Lynching in the United States
An Encyclopedia
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
With a breadth greater than any previously published work, this reference volume explores the history of lynching in the United States. Ninety-three chapters authored by expert scholars document the more than 3,446 African Americans, 1,297 White Americans, and 597 Mexican Americans who were lynched in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries around the different regions of the United States, as well as the responses and strategies for combating these brutal crimes. Further chapters discuss the lynchings of women, Chinese Americans, foreign nationals, and Italian Americans, as well as the relationship between lynching and phenomena such as religion, ritual, and the death penalty, and the relation between US lynching and collective violence around the world. Cultural production surrounding lynching--photographs, plays, films, novels, poetry, and language and rhetoric--is also considered. The volume includes a comprehensive bibliography of American lynching.
Endorsements (3)
“Pfeifer’s encyclopedia sheds much-needed light on the magnitude and true horror of lynching in the United States. These facts must and should be known to help us all reckon with the grim legacy and so that, armed with the knowledge of what is possible, we can commit to stopping such brutality today. Read to learn; then commit to justice.”
“Professor Pfeifer has assembled a monumental compilation of lynching statistics, accounts, references, and thought-provoking analyses of individual cases of the lynching tragedy. There is no doubt that this tome will long serve as a standard reference for scholars and activists alike.”
“A compelling collection. May we never forget this aspect of US culture.”
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