Beschreibung:

Silver gelatin photograph with the typed caption on verso Lynching at Marion, Indiana - - Year 1930, depicting the lynching of African Americans Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, which took place on August 7, 1930, 4.75 x 6.5 in. Shipp and Smith had been arrested and charged with robbing and murdering a white factory worker and raping his girlfriend. The night of the lynching, with the cooperation of police officers, a large crowd broke into the jail with sledgehammers, beat the two men, and hanged them. Studio photographer Lawrence Beitler is credited with taking the picture of the dead bodies hanging from the tree, surrounded by a crowd of spectators. Condition: Very light toning to photograph; verso includes residue from paper clip previously attached to photo.