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RARE NAACP BROADSIDE
199
●
(CIVIL RIGHTS—RED SUMMER.) THE LYNCHING OF JOHN HART-
FIELD.
“John Hartfield Will Be Lynched by Ellisville Mob at 5 O’clock this
Afternoon. . . What Will You Do To Help Stop This?”
Broadside, 12 x 9 inches;
archival repair at the crease where folded; cheap newsprint paper, evenly toned.
Mississippi, 26 June 1919
[600/900]
The spring of 1919 saw the end of World War I, and the homecoming of nearly 300,000 African
American troops to what they hoped would be a transformed America. Instead, the deeply ingrained
fear of the black man as a sexual aggressor and “avenger” was only magnified by the uniform he
wore. Riots broke out across the country resulting in what would be called the “Red Summer.” One
of the worst single instances of violence took place in Ellisville, MS where John Hartfield stood accused
of raping a young white woman. The police of the town captured and held him long enough to hand
him over to a crowd of 3000. He was shot, burned and literally torn to pieces, which were then
handed out as souvenirs. This broadside was distributed across the country by the NAACP, in an
attempt to awaken the conscience of both blacks and whites.
200
200
●
(CIVIL RIGHTS.) LYNCHING—DYER BILL.
“Time to Set This Clock
Back! America’s Lynching Record.”
Pen and ink political cartoon, 8
5
/
8
x 7
3
/
8
inches,
some staining and toning. Showing Uncle Sam, pushing the hands of a clock backward
with one hand, in the other a copy of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.
Np, circa 1920’s
[600/900]
The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, an attempt to make lynching a federal crime, was named for St. Louis
Republican Senator Leonidas C. Dyer. It was raised by Dyer following the race riots in St. Louis and
East St. Louis in 1917. While the bill gained favor among Republicans, Democrats in the “Solid
South” rejected it. After more riots and the terrible “Red Summer” (s) of 1918 and 1919, the Dyer
Bill was brought up again and voted on several times through 1922, ‘23, and ‘24, each time passing
in the House, but failing in the heavily Southern Democrat Senate. Lynching was not made a federal
crime until the year 2000.