"As passionate as it is disturbing, Madison's book is a dire reminder of the horrors the American heartland held for the dispossessed." - Publishers Weekly
"Conveyed in a simple, straightforward fashion, Madison's story acquires its own persuasive eloquence." - Washington Post Book World
"A piercing, provocative account of a famous lynching that will forever alter the way you see race, memory, and justice in America." - Essence Magazine
"Conveyed in a simple, straigtforward fashion, Madison's story acquires its own persuasive eloquence." - International Herald Tribune
"Through creative and meticulous research, this books reveals the complex roots and lasting significance of what happened..." - American Historical Review
With the skills of a historian and the artistry of a journalist, Madison has written more than a study of lynching....
Conveyed in a simple,straightforward fashion,Madison's story acquires its own persuasive eloquence.
International Herald Tribune
Conveyed in a simple, straightforward fashion, Madison's story acquires its own persuasive eloquence.
Washington Post Book World
This is a profoundly insightful study about race that all Americans should read.
...a piercing, provocative account...that will forever alter the way you see race, memory and justice in America...
...a piercing, provocative account...that will forever alter the way you see race, memory and justice in America...
The jacket photograph is chilling: the bloody bodies of two African-American young men hang from a tree while a crowd of white men and women mills below, dressed as if attending a parade or political rally, gawking and pointing. In this heartfelt and wide-ranging study of this tragedy, Madison explores the events of August 7, 1930, in the small town of Marion, Ind. The two men along with a third, who narrowly escaped were in jail on charges of murdering a white man and raping a white woman when a white mob stormed the jail and hung the two men from a tree outside the nearby courthouse. But Madison (a historian at Indiana University) moves beyond these stomach-churning facts, scrutinizing racial dynamics in Marion in the decades both before and after the lynching. Race was so etched into the minds of white residents that it even followed heroes into death: on a local memorial for World War I soldiers, the names of two of the dead are followed by "(col.)" for "colored." Madison probes how the lynching became a subtext in later years, including in the integration of the town swimming pool in 1954. Only recently, Madison says, has Marion come to terms with its past: the survivor of the lynching was awarded the keys to the city in 1993, and an African-American was finally elected sheriff in 1998. As passionate as it is disturbing, Madison's book is a dire reminder of the horrors the American heartland held for the dispossessed. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Madison (history, Indiana Univ., Bloomington) examines the story behind a lynching that occurred August 7, 1930, in Marion, IN, and was captured in a photograph showing a large mob of white men and women some smiling for the photographer and all gawking at the suspended corpses of two black men. With community encouragement, the mob had seized three black men who murdered a young white man and raped his girlfriend. The killers hanged Tom Shipp, 19, and Abe Smith, 18, in front of the county courthouse; for unknown reasons, James Cameron, 16, was not lynched. Cameron and most black and white townspeople continually struggled with their memories. Some sought justice, and in the 1990s they met together for remembrance and healing. Through this specific incident, Madison views our history of racial violence. A readable, well-researched history, this volume joins other recent titles (e.g., James Allen and others' Without Sanctuary, LJ 3/1/00) about America's tragic legacy of lynching. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
