Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel reports on the rise in lynchings in 1946 in data compiled by the Tuskegee Institute. The institute said six African Americans were lynched in 1946, contrasted with one in 1945.
“The offenses charged were stealing a saddle, one; stabbing a man, one; and breaking into a house, one,” according to Dr. F.D. Patterson, head of Tuskegee.
After the man was lynched for supposedly stealing a saddle, two other people confessed to the crime. The man who was lynched for stabbing a white victim was riding in a car with three other men. They were also lynched, although they had no connection to the crime. The man who was lynched for breaking into a house was killed by a mob after being released from jail for lack of evidence. His 17-year-old companion was beaten by the mob, but escaped being hanged.
Do I need to remind anyone that the Los Angeles Times editorialized against the need for a Federal Anti-Lynching Law?
The Tuskegee Institute’s tally of lynchings from 1882 to 1968.