Members of a lynch mob gather around the charred body of victim, Will Brown, a Black man, in Omaha, Nebraska. From Orville D Menard's “Lest We Forget: The Lynching of Will Brown, Omaha’s 1919 Race Riot,” "A riot-crazed mob stormed the burning Douglas County Courthouse on September 28, 1919, and lynched an African American, Will Brown. The victim, accused of raping a white woman, had no opportunity to prove his innocence." Smoke rises off of Brown's grotesque, contorted figure as the spectators smile for the camera.
Date
September 28, 1919
Notes
Correct identification of photo provided by user. [Mark D. Budka] Photo credit from Nebraska State Historical Society reads: "Spectators gathered around Brown's body, inset upper half of Omaha World-Herald front page, September 29, 1919." Formerly F8140.; Formerly X-11000245; Hand-written on negative sleeve: "Negro Stake Burning" and "Preston Porter(?)." [Preston Porter was a lynching victim in Limon, Colorado, in November, 1900.] Title supplied by cataloger.; R7110002453
Physical Description
1 photonegative : glass ; 22 x 17 cm. (8 3/4 x 6 3/4 in.); 1 photoprint ; 16 x 21 cm. (6 1/4 x 8 in.)
