Joe Smith was an African-American man who was lynched by a mob in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on July 7, 1927.
The Decatur Daily reported that Joe Smith attempted to "attack" a "young white girl" on July 6, and when discovered by the father, used the girl as a shield to protect himself from the father's gun. Smith was captured and "spirited away" by a group of men after the girl had identified him; Sheriff W. T. Shirley and his deputies attempted to find him, but said he was likely to be lynched. Soon after, the bullet-riddled body was found hanging from a tree, some 17 miles (27 km) from Yazoo City.
John R. Steelman, who wrote his PhD dissertation on "mob action in the South", listed Joe Smith as one of the cases, and phrased it thus: "Joe Smith is alleged to have 'attempted to attack a young white girl'. On July 7 his body, 'full of hot lead', was found hanging to the limb of a tree."
References
- "The Law's Too Slow". Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life. January 1928. p. 19. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- "Negro Is Spirited Away After An Attempted Attack". Decatur Daily. July 7, 1927. p. 1. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- Steelman, John R. (1928). A Study of Mob Action in the South (PhD). University of North Carolina. p. 268.
External links
32°51′23″N 90°24′27″W / 32.85639°N 90.40750°W / 32.85639; -90.40750
Categories:- 1927 in Mississippi
- 1927 murders in the United States
- Deaths by person in Mississippi
- History of Yazoo County, Mississippi
- July 1927 events in the United States
- Lynching deaths in Mississippi
- Murdered African-American people
- People murdered in Mississippi
- Race-related controversies in the United States
- Racially motivated violence against African Americans
- Yazoo City, Mississippi