PLACE: Omaha, Nebraska (16th & Dodge Streets)
DATE: September 28, 1919 (a Sunday)
VICTIM: Will Brown
THE PREMISE: Will Brown allegedly abducted a white woman “for 15 minutes,” on September 25, 1919, at 11:45 PM, on the Scenic Road, about one block south of Bancroft Street. The woman could not positively identify Mr. Brown as her assailant.
THE LYNCHING: Will Brown was being held at the county jail, which was located on the top floor (5th) of the Douglas County Court House. At about 2:00 PM on Sunday, September 28, a mob of approximately 50 white males, ages 14 to 20, gathered at the Bancroft School and headed for the courthouse, a mile away.
By 4:00 PM the mob, joined by many others, reached the courthouse. They began throwing bricks at the courthouse, knocking out all of the first and second floor windows. The police began shooting to disperse the crowd but were forced to retreat to the upper floors of the building. The mob, after unsuccessfully attempting to lynch the mayor of Omaha, who tried to talk sense into them, made it to the fifth floor where Will Brown was being held. The rest of the story, I’ll quote from the historical record:
“The mob then turned to the Court House and attempted to obtain Brown, the negro. This attempt succeeded and the negro was taken across the street to the corner of 18th and Harney Streets. A rope was placed around his neck, the body drawn up and riddled with bullets by the mob. The body was afterward cut down and pulled through the streets on the end of a rope to 16th and Dodge, where it was burnt. The mob then broke up in gangs of about 100 and commenced breaking into hardware stores and pawn shops.”
My Thoughts: Will Brown was ‘just another nigger’ to that mob. He didn’t matter to them. He was nameless and soon-to-be faceless, thanks to their savagery. Hundreds of thousands have seen the image of his burned, mutilated body, but probably had no idea who he was. Its easy to ignore his murder when he’s nameless and faceless. Well… now he isn’t. At least, not to you. I have thoughts about why it matters NOW, but I’ll leave it up to you decide whether or not you needed to know this. Maybe we’ll talk about that next time. Just know that, in my world, every month is black history month. Cathedral. Chuuch. Izm.
Source: Correspondence of The Military Intelligence Division Relating to “Negro Subversion,” 1917 - 1941, Roll 6, Microfilm Publication M1440, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
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