Lynching of Mr Norman

Last updated
Lynching in Texarkana, Arkansas
Part of Jim Crow Era
DateFebruary 11, 1922
Location Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas
ParticipantsFour masked men claiming they were not the KKK
DeathsMr. Norman

Mr. Norman (referred to as P. Norman [1] and N. Norman [2] ) was an African-American man who was lynched in Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas by masked men on February 11, 1922. According to the 1926 report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, this was the 12th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. [3]

Contents

Background

Texarkana is a city that straddles the state border of Texas and Arkansas. The west of the city is in Bowie County, Texas and the east is in Miller County, Arkansas. It was developed at a 19th-century junction of two major railroads.

In February 1922, Deputy Sheriff J.R. Jordan of Texarkana was allegedly held at gunpoint by Norman and forced to drive several miles. At some point later, Norman was arrested and held at Ashdown, Arkansas. [2]

Lynching

Deputy Sheriff J.R. Jordan had driven to Ashdown, Arkansas to pick up Mr. Norman from their jail. On February 11, 1922, while returning to Texarkana, his car was stopped by masked men, near Spring Lake Park. They seized Norman from the car and took him away. The next day Norman's body was found with four gunshot wounds, left on a country road.

In addition to the lynching, a newspaper reported that "five white men were flogged, one white man seized and warned, and one negro notified in a note signed KKK to leave the city as a big clean-up was in progress.” [4]

Aftermath

After the lynching, Deputy Sheriff J.R. Jordan was indicted for murder of Norman by the Bowie County grand jury. He was released on a $3,000 ($46,500 in 2022) bond. [1]

On February 21, 1922, at 10:00 PM in the Four States Pressroom, four masked men burst in armed with guns. They handed a note to the men working there, Charles Nutter, Robert Lusk and the news editor. It read, "we are the four men who took the negro away from Mr. Jordan. We are citizens of Texarkana and intend to stay here. Find us. We are not K.K.K." [2]

National memorial

Memorial Corridor, National Memorial for Peace and Justice Memorial Corridor at The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.jpg
Memorial Corridor, National Memorial for Peace and Justice

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018. It is devoted to the history of lynchings in the United States and memorializing the victims. The Memorial Corridor features 805 hanging steel rectangles, each representing a county where a documented lynching has taken place. Each rectangle is incised with the names of lynching victims in that county. [5] The memorial hopes that communities, like Miller County, Arkansas where Mr. Norman was lynched, will take these slabs and install them in their own communities.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of James Harvey and Joe Jordan</span>

James Harvey and Joe Jordan were two African-American men who were lynched on July 1, 1922, in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. They were seized by a mob of about 50 people and hanged while being transported by police from Wayne County to a jail in Savannah. Investigations by the NAACP showed that the police involved were complicit in their abduction by the mob. Twenty-two men were later indicted for the lynching, with four convicted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Will Bell</span>

Will Arthur Bell was lynched by a mob in Pontotoc County, Mississippi as the local sheriff tried to move him to prevent the lynching. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 6th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching in Florence County, South Carolina</span>

Two Black men were Lynched in Florence County, South Carolina near the border with Williamsburg County, South Carolina for allegedly having relations with a white woman. The news did not reach the national media until January 8, 1922, and so is recorded as the first lynching of 1922 in America. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary there were 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Will Jones</span>

Will Jones was an African-American man who was lynched in Ellaville, Schley County, Georgia by a white mob on February 13, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 13th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of William Baker</span>

William Baker was an 18-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Monroe County, Mississippi by a white mob on March 8, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 14th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Alex Smith</span>

Alex Smith was a 60-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi by unknown attackers on March 22, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 19th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of William Byrd</span>

William Byrd was an African-American man who was lynched in Brentwood, Wayne County, Georgia by a mob on May 28, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 31st of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

Jim Early was a 25-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Plantersville, Grimes County, Texas, by a mob on May 17, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 24th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Joe Winters</span>

Joe Winters was a 20-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas by a mob on May 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 27th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Hullen Owens</span>

Hullen Owens was an African-American man who was lynched in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas by a white mob on May 19, 1922. According to a 1926 report by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, this was the 26th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of Robert Collins</span> Racial lynching in Mississippi

Robert "Bob" Collins was an African-American man who was lynched in Summit, Pike County, Mississippi by a mob of about 100 people on June 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 32nd of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of George Gay</span>

On December 11, 1922, George Gay was lynched in Streetman a town that straddles the border of Freestone and Navarro counties in Texas. He allegedly assaulted a young girl. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 60th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of John West</span>

John West was a 50-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Guernsey, Hempstead County, Arkansas by a group of men on the Hope-Texarkana train on July 28, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 41st of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynchings of Mer Rouge, Louisiana</span>

Filmore Watt Daniels [sic] and Thomas F. Richards [sic] were lynched near Mer Rouge, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana by black robed Ku Klux Klan members on August 24, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary they were the 47th and 48th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. There were five lynchings in the state of Louisiana and of the 61 lynchings they were 2 of 6 white victims.

Oscar Mack was an African-American World War I vet. An attempt was made to lynch Oscar Mack in Kissimmee, Osceola County, Florida. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 39th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. The New Britain Herald reported that he was lynched in Lake Jennie Jewell, in Orange County.

Bayner Blackwell was an African-American man who was lynched in Swansboro, Onslow County, North Carolina by a group of men on August 6, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 44th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of John Glover</span>

John "Cockey" Glover was a 35-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Holton in Bibb County, Georgia by a mob of 300 white men on August 2, 1922. It was the 43rd of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynching of John Harrison</span> 1922 lynching in Arkansas

John Henry Harrison was a 38-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Malvern, Hot Spring County, Arkansas, by masked men on February 2, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 10th of 61 lynchings in America and 1 of 5 lynchings in the State of Arkansas during 1922.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Omaha Daily Bee, February 27, 1922, p. 1.
  2. 1 2 3 The Columbia Evening Missourian, March 1, 1922, p. 6.
  3. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, p. 17.
  4. Arizona Republican, February 14, 1922, p. 1.
  5. Robertson 2018.
Bibliography