Anatomy of a Lynching: The Killing of Claude Neal

By James R. McGovern

Book Overview

"A sensitive and forthright analysis of one of the most gruesome episodes in Florida history... McGovern has produced a richly detailed case study that should enhance our general understanding of mob violence and vigilantism." -- Florida Historical Quarterly
" McGovern] has succeeded in writing more than a narrative account of this bloodcurdling story; he has explored its causes and ramifications." -- American Historical Review
"A finely crafted historical case study of one lynching, its antecedents, and its aftermath." -- Contemporary Sociology
First published in 1982, James R. McGovern's Anatomy of a Lynching unflinchingly reconstructs the grim events surrounding the death of Claude Neal, one of the estimated three thousand blacks who died at the hands of southern lynch mobs in the six decades between the 1880s and the outbreak of World War II.
Neal was accused of the brutal rape and murder of Lola Cannidy, a young white woman he had known since childhood. On October 26, 1934, a well-organized mob took Neal from his jail cell. The following night, the mob tortured Neal and hanged him to the point of strangulation, repeating the process until the victim died. A large crowd of men, women, and children who gathered to witness, celebrate, and assist in the lynching further mutilated Neal's body. Finally, the battered corpse was put on display, suspended as a warning from a tree in front of the Jackson County, Florida, courthouse.
Based on extensive research as well as on interviews with both blacks and whites who remember Neal's death, Anatomy of a Lynching sketches the social background of Jackson County, Florida -- deeply religious, crushed by the Depression, accustomed to violence, and proud of its role in the Civil War -- and examines which elements in the county's makeup contributed to the mob violence. McGovern offers a powerful dissection of an extraordinarily violent incident.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807154253
• ISBN13: 9780807154250
• Release Date: October 2013
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

What a read!

I first learned about this book while attending college. A classmate of mine recommended it to me. I am from the area mentioned in this book and even though I've lived in this area my whole life, I never knew the history of this incident. I couldn't believe that this incident was so recent and that it was so violent. If you are interested in Southern history, this is a must read!

A Chilling Potrait of A Dark period in American history

This true and gruesome account of the systematic torture and killing of a human being as a public spectacle is an outrage to humanity. This story unveils a very hidden period in American history and is a very descriptive account of racial hatred and racial control gone too far. Even though this book is very chilling tale, it is a story that needed to be published and needs to be read by everyone. This book was required reading in a crime and political order class I took when I was an undergraduate. I thought I was a well-read American history buff, but after reading this, I am fascinated that I was completely unaware of the public and sanctioned torture of Americans from the end of slavery until the civil rights movement for the first 23 years of my life. The period in American history where racial hatred was acted upon and justified is not far behind us and this documentation is an important account of terror that is not often mentioned.