Lynching of Elwood Higginbotham
In September 1935, Elwood Higginbotham was lynched by a white mob in Oxford, Mississippi.[1][2]
Background
[edit]Elwood Higginbotham was a 29 year old African American tenant farmer.[3] He was indicted and jailed for allegedly shooting his landholder in self-defense. It appeared that a conviction was unlikely.[3]
Murder
[edit]On September 17, 1935, a mob broke into his cell and abducted him.[3] He was lynched at the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and Molly Barr Road.[3]
No one was ever prosecuted for his murder.[3] His mother and family fled Mississippi after the lynching.[2]
Legacy
[edit]After Higginbotham's lynching, NAACP Secretary Walter White wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt to call for a federal anti-lynching bill.[1]
In 2018, a plaque was placed where he was believed to have been lynched.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Elwood Higginbotham". Northeastern University Library. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ a b Gregory, Vanessa (April 25, 2018). "A Lynching's Long Shadow". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Remembering Elwood Higginbottom: Speakers call for systematic change at plaque unveiling". Oxford Eagle. October 30, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2021.