Anarchy & Amnesia in Small Town America


In 1930, three joy-riding black youths robbed a young white couple parked on Lover's Lane. One of the youths shot the white man five times while his girl friend claimed that one of the three raped her. Local law enforcement quickly located the three, interrogated them and locked them up in the county jail. The next day, the white man succumbed to his wounds. That night a mob of angry white-folks stormed the jail and removed all three suspects. They lynched two of the teens and inexplicably returned the third suspect to the jail.


County and state prosecutors began a crusade to locate, prosecute and convict the mob members who hung the two. However, they discovered the whole town had difficulty remembering details. This story also tracks the trial and subsequent life of the surviving sixteen-year old.


The author used dozens of articles from over twenty local, state and national newspapers along with several confidential depositions to reconstruct these events.


After reading this book, one needs to consider what if anything has really changed in America during the past 90 years?