Revisiting A Festival of Violence : Two Comments, A Response [Book Review]

When, more than thirty years ago, I was writing my second graduate research paper, I was strongly advised by the professor in the course, John Morton Blum, to stop trying to weigh the factors I hypothesized might have caused the phenomenon I was trying to explain. Just list all the causes for which there is any credible evidence, I was told; don’t even try to rank them, and certainly don’t waste your time attempting to reject any. It’s not the historian’s job, and it’s probably not possible, anyway. Tell a good story, with interesting characters and active verbs. If you must, explain, but above all, entertain-that was the Blumian credo. I largely ignored the adjuration, reinforcing the then-department chairman’s view of me as a rebel with too few causes

Personalizing Lynch Victims: A New Database to Support the Study of Mob Violence

The authors describe the development of a data source that facilitates the inclusion of individual victims and their characteristics in the study of lynching in the southern United States. Using an inventory of 2,800 lynch victims from 10 states between 1882 and 1930, they develop a methodological approach that allows them to locate victims in the census immediately preceding the lynching. The database will include census information on the victim and all household members. The final product will include census manuscripts, research notes, and supporting documentation used to identify each victim. The authors outline (1) steps taken to identify victims, (2) challenges encountered and solutions developed, (3) plans for publicly disseminating the database, and (4) discussion of investigations that the new database will support