On August 8, 1897, a white woman from Weaverville reported an assault. Race-based suspicion was immediately directed towards Black men in the area. On August 10, despite a lack of evidence and no investigation, a mob of white men seized Mr. Brackett at the home of a local reverend in nearby Barnardsville, and Mr. Brackett was detained in the Buncombe County Jail in Asheville.
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ESCAPE FROM MOB RELATED BY NEGRO; Bush, in Jail at Raleigh, N.C., Says 2 of 5 Were Armed -- He Hid 2 Days in Field
NYT May 31, 1947
Godwin/Goodwin “Buddy” Bush, who escaped from a mob that had taken him from the Jackson, N.C., jail
Bush, a 24-year-old sawmill worker accused of attempted rape, hid with friends until he could surrender to officials who could guarantee his safety. bush surrendered to the FBI and NC state authorities under the protection of three FBI agents to ensure his safety. Seven men were held in the attempted lynching, but the Northampton County Grand Jury failed to indict them.
George Henry White
In 1900, the sole Black member of Congress, Rep. George Henry White, a North Carolina Republican, introduced the nation’s first anti-lynching bill, but it died shortly after in committee.
On January 20, 1900, White introduced the first bill in Congress to make lynching a federal crime to be prosecuted by federal courts; it died in committee, opposed by southern white Democrats, who were making up the Solid South block.
George Taylor
Image shows Sharin Wilson of New York holds hands with Kimberly McDowell-Lois of New Jersey as a marker to their ancestor George Taylor’s lynching is unveiled in Rolesville, North Carolina.
Photo credit: Josh Shaffer-News & Observer
George Taylor, lynched in 1918, honored with historic marker near spot in Rolesville
Harrison and James Gillespie
Lynchings in Rowan County, North Carolina
Historical Marker Dedicated in Rowan County, North Carolina
09.10.21
Lynching in Rowan County
The narrative marker memorializes six documented victims in Rowan County: James Gillespie, Harrison Gillespie, Jack Dillingham, John Gillespie, Nease Gillespie, and Laura Wood.
In the early morning hours of June 11, 1902, a mob of approximately 75 masked white men lynched two Black children named Harrison and James Gillespie.
Hezekiah Rankin
The Lynching of Hezekiah Rankin
Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
Equal Justice Initiative, Buncombe Community Remembrance Project.
Marker inscription:
On September 24, 1891, a mob of at least 20 unmasked white men lynched a Black man named Hezekiah Rankin. Earlier that evening, a white co-worker at the Western North Carolina Railroad wanted Mr. Rankin to perform duties unrelated to his job.
John Humphries
The Lynching of John Humphries
EJI-Community Remembrance Project - Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker inscription: On July 15, 1888, a mob of 25 to 40 white men lynched John Humphries, a Black teenager. On July 14, the daughter of a white planter reported being assaulted in the woods. Race-based suspicion was immediately directed towards Black men and boys. Later that evening, without any evidence connecting him to the assault, police nonetheless arrested John Humphries.
John Richards
hotograph of the lynching of John Richards, January 12, 1916. Goldsboro, North Carolina.
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We posted this image to accompany this org's site. This is an organization that researched the lynchings that happened in NC.
We also will post a book written about the lynching of Black people history in NC in the Gallery for Books-Resources, so please check there also.
Learning Their Names.
Learning Their Names.
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From the Red Record website:
"This is a (likely incomplete) list of the names of persons who were killed in lynchings that took place in North Carolina between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II.
This list is a work in progress and will be updated as more information comes to light. Those persons identified as “Unidentified” were of course not unknown–they were fathers and sons, wives, and daughters, they had friends and enemies, communities and stories.
Mob Leaders Go To Prison
NORTH CAROLINA, 1918
Mob Leaders Go To Prison
Realizing that if a lyncher is permitted to remain unpunished the decency of the community is greatly endangered, Judge B. F. Long of the Superior Court sentenced fifteen white men, indicted for the participation in a riot in Winston-Salem, Nov. 17, to serve from fourteen months to six years in prison. The men were found guilty of attempting to lynch Russell High, a prisoner in the city jail.
Powell Green
White Mob Lynches Black Veteran Powell Green in North Carolina
On the night of December 27, 1919, a 23-year-old African American veteran named Powell Green was lynched by a mob of masked white men near Franklinton, North Carolina.
After a “prominent” white movie theater owner was shot and killed, Powell Green was arrested for allegedly committing the crime. During the era of racial terror, white allegations against black people were rarely subject to scrutiny and often sparked violent reprisal even when there was no evidence tying the accused to any offense.
The Freedom Struggle Committee
The Freedom Struggle Committee
"We are a group of high school students who are committed to developing a memorial to serve as a permanent public acknowledgement to the victims of lynching in North Carolina. Since establishing the Freedom Struggle Committee in 2016, we have been working with community leaders and local government officials to make our vision a reality. What began as a class project has turned into a commitment to recognizing the truths about our state's history.
This Is Her First Lynching
A 1934 black-and-white work by American artist Reginald Marsh that focuses on the psychological horrors of white American mob violence. It was first published in The New Yorker in 1934 and later featured prominently in the NAACP’s 1935 anti-lynching exhibition, An Art Commentary on Lynching, in New York City.