Project Overview
For our project, we are addressing a photographic image of a lynching from 1878 exhibited in the online database of Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. The image is accompanied by minimal information on the library’s website. Our goal is to present the Rose Library with a formal proposal, based on consultation with descendants and stakeholders, to include the names of the victims from this lynching and other contextualizing information in any digital display of this deeply disturbing image.
Our project involves a series of linked lynchings in Mt Vernon, Indiana, from October 9-11, 1878. Seven men were murderd in this mass killing, outside of the bounds of law or judicial proceedings, including four men hanged in a public “spectacle lynching” on October 11. A photograph taken of this event, by local white photographer Leroy William Jones, currently resides in Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, in the Robert Langmuir African American Photograph Collection.
From the 19th to 20th centuries, lynching photos were used as a form of racial terror and induced fear in the lives of black individuals. These were souvenirs for lynching events and were often used as postcards. Photographs of lynchings had a political and cultural impact by intensifying black fear and reproducing structures of white supremacy.
The particular photograph we are investigating from 1878 can be viewed at this link on the Rose Library site. However, at this moment, the image is accompanied by no information about this horrific event. We propose that the Library add the names of all the murdered victims and give proper context to this image.
Names of Victims
Jim Good
William Chambers
Edward Warner (or maybe William Edwards)
Jeff Hopkins
Daniel Harrison Sr.
Dan Harrison Jr.
John Harrison (also known to be the Harris family).
The Events of October 9-11, 1878
The precipitating events that led to the murder of the seven men remain shrouded in uncertainly. Most of the sources drawn upon by subsequent writers were journalistic accounts in white newspapers that reflected the racial biases of the era, and which must thus be read skeptically.
Some white press reports asserted that several of the murdered had been implicated in the robbery and assault of white women working at a local brothel. In some accounts, white vigilantes lynched Dan Harrison (Harris) Jr by forcing him alive into a locomotive steam engine firebox. John Harrison (Harris), his brother, was attacked at their home, where their father, Daniel Harrison (Harris) Sr., shot at the attackers and killed a white man. Daniel, Sr. was injured, and was taken to the Mt Vernon jail.
In the same time period, officers arrested Good, Chambers, Warner (Edwards), and Hopkins and took them to that same jail. On October 11, those four men were lynched by hanging at the town square before a crowd of hundreds of white onlookers. Earlier the same day, Daniel Harrison Sr. was reportedly killed and his body mutilated by white mob members, although the Harrison/Harris descendants believe his body may have been rescued by African American Masons and buried secretly.
Through the efforts of a local memorial committee in 2022, led by high school student and activist Sophie Kloppenburg, Posey County formally memorialized the seven victims of this racial terror lynching in October 2022.
Identifying and Communicating with Descendants
Aaron Bonds – Director of Actor Interpretation & Theater, Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Andre Le Mont Wilson – Poet, storyteller, author of Hauntings (Newfound Press, 2023)
Diana Daniels – Executive Director at National Council on Educating Black Children
Other Individuals Involved
Sophie Kloppenburg – High School Senior; advocate from Mt Vernon, Indiana. Ms Kloppenburg has led community efforts to memorialize the victims of the 1878 racial terror lynching,
Dr. Clint Fluker. Curator, African American Collections (Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University)
Deborah Richards -Head of Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College.
Discussions with Descendants
Our conversation with Diana Daniels:
Diana had a strong enthusiasm for our project, and she helped us guide our project toward the image. It is her wish that the victims’ names from 1878 are included in the image’s description. Diana’s family is an expansive network of people interested in this history, including Aaron, who learned about the event from her.
Our Conversation with Deborah Richards
We met with the archivist at Mount Holyoke College, to get a better understanding of the role of archives in storing history.
Our Conversation with Clint Fluker
Clint Fluker is very invested in our work and Mark’s research since the staff and resources at Emory’s Rose Library does not allow for extensive research with each item in their collections. Clint gave us information about the acquirement of the image and where it exists as part of the archive. He also emphasized the work of community engagement with the archives and how our reaching out is a significant step in accurately presenting their items.
Future Plans
The work we are doing with Emory’s Rose Library will not be finished by the end of this semester, and that approval process will move into the summer.
The David L. Rice Library (University of Southern Indiana) already has a memorial page for this event, which includes Prof. Auslander’s research and all the information that is known about these lynchings. This website is not accessible when searching on the web because of its structure, and it should be improved so researchers can use it as a resource. If people want more details about the events and descendants, this is an amazing resource with all the information presented in one location.
Every descendant that we have spoken with encouraged us that this work should not finish with the image and encouraged us to continue educating and communicating about this lynching. One idea for our project was to make a podcast in conversation with descendants and other individuals involved. This is still an option for the future, but we needed more time and resources to attempt it this semester.
In addition, due to outreach about our work with this lynching, other families have expressed interest to Professor Auslander about discovering their own family history and whether that includes other lynchings.
Resources
These are the sources we used to formulate our project, including research by Mark Auslander:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_Posey_County,_Indiana
https://markauslander.com/2020/06/22/a-new-tabernacle-remembering-lynching-in-montgomery-alabama/
https://usi.libguides.com/PoseyCoMarker
https://digital.library.emory.edu/catalog/3246q573t7-cor
This project is being completed in collaboration with Molly Brown, Erica Schwartz and Ellie Zimmerman, from Mark Auslander’s Decolonizing Museums class, Spring 2023.