Lynching in the United States: A Conversation with Dr. Deborah Barnes

Join McGirt-Horton Library for a presentation by Dr. Deborah Barnes and learn about her work on the history of lynching narratives in the United States.

The 1893 lynching of Henry Smith in Paris, Texas was “one of the first blatantly public, actively promoted lynchings of a southern Black by a large crowd of southern Whites,” according to historian Grace Elizabeth Hale. Dr. Barnes’s research identifies and critiques the ways lynching narratives were used to justify mob rule, push political agendas, and cement racial hierarchies in the United States by distorting reality and playing into popular imagination.

Deborah Barnes is  the visiting research fellow at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, and an adjunct professor of African American and African Diaspora studies at UNCG. She is highly active with food and racial justice organizations here in Greensboro.

Registration is not required for this event. Please feel free to reach out to John Serrano with any questions or call us at 336-373-5810