Browse Exhibits (1 total)

This exhibit, curated by Paul Blom, focuses on Mississippi and the Mob, a paper book printed in 1926 and compiled by J. N. (James Nathaniel) Flowers, President of the Mississippi State Bar Association at the time of its composition in 1925. The book serves as a condemnation of lynching and mob violence and a call to local law enforcement officers to uphold their duties to protect prisoners, thereby preventing the execution of mob violence. It also calls for the Mississippi state legislature to afford powers to the governor to remove any law enforcement officials who fail to uphold their duties. Despite the book’s anti-lynching sentiment, its main concern seems to be not the loss of black lives but the threat of mob violence towards law and order in the state of Mississippi and the possible resultant intervention of the federal government into more local affairs. According to Flowers and the “prominent citizens” (35) he quotes, the ultimate victim of these lynchings is not black human beings but law and order, the very fabrics of civilized Mississippian society.

For a more thorough analysis of the context for and contents of Mississippi and the Mob, as well as a brief discussion of its public reception, enter the exhibit, where you can read the full text of the book as a .pdf, view images from the book, and learn more about this unique response to mob violence in the early twentieth century.

Navigation: This exhibit consists of two main pages. The "About" page provides an overview of the book, a physical description of the book, the current ways in which the book's contents can be accessed, its speculative provenance, a brief historical context of lynchings in general, and background information on the book and its compiler, J. N. Flowers. The "Analysis" page provides a thorough textual analysis of the book's contents, briefly touches upon responses to the book, provides a list of works cited in the exhibit, and consolidates all of the exhibit items into a single gallery for a chance to revisit any particular item of interest for further reflection and study.