Category: Rattlesnake Mountain the Book
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Does anyone know a good recipe for crow?
Last month I predicted in this blog that the Virginia General Assembly would reject a proposed lynching resolution. Today I’m trying to decide on the best way to cook crow. Members of the state Senate passed the resolution on Wednesday, and those in the House passed it yesterday. Both votes were unanimous. I was also…
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Thank you, Mr. Baxley
I was saddened to learn last week of the passing of Henry Baxley Jr. Mr. Baxley died at his home in the Marshall area of Fauquier County. He was 88. His funeral will be held this afternoon. His obituary, posted at Fauquier Now, is here. I will always be grateful to Henry for the help…
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New evidence of a change in how Thompson case is seen
I was delighted to learn recently that an essay I wrote has been published on a website I’ve long admired. The website, Racial Terror: Lynching in Virginia, 1877-1927, is the creation of Gianluca DeFazio, an assistant professor in the Justice Studies Department at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. The site is a comprehensive, easy-to-use database,…
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Talks resume with stops in Lovettsville, Warrenton, Fairfax
I’ll be on the road again soon with book talks in Loudoun, Fauquier and Fairfax counties. Please join me. The first stop will be this Sunday, Aug. 12, at 2 p.m., when I’ll be the guest of the Lovettsville Historical Society for its monthly history lecture series. The talk will be at St. James United…
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Fauquier inscriptions pictured at new lynching memorial
Wanda Foust was looking at titles on Amazon.com when she found my book, The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia. “I had never heard about this case, so it certainly sparked my interest,” she wrote in an email. Soon she was reading this blog and saw the appeal I made for photos from the new lynching memorial…
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A surprise invitation from the Fauquier History Museum
When a friend learned that I had been invited to appear at the Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail, he wrote to say, “That is long overdue!” I appreciated his email and shared in his frustration. But my reaction to the invitation was more complicated. I was grateful, for sure. I’m happy to travel…
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Thompson’s name included on new lynching memorial
The caller on Sunday night said that I should turn on the TV and watch 60 Minutes. “Their second segment is about lynching,” she said. The caller was Martha Powers, who in February invited me to speak to her group in Fairfax County, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University. I told Martha…
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His great-grandfather witnessed a lynching. Could I help?
In his email to me, The Rev. Peter Getz said that his great-grandfather had witnessed a lynching in Farmville, Va. But later, when he wrote about the incident, he did not date the entry or provide many details. Getz asked if I could help. “I would like to share the account with you in hopes that…
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Look for me now in three parts on YouTube
Thanks to John Owens, a librarian at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, for filming my presentation there. Actually it was Jeremy Owens, John’s brother, who manned the camera for the Feb. 24 talk. So thanks to both. I wanted a recording of one of my talks, but I wanted something more than what you’d…
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Are you sure it was the last lynching?
The comment from an English teacher at Lord Fairfax Community College was one I had heard before. It went something like this: “This wasn’t the last lynching in Northern Virginia. There was another one that came later.” John Owens, a librarian at Lord Fairfax, reported the comment to me. John said that a teacher at…
Jim Hall 