Research Catalog
Lay this body down : the 1921 murders of eleven plantation slaves
- Title
- Lay this body down : the 1921 murders of eleven plantation slaves / Gregory A. Freeman.
- Author
- Freeman, Gregory A.
- Publication
- Chicago : Lawrence Hill Books, [1999], ©1999.
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1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Request in advance | HV6534.J36 F74 1999 | Off-site |
Holdings
Details
- Description
- xviii, 195 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles; 24 cm
- Summary
- "The John S. Williams plantation in Jasper County, Georgia, was operated largely with the labor of slaves. This may not come as a surprise, except that the year was 1921, fifty-six years after the conclusion of the Civil War. Williams was not alone in using "peons" - poor blacks bailed out of local jails, forced to work under threat of whippings, locked up at night, and chased down by bloodhounds if they tried to escape.
- But Williams's reaction to a federal investigation was almost unbelievable."--BOOK JACKET. "Williams decided to destroy the evidence. He resolved to kill eleven black men who could testify to the situation on the farm - a farm that would have been considered inhumane even when slavery was legal. To do the job, Williams enlisted the aid of his trusted farm boss, twenty-seven-year-old Clyde Manning, a poor, scared black man, just like those he was told to kill."--BOOK JACKET.
- "As this true story unfolds, each detail seems more shocking: a young man forced to methodically kill his friends; his calm, unresisting compliance; men chained together, two by two, weighted down with rocks, and slowly driven to the bridges where they would be thrown over, alive and terrified; men ordered to dig their own graves."--BOOK JACKET.
- "The surprises continued in the aftermath, as even a bigoted rural community found that it could not overlook such a heinous crime. A sensational trial ensued, with the entire state gripped by the details revealed in each day's testimony. The trial galvanized national attention and marked a turning point in the treatment of black Americans. Clyde Manning and his fellow peons can truly be said to be the last victims of American slavery."--BOOK JACKET.
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-195).
- ISBN
- 1556523572
- 1556523548
- LCCN
- 99023182
- OCLC
- ocm41118493
- Owning Institutions
- Columbia University Libraries