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The lynching of a woman in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1911. The barefoot corpse of Laura Nelson. May 25, 1911, Okemah, Oklahoma.
Grief and a haunting unreality permeate this photo. The corpse of Laura Nelson retains an indissoluble femininity despite the horror inflicted upon it. Specterlike, she seems to float - thistledown light and implausibly still.
For many African Americans, Oklahoma was a destination of hope, where they could prosper without the laws in southern states that codified racism and repression. What was to be a promised land proved to be a great disillusionment.
District Judge Caruthers convened a grand jury in June 1911 to investigate the lynching of the Negro woman and her son. In his instructions to the jury, he said, "The people of the state have said by recently adopted constitutional provision that the race to which the unfortunate victims belonged should in large measure be divorced from participation in our political contests, because of their known racial inferiority and their dependent credulity, which very characteristic made them the mere tool of the designing and cunning. It is well known that I heartily concur in this constitutional provision of the people's will. The more then does the duty devolve upon us of a superior race and of greater intelligence to protect this weaker race from unjustifiable and lawless attacks."
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This is used in the blog article "Tennessee Republicans Yearn for Days of Lore" on Truthmonk blog.
Comments and faves
german albgardis in Amerika (47 months ago | reply)
I saw this photo about a month ago for the first time, on withoutsactuary.org. I keep coming back looking at it, it is truly haunting me.
The fine (I assume white) people of Okemah have their nice historic photo gallery online, see here:
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okokfusk/photos.ht m
Of course the photo of Laura Nelson was not found there.
There was the email adress of somebody responsible, I have mailed this picture to him. (jameshcarroll@bellsouth.net)
And they even have the NERVE to post this:
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okokfusk/histories /okniofte.htm
They call it "Okemah's Night of Terror" - and they DO NOT mean the night Laura Nelson and her son were first raped and then hung! No, the "good people" of Okemah have another idea about terror.
Read for yourself, and leave a comment, if you can. I am just so disgusted by that and by them!
Actually, I am a white woman.
Recent german immigrant.
And I prefer Hillary over Obama!
But Laura Nelson keeps haunting me.
toiatoya (44 months ago | reply)
hmm i dont see where u can leave a comment on there "night of terror" story, but it is a shame. I saw that photo on flickr where someone has formed it into a comment saying "black women do not forget." or something to that effect. She is a very moving image. Thanks for your info.
* Mrs. Argento * added this photo to her favorites. (42 months ago)
wanglique (41 months ago | reply)
o my gosh that is so sad those who did us wrong gon suffer in hell ok
bley.mary, summerglow1, attentionkid, SylentThunda, and JenX 67 added this photo to their favorites.