Today's post was written by Daniella Furman, archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born into slavery on July 16, 1862, and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. She held a career as an educator and later a journalist chronicling the African American experience in the early 1800’s. Her work … Continue reading The Honorable Agitator
Lynching remains one of the most disturbing and least understood atrocities in American history. Defining the act of lynching is also controversial and for the purpose of the blog series, lynching is defined as the killing of women who were: 1) tortured, mutilated, burned, shot, dragged, raped, and/or hung, 2) accused of an alleged or … Continue reading Lynching of Women in United States Blog Series: The Lynching of Mrs. Mary Turner and Her Family
Lynching remains one of the most disturbing and least understood atrocities in American history. During the Postbellum and Reconstruction periods, mob violence in the south became a tool for maintaining the racial order. African American men, women, and children now comprised the majority of victims of lynch mobs and lynchings became increasingly sadistic in nature. … Continue reading Lynching of Women in United States Blog Series: The Lynching of Mrs. Kate Browning
Happy Black History Month! This year the Rediscovering Black History blog at the National Archives would like to highlight select posts from the past. This public blog was created to inform researchers, scholars, students, and anyone interested in records related to African-American history at the National Archives and Presidential Libraries on the vast amount of … Continue reading Black History Month 2017: Blogs Related to the Post-Reconstruction Era
This is the second blog post on a series of blogs on the lynching of women in the United States. Lynching remains one of the most disturbing and least understood atrocities in American history. During the Postbellum and Reconstruction periods, mob violence in the South became a tool for maintaining the racial order. African American … Continue reading Lynching of Women in United States Blog Series: The Lynching of Belle Hathaway
Today's blog is written by Netisha Currie, Archives Specialist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland There are many episodes of disappointment in American history when disparate groups of citizens seek out the interference of help from the Federal Government and are turned away because there is no way … Continue reading When the Government Can’t Help
Today's blog post is by Tina L. Ligon. 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of several significant events regarding the modern Civil Rights Movement. The year 1963 witnessed the murder of Mississippi activist Medgar Evers, the forced desegregation of the University of Alabama, the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs (MOW), the death of … Continue reading Remembering 1963 through NARA Records
Ida B. Wells was among many individuals whose letters bombarded the Department of Justice demanding Federal help to fight racial violence. These letters are found among Year Files, 1884 1903 (National Archives Identifier 578368) located in RG 60, General Records of the Department of Justice (DOJ). This file consists of many letters, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and telegrams … Continue reading Ida B. Wells-Barnett Takes Crusade Against Racial Violence to the President
