Lynching postcard

A lynching postcard is a postcard showing a lynching. Lynchings are extrajudicial killings, and are often driven by racial hatred. Like other postcards, these postcards were intended to be souvenirs. These postcards often had racist texts written on them. Lynching postcards were popular in the United States, and the US Postal Service was forbidden from distributing them in 1908.

Postcard of a lynching of a black American, in a wheelchair, aeound 1900. Victim and location are unknown. Hand-colored photograph

File:Lynching of Laura Nelson, May 1911.jpg

Lynching of Laura Nelson,in Okemah,Oklahoma, May 1911. Nelson was held in a local prison for her involvement in killing a sheriff, when a mob freed both her and her son; both were lynched. Both were held in connection with a killing of a sheriff. Allegedly, she was raped as well.

Colored postcard of a lynching in Kentucky. It shows the lynching of Virgil, Robert and Thomas Jones, and Joseph Riley on July 31, 1908, in Russellville, Kentucky

Background

Many lynchings had a racist background. White racists used them as propaganda. Lynchings were most common between the 1880s and the 1940s. At first, they were used to intimidate African Americans, who had more rights after the civil war. Later they were also used to intimidate voters and civil rights workers, independently of their race. The common practice was that a mob would force them out of their homes, or from prison cells, and then murder them. This happened without a trial.

Like with other events of the time, postcards were made about the event. Often, the people taking the photographs were those killing the victims.

In a typical lynching postcard, the victim is displayed prominently at the center of the shot, smiling spectators, often including children, are at the margins of the frame. Facial expressions suggesting remorse, guilt, shame, or regret are rare.

Sources

• Allen, James; Littlefield, John (2018) [2000]. Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America. Twin Palms Publishers. ISBN 978-0-944092-69-9. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
• Young, Harvey (2005). "The Black Body as Souvenir in American Lynching". Theatre Journal. 57 (4): 639–657. doi:10.1353/tj.2006.0054. JSTOR 25069734. S2CID 129940032.