Descriptive Summary
Administration Information
History
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Mob Violence in America, 1839-1892 [Schwendemann Manuscript],
Dates: 1839-1892
Collection Number: DHS.049
Creator:
Schwendemann, Glen
Collector:
Schwendemann, Glen
Extent:
3 boxes
(1.25 linear ft)
Repository: California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives and Special Collections
Archives & Special Collection
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3013
URL: http://www.csudh.edu/archives/csudh/index.html
Abstract:
A compilation of primary source accounts of mob violence (lynchings and murder) of “Whites”
and “Blacks” in the United States from the 1840s to 1890s. Intended as the basis of a manuscript, the material was researched
and compiled by Glen Schwendemann.
Language: Collection material is in English
Administration Information
Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Title of item], GLEN SCHWENDEMANN MANUSCRIPT - U.S. MOB VIOLENCE,1839-1892, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special
Collections. University Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills
Acquisition Information
The materials were donated to the California State University Archives at California State University,
Dominquez Hills, by Glenn Schwendemann in 2008.
Processing Information
Materials processed by Patricia Mannix, 2010.
History
Intended as the basis of a manuscript on U.S. mob violence from the 1840s to 1890s but unpublished,
the material was researched, collected, and edited by Glen Schwendemann over four decades (ca. 1960-2000).
The data was collected from newspapers, dating from the mid to late nineteenth century, in the form of
microfilm and then transcribed by Schwendemann. The intended title of the manuscript was:
Mob Violence in America, 1839 – 1892. Schwendemann’s interest in and committed research on
the subject was inspired by his Master’s thesis (University of Oklahoma, 1957) on nineteenth century
African-American migration from the South.
Scope and Content
The manuscript consists of primary source accounts of mob violence in the United States from 1840 to 1899.
“Lynching” is understood as an event in which a person alleged to have committed a crime or offense is
arrested and murdered (typically, hanged) by a mob; when the person is not arrested, but hanged or executed
in some other manner by a mob, it is considered “murder.” Mob violence of the latter sort is often associated
with the western part of the United States in the post-Civil War period. The events of mob violence documented
largely took place in the mid-West and the South, and to less degree, in the West and Southwest. The material
is divided into two main categories of persons (primarily men) lynched or murdered: “Blacks” and “Whites.”
Latino, Native American, and Asian men are included in the sections on Whites lynched or murdered. There are
also several accounts of the lynching of women in the two main categories. Notes indicate that two sections
on mob violence – titled “Lynching of Black People” and “Murder of Black People” - were meant to be part of
the material; these are not included in the collection, although an index of names titled “Blacks not
Arrested but Killed by Mobs” is. The bulk of the material therefore is centered on “lynching” and “murder” of
“Whites.”
The manuscript material comprises three series. Series I consists of the Introduction where the terms and
methodology employed in the research and collection of data are laid out. It also contains the primary and
secondary sources of the data and the numbers of persons lynched and murdered by mob actions by race and by
year, intended as appendices of the manuscript. Series II includes documented accounts of the lynchings of
and the murder of Whites (1840-1892). Series III consists of three indices: Whites murdered by mob violence
(1840-1892), Blacks murdered by mob violence (1840-1892), and names of the dead (1866-1965).
Arrangement
Arranged in three series:
- Series I. Introduction, Sources, and Persons Lynched/Killed by Mobs by Race and Number.
- Series II. Lynchings of Whites, and Whites not Arrested but Killed by Mobs.
- Series III. Indices.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Hangings--Arizona--1880-1890.
Lynching--California—History.
Lynching—Georgia.
Lynching--Kentucky--History.
Lynching--Louisiana--New Orleans.
Lynching--Mississippi.
Lynching--Missouri--History.
Lynching--Montana--History--19th century.
Lynching--North Carolina.
Lynching--Oklahoma.
Lynching--South Carolina--History--19th century.
Lynching Southern States.
Lynching--Southern States--History.
Lynching--Tennessee.
Lynching--Texas--History--19th century.
Lynching--United States.
Lynching--Virginia--History.
Lynchings--1850-1860.
Hangings--1860-1870.
Alabama--History--19th century.
Arkansas History 19th century.
Colorado--History--19th century.
Delaware--History.
Florida--History--19th century.
Idaho--History.
Indiana--History--19th century.
Illinois--History--19th century.
Kansas--History--19th century.
Maine--History--19th century.
Maryland--History.
Michigan--History--19th century.
Minnesota--History--19th century.
Nebraska--History--19th century.
Nevada--History.
New Mexico--History--19th century.
Ohio--History--19th century.
Oklahoma--History--19th century.
Oregon--History--19th century.
Pennsylvania--History.
Utah--History--19th century.
West Virginia--History.
Wisconsin--History--19th century.
Wyoming--History--19th century.