Lynchings in Mississippi: A History, 1865-1965

Lynching occurred more in Mississippi than in any other state. During the 100 years after the Civil War, almost one in every ten lynchings in the United States took place in Mississippi. As in other Southern states, these brutal murders were carried out primarily by white mobs against black victims. The complicity of communities and courts ensured that few of the more than 500 lynchings in Mississippi resulted in criminal convictions.

This book studies lynching in Mississippi from the Civil War through the civil rights movement. It examines how the crime unfolded in the state and assesses the large number of deaths, the reasons, the distribution by counties, cities and rural locations, and public responses to these crimes. The final chapter covers lynching’s legacy in the decades since 1965; an appendix offers a chronology.

The late Julius E. Thompson was the director of the black studies program and a professor of history at the University of Missouri, Columbia.