The 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre
9781625858559
Regular price $21.99 Sale price $16.49 Save 25%The slaughter of newly liberated African Americans just days before a Reconstruction Era election is recounted in this true crime history.
Louisiana, 1868. With the Civil War over, a victorious Ulysses S. Grant was riding a wave of popularity straight to the White House. But former Confederates across the South feared what Reconstruction might look like under President Grant. Days before the tumultuous election, Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish descended into chaos.
As African American men gained the right to vote, white Democrats of the parish feared losing their majority. Armed groups mobilized to suppress these recently emancipated voters. Freed people were dragged from their homes and murdered in cold blood. Many fled to the cane fields to hide from their attackers. The reported number of those killed varies from 35 to 135. Though efforts were made to cover up the tragedy, its implications reverberated throughout the South and lingered for generations.
In this authoritative chronicle, historian Chris Dier reveals the horrifying true story behind the St. Bernard Parish Massacre.
The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia
9781467135658
Regular price $21.99 Sale price $16.49 Save 25%This true crime history reveals the harrowing story of a black man brutally murdered by a lynch mob in 1932 Virginia.
In 1932, a black man was found hanging on Rattlesnake Mountain in Fauquier County, Virginia. Though a mob set fire to his body, officials were able to identify him as Shedrick Thompson, who had been wanted for the abduction and rape of a local white woman. Some claimed Thompson killed himself, framing his gruesome death as the final act of a desperate fugitive. But residents knew better. Thompson had been the victim of a lynching—the last one known in Virginia.
In The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia, author Jim Hall pieces together Thompson’s life, the weeks-long manhunt to find him, and his final hours. He also details the lawless practice of lynching in Fauquier County. This true crime chronicle takes an in-depth look at Thompson’s case to expose a complex and disturbing chapter in Virginia history.