The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP

By Patricia Bernstein

Book Overview

Patricia Bernstein, who holds a degree in American studies from Smith College, has managed her own public relations firm in Houston for the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in Smithsonian Magazine, Texas Monthly, Cosmopolitan, and other magazines. The First Waco Horror is her second book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585445444
• ISBN13: 9781585445448
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

First-Rate 'Horror'

With The First Waco Horror, Patricia Bernstein delivers a fascinating and mortifying slice of Texas - and American - history with a meticulously researched look at the 1916 lynching, in Waco, Texas, of Jesse Washington, a retarded seventeen-year-old black boy. While lynchings were not uncommon at the time, this one was particularly galling - as many as 15,000 people, including the mayor and chief of police - stood by and watched as Washington was beaten, burnt and hung in Waco's town square. Due to the efforts of the fledgling NAACP and, in particular, a brave woman by the name of Elisabeth Freeman, the details of the lynching made headlines around the world, tarnished the image of Waco as an enlightened, cosmopolitan city (which, as Bernstein shows, was somewhat illusory from the start), and helped generate increasing support for anti-lynching sentiment and legislation. The First Waco Horror is an engaging, well-written book filled with complex characters that run the gamut from inspirational to repellent, as well as personal recollections and anecdotes that inject an extra element of emotional resonance. Like a modern Elisabeth Freeman, Bernstein excavates the details of a truly horrifying incident in our recent past and demonstrates that a small group of principled, dedicated people can stand up to the ignorance and passivity of mob mentality to foster change and evolution.