The anti-lynching work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is carried on as a part of the activities of the Association under the direction of the Association's Anti-Lynching Committee, whose names appear elsewhere. This work was made possible in the beginning through an initial contribution of $1,000 made by Mr. Philip G. Peabody, of Boston, Mass., in the fall of 1916, toward a fund of $10,000 to be used in a vigorous campaign against the lynching evil. The Associa

An increased executive and clerical staff has permitted the Association to devote more time and thought to its Anti-Lynching work and to conduct a more energetic campaign for legal trial of Negro alleged offenders, than in any previous year of the Association's history. Lynching is rapidly becoming a national issue. Under the stress of war time, mob violence has menaced communities heretofore relatively immune. Four white men were lynched in 1918. And yet, when all the facts are summed up, and w

The records show that from 1885 to 1917, both inclusive, approximately 3,740 lynchings have occurred in the United States. Two thousand seven hundred and forty-three (2,743) of this number have had colored persons as victims and nine hundred and ninety-seven (997) have been white. The relative percentages of white and colored victims for the 33 years covered is 26 per cent, white; 74 per cent, colored. Assuming that the record for the earlier years is less accurate than for the later period, bec

During 1918 lynchings have occurred in the following states: [5]...

Five of the Negro victims have been women. Two colored men were burned at the stake before death; four Negroes were burned after death; three Negroes, aside from those burned at the stake, were tortured before death; in one case the victim's dead body was carried into town on the running board of an automobile and thrown into a public park where "it was viewed by thousands;" one Negro victim was captured and handed to the officers of the law by Negroes themselves. A mother and her five children

Our records show the following number of cases of lynchings of Negroes in which the victim was taken from officers or jails:...

In three cases of which we have record the press has spoken of the innocence of victims; one of these involved three persons, another the ten victims of Brooks and Lowndes Counties mobs (aside from the one person who shot the white farmer which was the incentive to the lynchings). In another case it is the common belief in the community in which a Negro was lynched for "killing a white woman" that the husband of the woman was himself the murderer. No charge has been brought against him, however,

Governor Thomas W. Bickett of North Carolina ordered the sheriff to investigate one case, but the sheriff reported that the "guilty parties could not be ascertained." The Governor in another case personally appealed to a mob at midnight and prevented the lynching of a man who was later hanged. The same Governor in November appealed to the Federal authorities and secured the support of a tank corps of 250 Federal army men to assist the authorities of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in holding the

The following tables summarize the action taken in specific cases by the Association: Special investigations by a member of the staff have been made of lynchings at Fayetteville, Ga., Brooks and Lowndes Counties, Ga., Estill Springs, Tenn., Blackshear, Ga., and of race riots and disturbances at Camp Merritt, N. J., Brooklyn, N. Y. and Philadelphia, Pa. [11] Memoranda were prepared and sent to the President of the United States, to the Attorney General of the United States and to the executive co

The following examples of results following publicity sent out by the Association and telegrams addressed to Governors and Chambers of Commerce are reviewed: On November 9, telegrams of inquiry and appeal for legal action in the case of the lynching of George Taylor at Rolesville, near Raleigh, N. C., were sent to Governor Bickett of North Carolina, to the County Solicitor of Wake County and to the Chamber of Commerce of Raleigh, of which that to the Governor was acknowledged. The Governor said

The most notable events affecting the anti-lynching campaign, aside from the Association's efforts, have been the President's July 26 pronouncement against lynching, the formation of the Tennessee Law and Order League to suppress lynching in March, and its announced campaign to stimulate the organization of similar movements in all the Southern states and the offer of The San Antonio Express heretofore mentioned. [13] The latter offer is, of course, of scant promise for effective service in the

January 17—Hazelhurst, Miss., Sam Edwards, burned to death; charged with murder of Bera Willes, seventeen-year-old white girl. Jan " ary 26—Benton, La., Jim Hudson, hanged; living with a white woman. February 7—Fayetteville, Ga., "Bud" Cosby, hanged; intent to rob and kidnapping. Febr " ary 12—Estill Springs, Tenn., Jim McIllheron, burned; accused of shooting to death two white men. G. W. Lych, who hid McIllheron, was shot to death. Febr " ary 23—Fairfax, S. C., Walter Best, hanged; accused of m

The Association has in preparation a pamphlet, which will appear in April, 1919, entitled, "Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1918," which can be secured from the secretary. "The bodies of the dead Negroes," testified an eye-witness, "were thrown into a morgue like so many dead hogs." Ibid., page 4. See page 18 for chronological list of name, place, date and alleged cause of lynchings for 1918. Nothing came of this request in the way of legal action. Four of the lynched victims