Aug. 7, 1930Marion, Ind.Inscribed in pencil on the inner, gray matte: "Bo pointn to his niga." On the yellowed outer matte: "klan 4th Joplin, Mo. 33." Flattened between the glass and double mattes are locks of the victims' hair.
"Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America" was organized by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. All images courtesy of the National Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta. The exhibit is current being presented by Autograph APB, on view at Rivington Place, London, until July 30, 2011.
Suggested Reading
Aug. 7, 1930Marion, Ind.
The images from "Without Sanctuary" depict in graphic detail the brutal lynchings of as many as 4,000 black men and women between 1882 and 1968. Many of the bodies were mutilated, burned or tortured. Photographs from these incidents were turned into mass-produced postcards distributed through the mail, shared among friends and treasured in family photo albums.
The lynching of Laura Nelson and her son. May 25, 1911Okemah, Okla.Etched in the negative: "1911 copy right, g.h. farnum, okemah. okla 2897."
Collector James Allen: " 'Without Sanctuary' is an unearthing of collective mass murder, of mass-memory graves excavated from the American conscience. Part postal cards, common as dirt; souvenirs skin-thin and fresh-tattooed proud; the trade cards of those assisting at ritual racial killings and other acts of a mad citizenry. The communities' best citizens lurking just outside the frame. Destined to decay, these few survivors of an original photo population of many thousands turn the living into pillars of salt."
May 25, 1911Okemah, Okla.
May 25, 1911Okemah, Okla.
Unknown victimCirca 1900Unknown locationThe bludgeoned body of an African-American male is propped up in a rocking chair, with blood-splattered clothes and white and dark paint applied to the face and head. Also visible is the shadow of a man using a rod to prop up the victim's head.
Aug. 3, 1920Center, TexasOnlookers, including young boys
The lynching of Lige Daniels, postcard reverseAug. 3, 1920Center, Texas
July 7, 1899Fayette, Mo.
July 7, 1899Fayette, Mo.
July 19, 1935Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Reverse of photograph inscribed, "Father is 5th from right … "
Unknown victimUnknown dateGeorgiaTwo men on horseback at center of group, corpse in front of rider on the right
Collector James Allen: "I believe the photographer was more than a perceptive spectator at lynchings. The photographic art played as signifcant a role in the ritual as torture or souvenir grabbing — a sort of two-dimensional biblical swine, a receptacle for a collective sinful self. Even dead, the victims were without sanctuary."
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