Personalizing Lynch Victims: A New Database to Support the Study of Mob Violence

Abstract

The authors describe the development of a data source that facilitates the inclusion of individual victims and their characteristics in the study of lynching in the southern United States. Using an inventory of 2,800 lynch victims from 10 states between 1882 and 1930, they develop a methodological approach that allows them to locate victims in the census immediately preceding the lynching. The database will include census information on the victim and all household members. The final product will include census manuscripts, research notes, and supporting documentation used to identify each victim. The authors outline (1) steps taken to identify victims, (2) challenges encountered and solutions developed, (3) plans for publicly disseminating the database, and (4) discussion of investigations that the new database will support.