Scholars have long recognized that violence has been an integral part of southern history and culture. This study deals with one of the most virulent forms of southern violence: the lynching of blacks. It examines all the recorded lynchings that occurred during the 1930's in Florida. / During the decade of the Great Depression vigilantes executed twelve black and three white victims in this southern state. These tragedies are detailed in a narrative account interwoven with a socio-economic analysis of Florida's various lynching communities, urban as well as rural. In all, this study deals with specific vigilante murders, the economic conditions of the Great Depression, the persisting frontier ethic of administering justice on a one-to-one basis outside the law, and the widespread belief that lynchers could murder their victims and go unpunished. / Governmental agencies on the federal, state, and local levels failed to identify most lynchers much less prosecute them. Manhunts, kidnappings, and carefully planned executions revealed the workings of Florida mobs at this time. The response to Florida vigilantism by the press--state, national, and black--is analyzed. Concerned groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, and the International Labor Defense are all part of the story explored in the following pages. / The Florida lynchings of the 1930's stimulated the antilynching drive of the day and in this way helped sensitize and develop the national conscience, which partially provided the groundwork for the civil rights movement of later years. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: A, page: 0467. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76022 |
| Contributors | HOWARD, WALTER THOMAS., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 406 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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