The Monroe and Florence Work story and lynching map on the Plain Talk History website

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About the website…

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On these pages you will meet Monroe Nathan Work, who lived from 1866 – 1945 and felt compelled to document every known lynching that was happening in the United States during that time with whatever resources were available. Others have taken it further –– “This is an  interactive map that shows how lynching began as a form of self-appointed justice in local communities in the 1800s, when townspeople made grave accusations first, but never bothered to gather the proof.”

Go to the map choose the distinction that makes sense to you. Clicking on any of the orange dots will bring up information on the particular incident such as: “Robert Lewis Black male lynched in early Jun 1892. Port Jervis, Orange Co. New York. He was lynched in a spectacle before some 2000 people for alleged rape. When the mob discovered he was still alive, they hanged him a second time.” Or Frank Viles Native American male lynched in Aug 1896 Asotin, Washington. He was lynched after being accused of rape. This demonstrates that lynching wasn’t just a Southern phenomena. Nor did it end in the 1940s as shown by David Jackson, a Black male killed in Dec 1961 McDuffie Co. Georgia. “There exists a photograph of his death taken by members of the crowd to share proudly as souvenirs.”

Lynching is unarguably the most heinous of acts of terrorism and hate crimes. The acts themselves were bad enough but the normalization and enthusiasm of regular white Americans can not be understated. One such action that accomplished this was lynching postcards. Though the images of all the postcards etch in one’s mind the deep depravity that humans are capable of, please also remember that at  different times and places in the world, there is also beauty and joy and love.
From Wikipedia: A lynching postcard is a postcard bearing the photograph of a lynching — a vigilante murder usually motivated by racial hatred — intended to be distributed, collected, or kept as a souvenir. Often a lynching postcard would be inscribed with racist text or poems. Lynching postcards were in widespread production for more than fifty years in the United States; although their distribution through the United States Postal Service was banned in 1908, some white supremacists still distribute them today.”

Terror lynchings as a display of racial domination peaked around the 1880s through to the 1940s, and were less frequent until the 1970s, especially (but not exclusively) in the Southern United States. Do your own research please.