Lynching a Corpse: The Stories
The newspaper the News & Observer has a long history going back to the American Civil War. It is still printed today, but much has changed over the years of its history. What the politics of the newspaper were in 1933 has not been covered by this research due to time restraints. It is, however, noteworthy that the News & Observer’s own webpage states that by the turn of the century, it had “helped lead a vicious, racist campaign to reclaim the legislature from a Republican coalition, and its efforts helped bring about the disenfranchisement of black voters” ("The News & Observer - Company History"). It is important to keep in mind that the political platforms were different back then as compared to today. Less than 35 years later, by the year 1932, the aftermath of the Great Depression had hit eastern North Carolina with full force. Nowhere else in the state were the conditions equal to or worse than they were in the eastern part of the state. Farmers, both white and black, struggled financially. The situation got worse when the agricultural production was limited by the government. They put forth policies that were initially created to improve the situation. However, these policies failed. Many African American sharecroppers became farm laborers, whereas many white farmers tried to find work in the textile industry (Newkirk 110). Vann R. Newkirk states that “[i]n this sordid environment the specter of Judge Lynch was never far from the surface” (110).
The image of the article presented in this exhibition is the second article published by the News & Observer concerning the lynching of Dock Rogers in late August, 1933. They published several articles about the lynching over the month of September 1933 and also revisited the case in April 1934. According to the News & Observer, the lynching happened on August 27, 1933 in Burgaw, North Carolina ("Negro Killed by Posse in Pender" 1). Burgaw is located in eastern North Carolina. It was a small town in 1933 and still is today.
The article reads as follows:
LYNCHING A CORPSE
In Pender county a drunken Negro who wounded a white woman was killed by deputies sheriff who went to arrest him and found him barricaded in his house. The killing of the man was apparently justified by his own part in a gun battle in which he engaged with the men who came to arrest him.
There was, however, no justification for the horrible sequel:
After Rogers had been killed, possemen put his body in a truck and started to bring it to Burgaw, the county seat. They were met on the way by several hundred citizens who took the body and placed it in the road, where scores of bullets were fired into it. The possemen finally arrived here, but shortly afterwards the badly mutilated body had disappeared. Sheriff J. T. Brown said he did not know where it was taken.
These “several hundred citizens” did no harm to the dead Negro. They could not hurt him. He was dead. But they could and they did succeed in making themselves ghoulish creatures mutilating a corpse with inhuman frenzy.
An actual lynching would perhaps have been a more serious crime, but not even an actual lynching could bring greater discredit upon the people and the [action?] than this ghastly business does. However much a lynching should be condemned, it is possible to understand the motive of vengeance and misguided public indignation behind a mass murder. It is harder to understand among normal men this mass mutilation of a corpse which could not serve as punishment to the dead but only as the expression of the most brutish instincts of the living ("Lynching a Corpse" 4).
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The importance of this article is, among other things, found in the way it conveys another layer of the lynching epidemic. This article does not exclusively report that an African American man was killed, it touches on attitudes people had about lynchings in that it treats the ways in which the deceased’s body was mutilated. Also, whether intentional or not, this article arguably gives away attitudes of the newspaper the New and Observer itself at that time. In the article, there is a poor attempt to portray the actions of the “several hundred citizens” as ethically wrong, such as for instance where it is written that “this mass mutilation of a corpse […] could not serve as punishment to the dead but only as the expression of the most brutish instincts of the living” ("Lynching a Corpse" 4). However, the article is undermining its own statements, and attitudes of white supremacy is embodied within it. Initially, the rhetoric is that “[t]he killing of the man was apparently justified by his own part in a gun battle in which he engaged with the men who came to arrest him.’ Further on, it is stated that the ‘“citizens’ did no harm to the dead Negro” ("Lynching a Corpse" 4). This statement reveals certain attitudes of the News & Observer at the time.
Who was Dock?
Finding information about who the person Dock Rogers was, turned out to be a challenging task. According to the News & Observer, he was farmer and 45 years of age (“Negro Killed by Posse in Pender” 1). He was definitely also a son. Although sources confirming who he was have not been found, it is not unlikely that he also could have been a brother and/or a husband, and/or a father, and a friend. The difficulties with finding this kind of information shed light on his position in society. The lack of information about who Dock was, indicates, and possibly also portrays, what attitudes his contemporaries had towards him and confirms what other sources are saying about the position African Americans had as second class citizens in society at that time.
What happened to Dock? The Stories
The facts are differing. In the first article published by the News & Observer on August 28, 1933, Dock Rogers’ name is incorrect. He is presented as Doe Rogers (“Negro Killed by Posse in Pender” 1). This indicates that the journalist was in a rush to get the article published, and that he did not take his time to sufficiently investigate the case. There are also differing stories about what happened prior to the killing of Dock, which was very common in cases concerning lynching. In the article from August 28, reprinted again the day after on August 29, the story being portrayed is that
“[a]fter Rogers had been killed possemen put his body in a truck and started to bring it to Burgaw, the county seat. They were met on the way by several hundred citizens, who took the body and placed it in the road, where scores of bullets were fired into it” (“Negro Killed by Posse in Pender” 1; "Lynching a Corpse" 4).
This differs from the story found in Governor John Christopher Blucher Ehringhaus’ papers that are referred to in Vann. In this version of the story, Dock was “badly wounded,” but alive when he was put in the truck. According to this version of the story, he was killed on the way to the jail in Burgaw (Ehringhaus’ papers cited in Vann 117).
The differences in the details concerning Dock’s killing say something about the investigation performed by the News & Observer at this time. Consequently, questions concerning the other details of the story arise. First and foremost, how can it be known for sure that Dock wounded the white woman? Knowing how frequent lynchings were in the South at this time, how could the News & Observer journalist know whether or not this accusation was accurate? Could Dock Rogers have been a person someone wanted out of the way? Did someone orchestrate what happened in order to “legitimize” the lynching? These questions remain unanswered.
The differing stories suggest that this is poorly researched journalism. It is fair to question whether or not the News & Observer rushed to publish the story to sell as many copies as possible. There are numerous sources available that confirm that people found entertainment in not only taking part of and witnessing lynchings, but also in documenting them. A question that arises from this is: to what extent can readers trust this article as a primary source? Was it based on facts or rumors?
This exhibition is curated by Ina Falkeid.
Suggestions for Further Research
Who was the person Dock Rogers?
Did anything happen to the people who committed the lynching? If so, then what?
References
“Lynching a Corpse.” The News & Observer, August 29, 1933, p. 4.
“Negro Killed by Posse in Pender.” The News & Observer, August 28, 1933, p. 1.
Newkirk, Vann R. Lynching in North Carolina: A History, 1865-1941. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 2009.
“The News & Observer – Company History.” http://www.newsobserver.com/advertise/market-data/article10350698.html. Accessed October 5, 2017.