Lynchings

Scope: 

Lynching is often thought of as a crime against black males. While this was often the case, it was not necessarily limited in that way. Whites, Italians, Jews, and women, both black and white, were also lynched. For the purposes of this Pathfinder, a lynching will be defined as:

  • a murder not sanctioned by local, state, or federal governments
  • an act perpetrated by three or more individuals
  • these individuals felt justified in the killing
    • Please note that lynching is not limited to hanging

Furthermore, lynchings occurred in both Appalachia and the broader American South. This Pathfinder will focus primarily on Appalachia, but will include Southern references as well. Sources dealing specifically with Appalachia are limited and the more general entries will enable the researcher to better contextualize their research and hopefully offer helpful models for investigating Appalachian lynchings.

Introductory Text: 

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. “The Red Record.” In On Lynchings. Amherst, N.Y: Humanity Books, 2002, 53-152. ASU MAIN STACKS HV6457 .W393 2002. Also available on line via Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: 

Highly Relevant:

  • Lynching--Alabama--Madison County--History.
  • Lynching--Case studies.
  • Lynching--Georgia.
  • Lynching--Georgia--History.
  • Lynching--Kentucky--History.
  • Lynching--Kentucky--History--Sources.
  • Lynching--Mississippi.
  • Lynching--Mississippi--Case studies.
  • Lynching--Mississippi--History.
  • Lynching--Mississippi--History--20th century.
  • Lynching--Mississippi--History--20th century--Juvenile literature.
  • Lynching--Mississippi--History--20th century--Sources.
  • Lynching--North Carolina Forest City.
  • Lynching--North Carolina.
  • Lynching--North Carolina--History.
  • Lynching--South Carolina--History.
  • Lynching--South Carolina--History--19th century.
  • Lynching--South Carolina--History--20th century.
  • Lynching--Tennessee.
  • Lynching--Tennessee--Case studies.
  • Lynching--Tennessee--Chattanooga--History.
  • Lynching--Tennessee--History.
  • Lynching--Virginia--History.
  • Lynchings--Georgia--1900.
  • Lynchings--Mississippi--1920-1930.
  • Lynchings--Virginia--1780.

Also Relevant:

  • Lynching.
  • Lynching Southern States.
  • Lynching--Southern States--Drama.
  • Lynching--Southern States--History.
  • Lynching--Southern States--History--20th century--Sources--Bibliography--Microform catalogs.
  • Lynching--Southern States--History--Juvenile literature.
  • Lynching--Southern States--History--Sources.
  • Lynching--Southern States--Songs and music--History and criticism.
  • Lynching--Speeches in Congress.

More General:

  • Lynchings--1780-1790.
  • Lynchings--1850-1860.
  • Lynchings--1910-1940.
  • Lynchings--1920-1940.
  • Lynchings--1920-1940.
  • Lynchings--1930-1940.
  • Lynchings--1940-1950.
  • Lynchings--1970-1980.
  • Lynchings--United States.
  • Lynchings--United States--1910-1920.
  • Lynchings--United States--1910-1970.
  • Lynchings--United States--1920-1930.
  • Lynchings--United States--1920-1940.
  • Lynchings--United States--1930-1940.
  • Lynchings--United States--1940-1950.
  • Lynching--United States.
  • Lynching--United States--Bibliography.
  • Lynching--United States--Case studies.
  • Lynching--United States--Historiography.
  • Lynching--United States--History.
  • Lynching--United States--History--1913-1921.
  • Lynching--United States--History--19th century.
  • Lynching--United States--History--20th century.
  • Lynching--United States--History--Chronology.
  • Lynching--United States--History--Exhibitions.
  • Lynching--United States--History--Juvenile literature.
  • Lynching--United States--Maps.

Related:

  • Lynching in art.
  • Lynching in art--Criticism and interpretation.
  • Lynching in literature.
  • Lynching photography
  • Lynching--Juvenile fiction.
  • Lynching--Juvenile poetry.
  • Lynching--Law and legislation--United States.
  • Lynching--Law and legislation--United States--History--1913-1921.
  • Lynching--Literary collections.
  • Lynching--Poetry.
  • Lynching--Press coverage--United States--History.
  • Lynching--Sermons.
  • Lynching--United States--Pictorial works.
  • Lynching--United States--Psychological aspects.
Clipping Files Subject Headings – W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection: 
  • Blacks - Appalachia
Library of Congress Call Numbers: 
  • HV6464
  • HV6465
  • HV6457
  • HV6481
  • E185
  • HV6250
  • HV6452
  • GN496
  • F215
  • HV6533
Books: 

Brundage, W. Fitzhugh. Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930. Illini Books ed. Blacks in the New World. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Brundage, W. Fitzhugh, ed. Under Sentence of Death: Lynching in the South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

Inscoe, John C., ed. Appalachians and Race: The Mountain South from Slavery to Segregation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001.

Tolnay, Stewart Emory. A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995.

Wright, George C. Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and “Legal Lynchings”. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990.

Guides, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries: 

Baker, Bruce E., “Lynching.” In Encyclopedia of North Carolina, edited by William S. Powell, 705-706. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. ASU SPEC APP COLL F254 .E54 2006.

Bennett, Kathy, “Lynching.” In The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, edited by Carroll Van West, 560-561. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society, 1998. ASU SPEC APP COLL F436 .T525 1998. Online access also available through ASU catalog.

Durocher, Kristina Anne, “Lynching.” In The South Carolina Encyclopedia, edited by Walter Edgar, 579-580. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2006. ASU MAIN STACKS F269 .S764 2006.

Edgar, Walter B., South Carolina: A History. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. ASU SPEC APP COLL F269 .E34 1998. Several entries; see “Lynching” in index on pg. 704.

Gifford, Carolyn, DeSwarte. “Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Century Protestant Movements in the United States: 1921-1970.” In Encyclopedia of Women, edited by Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruther, 1035. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. ASU REFERENCE BL458.E52 2006.

Hair, William, “Lynching.” In Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, edited by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, 560-561. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. ASU SPEC APP COLL OVSZ F209.E53 1989.

Lindley, Susan Hill. “The Social Gospel.” In Encyclopedia of Women, edited by Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruther,1074. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. ASU REFERENCE BL458.E52 2006.

Pfeifer, Michael J., “Lynching.” In Encyclopedia of Appalachia, edited by Rudy Abramson and Jean Haskell, 1604-1605. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006. ASU SPEC APP COLL F106 .E53 2006.

Wright, George, “Afro-Americans.” In Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by John E. Kleber, 5a. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992. ASU SPEC APP COLL F451.K413.1992

Bibliographies: 

“Blacks.” Appalachian Bibliography, Volume One. Morganton: West Virginia University Library, 1980. One entry; pg. 123. ASU SPEC APP COLL Z1251.A7 A6 1972 v.1.

Burch, John R. The Bibliography of Appalachia: More Than 4,700 Books, Articles, Monographs and Dissertations, Topically Arranged and Indexed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, (Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies 25) 2009. ASU SPEC APP COLL Z1251.A7 B87 2009. Five entries; pgs. 1635, 1677, 1705, 1717, 2076.

“Crime.” Appalachian Bibliography, Volume One. Morganton: West Virginia University Library, 1972. One entry; pg. 257. ASU SPEC APP COLL Z1251.A7 A6 1972 v.1

“Crime.” Ross, Charlotte, compiler. Bibliography of Southern Appalachia. Boone, N. C.: Appalachian Consortium, 1976. ASU SPEC APP COLL OVSZ Z1251.A7 B5x. Handful of entries; pg. 75.

Davis, Gode and James M. Fortier. “Bibliography.” American Lynching. 23 September 2010. http://www.americanlynching.com/biblio-old.html. Extensive list of entries.

“Lynching.” Jerath, Bal K. Homicide: A Bibliography. 3rd ed. Martinez, G.A.: VKJ Books International Press, 2001. ASU MAIN STACKS HV6515 .J47 2001. Many entries; see subject index pg.1366.

Moses, Norton H. Lynching and Vigilantism in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Bibliographies and Indexes in American History no. 34. Westport, C.T.: Greenwood Press, 1997. ASU MAIN STACKS Z5703.5.U5 M67 1997. Many entries; 400 page book arranged chronologically.

Abstracts and Indices: 

African American Newspapers

  • Dates covered: 1827-1988
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields primary articles from newspapers

“Part of the Readex America’s Historical Newspapers collection, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 was created from the most extensive African American newspaper archives in the United States—those of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kansas State Historical Society and the Library of Congress. African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This collection features papers from more than 35 states. African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 offers researchers valuable primary sources for such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Users can compare and contrast African American views on practically every major theme of the American past.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

America: History and Life with Full Text

  • Dates covered: 1964 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search results yield wide variety of sources

“Provides citations with abstracts to over 1,800 journals and citations to book/media reviews and dissertations. In addition to covering all key English-language historical journals, America: History and Life coverage includes selected historical journals from major countries, state and local history journals, and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities. Covers United States and Canadian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present, including Popular Culture, American Studies, Literature/Folklore, Genealogy, Women’s Studies/Gender Studies, Multicultural Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History of Science, Economics, Business, Education, Music, Art, and Law.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

American Periodic Series Online

  • Dates covered: 1740-1900
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many articles dealing with lynching, but no periodicals

“Covers over 1,100 periodicals that first begin publishing between 1740 and 1900. The journals cover three broad periods: 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America’s transition from a British colony to an independent nation; more than 900 titles from the first 60 years of the nineteenth century showcase “the golden age of American periodicals;” 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras. Deriving from the acclaimed American Periodicals Series microform collection, APS Online features over 1,100 periodicals spanning nearly 200 years-from colonial times to the advent of American involvement in World War I. Titles range from America’s first scientific journal, Medical Repository, to popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies’ Home Journal, and include coverage of literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines, and general interest magazines.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Dissertation Abstracts

  • Dates covered: 1861 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many sources not found elsewhere

“Dissertations on all academic topics accepted at accredited institutions since 1861, including dissertations from Canada, Great Britain, and Europe. Over 2.2 million dissertations and masters theses and are included in the database.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

JSTOR

  • Dates covered: from beginning of journal until two-five years ago
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search results contain articles as well as book reviews

JSTOR specializes in making available the back issues of academic journals (over 1,000) in a wide variety of humanities and social science disciplines. Issues are available both as images and as text. Searching is possible within each title and across the whole database. Journal coverage in the following areas: African American Studies; Anthropology; Asian Studies; Ecology; Economics; Education; Finance; History; Literature; Mathematics; Philosophy; Political Science; Population Studies; Sociology; Statistics.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

New York Times Historical

  • Dates covered: 1851-2004
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields primary articles

“Contains the complete paper cover-to-cover of every issue, with full-page and article images in PDF format. Includes photos, maps, graphics, advertisements, classified ads and obituaries, comics, and political cartoons”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

ProQuest Historical Newspapers

  • Dates covered: 1764 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many primary source newspaper articles

“Offers full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th Century. Newspapers include: The New York Times (1851-2004); Washington Post (1889-1990); Christian Science Monitor (1877-1991); Los Angeles Times (1908-1994); Chicago Tribune (1881-1986); Hartford Courant (1840-1984); Boston Globe (1872-1960); Atlanta Constitution (1869-2001); Amsterdam News (1922-1993); and more.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

WorldCat

  • Dates covered: Before 1000BC - present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields over 4,500 sources

“Contains over 50 million records cataloged by OCLC member libraries throughout the world: Appalachian State University Library is a member (OCLC member code=NJB). Includes records representing 400 languages. Primarily books, but also includes manuscripts, computer data files, maps, computer programs, musical scores, films and slides, newspapers, journals, sound recordings, and videotapes. WorldCat does not include book chapters or individual articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

C19 Index

  • Dates covered: 1800-1900
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields wide variety of sources

C19 Index draws on the strength of established indexes such as the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole’s Index and Periodicals Index Online to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 18.9 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Oral History Online

  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many oral histories that refer to lynching

“The collection provides access to over 287,000 pages of full-text to10,000 individuals from all walks of life. Also includes 4,500 video and audio files. Some examples from the collection: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive; Vietnam Archive Oral History Project; Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive; North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories; Civil Rights Documentation Project; Whole World Was Watching: an Oral History of 1968; and Mercury Theatre/Theatre Union Project.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Oxford African American Studies Center: The Online Authority on the African American Experience

  • Dates covered: 1400s to the present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search results contain many encyclopedia articles

“The Oxford African American Studies Center provides students, scholars and librarians with more than 8,000 articles by top scholars in the field. The core content includes Africana, which presents a powerful account of the African and African American experience, the new Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895, the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present, offers the most extensive treatment of African American history into the twenty-first century, the three-volume Black Women in America, Second Edition, and the African American National Biography ultimately offering over 6,000 biographies. In addition the Center draws on other Oxford’s titles, including the Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature and selected articles from other major reference titles. Over 1,300 images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, nearly 150 maps, and nearly 150 charts and tables. The Oxford African American Studies Center documents the field of African American Studies and Africana Studies with more than 8,000 articles, hundreds of primary source documents, images, maps, and charts and tables, covering Arts and Leisure, Business and Economics, Education and Academia, Government and Politics, History, Religion and Spirituality, and Science and Medicine.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Project Muse

  • Dates covered: 1996-present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many journal articles and reviews

“Full text access for over 430 journals representing over 100 not-for-profit publishers are currently offered in Project Muse. Journal coverage in the following areas: Classics; Cultural Studies; Economics; Education; Film, Theater and Performing Arts; History; Judaic Studies; Language; Law; Literature; Math; Music; Philosophy and Religion; Philosophy and Science; and Politics.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Academic OneFile

  • Dates covered: 1980 to present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; most results are book reviews on books about lynching

“Contains more than 11,000 academic journals, the majority in full text and peer-reviewed, and podcasts and transcripts from major news sources. Coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature, current news, and other subjects.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Academic Search Complete

  • Dates covered: 1975 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields wide variety of sources

“Provides full text for over 7,100 magazines and journals, and indexing for 4,100 more titles. Over 6,000 titles are peer-reviewed, and searchable cited references are provided for 1,300 journals. Covers a wide array of academic disciplines including biological sciences, economics, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and women’s studies.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

In the First Person

  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields a handful of oral histories that deal with lynching, that are located in Minnesota or Illinois

In the First Person contains indexes letters, diaries, oral histories, and personal narrative. You can keyword search more than 700,000 pages of full-text by more than 18,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to some 4,300 audio and video files and 30,000 bibliographic records. The index contains approximately 20,500 months of diary entries, 63,000 letter entries, and 17,000 oral history entries”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

LexisNexis Academic

  • Dates covered: 1985 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; legal case search yields many results

LexisNexis Academic covers newspapers, magazines, wire services, federal and state court opinions, federal and state statutes, federal regulations, and SEC filings such as 10-K’s, 10-Q’s, and their exhibits. Subjects covered in Academic include: top news, general news topics, and news transcripts; foreign language news; company, industry, and market news; legal news; company financial information; general medical and health topics and medical abstracts; accounting, auditing, and tax information; law reviews; federal case law; U.S. Code; and state legal research.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Literature Resource Center

  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many results

“LRC is built upon Gale’s three author resources: Contemporary Authors , offering biographical coverage of more than 120,000 modern writers; Contemporary Literary Criticism , featuring entries on all authors appearing in CLC since Vol. 95 of the print series and select profiles of authors prior to Vol. 95; and Dictionary of Literary Biography , containing more than 10,000 biocritical essays on authors and their works. Provides biographical, bibliographical, and critical content on literary figures from all time periods writing in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, journalism, and more.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Sociological Abstracts

  • Dates covered: 1952 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields deep results in field of sociology including conference and articles that were not yielded elsewhere

“The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Covers all aspects of sociology, including community development, culture and social structure, demography, human biology, environmental interactions, family and social welfare, health and medicine, law, religion, science, social psychology, group interactions, welfare services, and women’s studies.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

U.S. Congressional Series Set

  • Dates covered: 1817-1980
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields Congressional records that deal with lynching, offers helpful additional search term suggestions

“The United States Congressional Serial Set contains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports. The reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. The documents include all other papers ordered printed by the House or Senate. The Serial Set began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 may be found in the American State Papers. Upon completion, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 will contain nearly 14,000 volumes and more than 12 million pages from the original 350,000 publications, along with 52,000 maps and thousands of illustrations and statistical tables. The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is an incomparably rich, yet largely untapped collection of primary source material detailing all aspects of American history. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

African American Poetry

  • Dates covered: 1750-1900
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields the keyword in African American poems

“The contents are based upon the bibliography of William French et al, Afro-American Poetry and Drama, 1760-1975: A Guide to Information Sources. Covers nearly 3,000 poems written by African-American poets in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

African American Song

  • Dates covered: Twentieth century
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields limited sources with keyword in the lyrics of songs

“This collection features some 16,000 audio tracks of great historical recordings from Document Records. African American Song is now part of the American Song database. African American Song contains a diverse range of genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, and narratives, among others.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Ethnic NewsWatch

  • Dates covered: 1990 to present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search results contain current articles in newspapers and magazines regarding historic lynchings as well as coverage of modern day lynchings

“Provides full text access to 200 newspapers, magazines, and journals of the minority and ethnic press. Includes articles, editorials, columns, reviews, etc., and is searchable in both English and Spanish. Covers art, culture & media, business, education, health and medicine, history, international events and issues, local issues, national news and issues, politics and government, and sports from the minority and native press.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

MLA

  • Dates covered: 1926 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many results, especially international entries

“Provides over one million citations for items from more than 5,500 journals and series published worldwide. Indexes books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, bibliographies, and websites. Covers folklore, languages, linguistics, and literature.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Newspaper Source Plus

  • Dates covered: 2000 – present
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many current articles

Newspaper Source Plus provides full text coverage for 730 national & international newspapers, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Times (London), The Australian, The Toronto Star, The Irish Times and others. Full text coverage is also available for 16 North Carolina newspapers. Also included are television and radio news transcripts from ABC News, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), CBS News, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, MSNBC, and National Public Radio.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

North American Women’s Letters and Diaries

  • Dates covered: Colonial - 1950
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many diary entries

“North American Women’s Letters and Diaries (NWLD) includes the immediate experiences of 1,017 women, as revealed in approximately 150,000 pages of diaries and letters, including 7,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts. The material is drawn from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Washington Post Historical

  • Dates covered: 1887-1982
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields some sources, not as helpful as New York Times Historical

“The Washington Post has been known for its political reporting, editorials and columnists. Coverage of national, international, and local news.”
– Information provided by Appalachian State University Libraries

Women and Social Movements in the United States

  • Dates covered: 1600-2000
  • Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.
  • Use search term “lynching” or “lynchings”; search yields many sources dealing with anti-lynching campaigns

Women and Social Movements in the United States is a resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women’s history. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, this collection seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding about U.S. history generally at the same time that it makes the insights of women’s history accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools. The collection currently includes 98 document projects and archives with more than 3,850 documents and 150,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and more than 2,100 primary authors. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.”
– Information provided by Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar

American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography
Access via www.library.appstate.edu from anywhere with a patron identification or via most computers at Appalachian State University.

Websites: 

Allen, James and John Littlefield. “Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.” Twin Palms Publishers. http://withoutsanctuary.org/.

Hines, Elizabeth and Eliza Steelwater. “Project HAL: Historical American Lynching
Data Collection Project”. University of North Carolina at Wilmington. http://people.uncw.edu/hinese/HAL/HAL%20Web%20Page.htm.

“Explorations: Lynching.” Digital History: Using New Technologies to Enhance Teaching and Research. 29 October 2010. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/lynching/lynching_menu.cfm.

“Lynching and Segregation.” National Humanities Center Toolbox Library: Primary Resources in U.S. History & Literature. August 2007. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/segregation/text2/text2read.htm.

“Lynching and Violence in American Culture: An Online Collection of Essays Examining the New Lynch Mob in America.” University of Colorado/University of Dillard. 2004. http://amath.colorado.edu/carnegie/lit/lynch/home.htm.

Perloff, Richard M. “The Press and Lynchings of African Americans.” Cleveland State University. http://academic.csuohio.edu/perloffr/lynching/.

Compiled by: 

Compiler: Kristen R. Dearmin, 29 October 2010

Subject: