White mobs lynched at least five Black people, including three teenagers, in Anderson County over the course of 17 years. On December 12, 1894, a mob of nearly 500 white men abducted a Black boy named Edward Sullivan from law enforcement and hanged him near Williamston after a white boy…
The history of McLennan County, like that of Texas and the nation, is marred by institutional racism sometimes manifested in violence. From 1860 through 1922, 43 lynchings were documented here. Following reconstruction, most victims were black. Jim Crow Laws and acts of violence were used to disenfranchise, segregate and impede…
On March 3, 1910, a 59-year-old Black handyman named Allen Brooks was lynched by a white mob. Mr. Brooks was accused—without evidence—of assaulting his white employer’s daughter. During a pretrial hearing for Mr. Brooks at the Dallas County Courthouse (now the Old Red Courthouse), a mob of at least 3,000…
After Reconstruction, white southerners began adopting laws and codes, known as Jim Crow laws or black codes, that affected everyday life for African Americans. One instrument of enforcement was the threat of violence as well as actual violence, including lynching. Although more often associated with rural areas, lynchings did occur…
In the late 19th and early 20th century, racial tensions near the United States – Mexico border and the lower Rio Grande Valley erupted into violence. The change from ranching to commercial agriculture and a shift in racial hierarchies led to increased discrimination against Mexican Americans and Mexicans in the…
Near this spot on May 22, 1917, a lynching party chained Ell Persons to a log, doused him in gasoline, and burned him alive. An estimated 5,000 spectators witnessed his death or viewed his remains soon afterward. Persons, a black woodcutter who lived nearby, was facing charges of raping and…