Fort Valley State University

A tour-de-force in book form by a Fort Valley State University administrator covers one of America’s darkest historical periods. Dr. Vann Newkirk, interim associate vice president of the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness and a history instructor on campus, has written a comprehensive book titled “Lynching in North Carolina: A History 1865-1941.” The book explores the culture of lynching – a form of mob violence – that prospered in the “Tar Heel State” following the Civil War until the mid 1920s. More than 168 North Carolinians were murdered during this period.

“The reason I wrote this whole book was because of my grandfather’s stories about violent acts against African Americans, which I never believed to be true,” Newkirk said. “I heard about the lynching of Dock Rodgers and found out that his stories were true.”

Newkirk says that the deaths of James Byrd in Jasper, TX in 1998, and Matthew Shepard, a homosexual college student, led him to believe that lynchings never ended.

“The definition of lynching is that it has to be at the hands of two or more people for racial or sexually motivated issues,” he said. “Some of these issues that happen today which are classified as hate crimes are borderline lynchings.”

Newkirk’s book explores the reasons given by perpetrators to justify mob violence for instance, the control over sectors of the black population, the protection of wives and daughters, and the preservation of family honor. In 1893, legal attempts were made in North Carolina to deter lynching by state and local officials, but the lack of enforcement made the laws ineffective. After 1922, the number of killings decreased due to economic pressures according to Newkirk. The state stopped the violence because of the need to borrow money from northern bankers, who often disapproved of the violent acts.

Newkirk earned a doctorate in history from Howard University, a master’s degree in library science from North Carolina Central University, a master’s degree in history from Winthrop University in Rockhill, S.C., and a bachelor’s from Barber-Scotia College. He has taught courses on race, mob violence and West African history at several institutions.

The book, published by McFarland Press, is $45 and may be purchased at http://www.mcfarlandpub.com.