Lynching of Elwood Higginbotham

In September 1935, Elwood Higginbotham was lynched by a white mob in Oxford, Mississippi.[1][2]

Background

Elwood Higginbotham was a 29 year old African American tenant farmer.[3] He was indicted and jailed for allegedly shooting his landholder in self-defense. It appeared that a conviction was unlikely.[3]

Murder

On September 17, 1935, a mob broke into his cell and abducted him.[3] He was lynched at the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and Molly Barr Road.[3]

No one was ever prosecuted for his murder.[3] His mother and family fled Mississippi after the lynching.[2]

Legacy

After Higginbotham's lynching, NAACP Secretary Walter White wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt to call for a federal anti-lynching bill.[1]

In 2018, a plaque was placed where he was believed to have been lynched.[3]

References
  1. "Elwood Higginbotham". Northeastern University Library. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  2. Gregory, Vanessa (April 25, 2018). "A Lynching's Long Shadow". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  3. "Remembering Elwood Higginbottom: Speakers call for systematic change at plaque unveiling". Oxford Eagle. October 30, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
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