Duluth Lynchings

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The lynchings of Duluth ( English Duluth lynchings ) were a crime in June 1920 in Duluth (Minnesota) was committed jointly. After several black circus workers were accused of raping a white girl, three of them were lynched by an angry mob . These allegations were later found to be untrue.

Course of events

The three lynched and the crowd around them

On June 14, 1920, 19-year-old Irene Tusken and her 18-year-old friend James Sullivan met in the evening at John Robinson Circus , who stopped in Duluth for a day. They walked along the back of the big top and watched the black circus workers who were busy packing up the tent and their equipment. What happened next is not exactly known. Tusken and Sullivan later testified that six black circus workers forced them into an empty ambush and raped Tusken while Sullivan was threatened with a gun. However, it was later found that these claims were untrue. Tusken returned to her parents' house in the evening but did not tell her parents about such an incident.

Her friend Sullivan showed up at his place of work at the port around midnight. There he told his father, a foreman, about the alleged incident around two in the morning. The latter notified the Duluth police , which promptly arranged for the circus to interrupt its departure. In the course of further investigations at the circus, which was ready to leave at Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railyard , six black workers were arrested and taken to the city jail in the police station for further investigation. The next morning, doctor David Graham examined the alleged rape victim Irene Tusken. He could not find any traces of rape or other violence on her. However, various rumors were already circulating among the city's population that Tusken had been murdered. The Duluth Herald headlined in its edition: "West Duluth Girl Victim of Six Negroes" (German: Girls from West Duluth victims of six negroes).

On the evening of June 15, 1920, a mob formed in Duluth. By 8:40 p.m., up to ten thousand people had gathered in front of the prison at the police station and stormed it. The police officers, who had been instructed not to use their firearms , had nothing to counter them and let the angry crowd flow. This made its way to the prisoners and found three of them - Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie - guilty in a mock trial and took them to the intersection of First Street and Second Avenue East. Despite the objections of Pastor William Powers, the crowd would not be deterred from hanging the three men from a street lamp .

The Minnesota National Guard reached the city the next morning . She was supposed to ensure the safety of the rest of the inmates and circus workers. Many blacks did not dare to take to the streets at first.

Consequences and reactions

Although lynching had occurred earlier in the northern states (at least 219 people were lynched between 1889 and 1918), the gruesome killing of the three blacks caused a sensation and outrage across the country. Many were shocked that such an act could have happened in Minnesota, one of the northern states. Organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), American Civil Liberties Union and the United Negro Improvement Association condemned the events and demanded that Governor Joseph Burnquist punish those responsible.

Identifying those responsible for the lynchings turned out to be difficult. Two days later, on 17 June 1920 the rising Grand Jury to Judge William Cant 37 times indictment - in 25 cases for disturbing the peace and twelve times for murder first degree. Of these, however, only three were convicted of disturbance and spent almost fourteen months in prison before they were released on parole in March 1923.

Seven of the black circus workers were investigated for rape. Five people were dropped and the other two were charged. One was acquitted, the other was sentenced to a prison term of seven to thirty years despite insufficient evidence. A subsequent appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court was dismissed. He was serving his sentence in Stillwater State Prison . In 1925 he was released on condition that he leave the state.

As a further consequence, many black people left the city. As the population of Duluth grew, the number of blacks fell 16 percent. Those who remained in the city founded a local branch of the NAACP in September 1920. The civil rights activist Nellie Francis initiated a bill to protect people from lynch mobs.

memorial

Duluth Lynchings Memorial

For a long time, the incidents were considered an unpleasant chapter in the history of the state and were largely suppressed in public life. More than 80 years later, on October 10, 2003, a memorial with three bronze statues , which represent the lynched blacks, was inaugurated. It is located near the place where the three circus workers were hanged. Several thousand people attended the inauguration ceremony.

reception

The first verse of Bob Dylan's song Desolation Row with the line They're selling postcards of the hanging refers to the Duluth lynchings.

literature

  • Michael W. Fedo: The Lynchings in Duluth . Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-87351-386-9 .

Web links

Commons : Duluth Lynchings  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files