Laura and L.D. Nelson were a mother and son who were dragged from a jail and lynched in Oklahoma, on May 25, 1911. Austin Nelson married Laura in 1896, and their son, Lawrence, was born the following year. The Nelson family lived on a farm … Read MoreLynching of Laura and L.D. Nelson (1911)
Isadore Banks was a 59-year-old African American landowner who disappeared on June 4, 1954. Banks was born on July 15, 1895, in Arkansas. Much of Banks’ early life is unknown, but he joined the United States Army when he was 22 years old during World … Read MoreIsadore Banks (1895 – 1954)
The Little River County Race War began in March 1899 in southwestern Arkansas and quickly spilled over into neighboring northeastern Texas after an African American man named General Duckett murdered a white planter, James Stockton, at his home on March 18, 1899. After hiding in … Read MoreLittle River County Race War (1899)
Joel Woodson of Omaha, Nebraska was lynched by a mob in Green River, Wyoming on December 10, 1918 at the Union Pacific Railroad yard. He had come to Green River for work three months earlier, leaving his wife and family in Omaha. Woodson was an … Read MoreJoel Woodson (?-1918)
Wade Hampton was a Wyoming lynching victim. He was taken from the Rock Springs city jail by three men who attempted to hang him. When the hanging was unsuccessful, Hampton was shot to death on December 14, 1917, shortly after midnight. We know little about … Read MoreWade Hampton (?-1917)
Empire, Wyoming was an African American community founded in 1908 by Charles and Rosetta Speese along with three of Charles’ brothers—John, Joseph and Radford—and their families. John’s brother-in-law, Baseman Taylor, and relative, Otis Taylor, also joined the settlement. The families migrated from Nebraska. With the … Read MoreEmpire, Wyoming (1908-1930)
Joseph (Joe) Martin, an African American man, was lynched by a mob of three hundred white men in Laramie, Wyoming on August 29, 1904. The Cheyenne Daily Leader headline read, “Joe Martin Taken from Jail After Desperate Battle and Hanged to Telegraph Pole.” Martin was … Read MoreJoseph (Joe) Martin (?-1904)
Joe Coe, whose official name was George Smith, was an African-American man who lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Coe was a married father of two children and worked as a porter at a railroad company. Coe resided on North 12th Street, which was north of downtown … Read MoreThe Lynching of Joe Coe, 1891
By the 1920s lynchings of African Americans had become a standard practice across the nation. The multiple lynchings in Duluth, Minnesota, however, represent the farthest north this practice reached. The John Robinson Circus made its way to Duluth on June 14, 1920, for a parade and one-day performance. … Read MoreThe Duluth Lynchings (1920)
On the morning of May 15, 1916, approximately 15,000 people gathered near Waco, Texas to witness the trial and lynching of Jesse Washington, an eighteen-year-old black man charged with the bludgeoning death of Lucy Fryer. The brutal murder of Washington provided the newly formed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People … Read MoreJesse Washington (1897-1916)
