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.
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.)
Copyright restrictions applying to use or reproduction of this image available from the Western History and Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library, at photosales@denverlibrary.org.
Reproduction Available for Purchase
Yes (digital reproduction)
Related Material
Image File: ZZR711000245
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
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