| Lynching of Roosevelt Townes and Robert McDaniels | |
|---|---|
| Part of lynching in the United States | |
 Robert McDaniels (left) and Roosevelt Townes (right) pictured prior to being lit on fire | |
| Location | Duck Hill, Mississippi |
| Date | April 13, 1937 |
| Target |
|
Attack type | Assault, kidnapping, murder, torture |
| Weapons | Blow torch, chains, guns, rope |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Victims |
|
| Perpetrators | Lynching conspirators, lynching enablers |
| Assailants | Lynch mob |
No. of participants |
|
| Motive | |
| Convictions | None |
On April 13, 1937, Roosevelt Townes and Robert McDaniels, two black men, were lynched in Duck Hill, Mississippi by a white mob after being labeled as the murderers of a white storekeeper.[1][2][3] They had only been legally accused of the crime a few minutes before they were kidnapped from the courthouse, chained to trees, and tortured with a blow torch. Following the torture, McDaniels was shot to death and Townes was burned alive.
Pictures taken, prior to Townes being lit on fire, were the first lynching photographs to be published by the national press. They were reprinted in Time Magazine and Life Magazine, and then in national newspapers.[4]
- ^ "State Lynching Stirs U.S. Action: 2 Negroes Slain By Mob, Officers Will Investigate". Jackson, MS: The Clarion-Ledger. April 14, 1937.
- ^ "Murder Charge at Duck Hill". Greenwood, Mississippi: The Greenwood Commonwealth. April 6, 1937.
- ^ "Negro is Sought as State Slayer". Jackson, Mississippi: The Clarion-Ledger. January 20, 1937.
- ^ Amy Louise Wood (February 1, 2011). "Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890-1940". Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 197.