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In the Tall Grass West of Town: Racial Violence in Denton County during the Rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan

The aim of this thesis is to narrate and analyze lynching and atypical violence in Denton County, Texas, between 1920 and 1926. Through this intensive study of a rural county in north Texas, the role of law enforcement in typical and systemic violence is observed and the relationship between Denton County Officials and the Ku Klux Klan is analyzed. Chapter 1 discusses the root of the word lynching and submits a call for academic attention to violence that is unable to be categorized as lynching due to its restrictive definition. Chapter 2 chronicles known instances of lynching in Denton County from its founding through the 1920s including two lynchings perpetrated by Klavern 136, the Denton County Klan. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between Denton County Law Enforcement and the Klan. In Chapter 4, seasons of violence are identified and applied to available historical records. Chapter 5 concludes that non-lynching violence, termed "disappearances," occurred and argues on behalf of its inclusion within the historiography of Jim Crow Era criminal actions against Black Americans. In the Prologue and Epilogue, the development and dissolution of the St. John's Community in Pilot Point, Texas, is narrated.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1703339
Date05 1900
CreatorsCrittenden, Micah Carlson
ContributorsWallach, Jennifer, Moye, Todd, Torget, Andrew
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatx, 145 pages, Text
CoverageUnited States - Texas - Denton County
RightsPublic, Crittenden, Micah Carlson, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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