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The Resource Murder on Shades Mountain : the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham, Melanie S. Morrison

Murder on Shades Mountain : the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham, Melanie S. Morrison

Creator
Author
Summary
"One August night in 1931, on a secluded mountain ridge overlooking Birmingham, Alabama, three young white women were brutally attacked. The sole survivor, Nell Williams, age eighteen, said a black man had held the women captive for four hours before shooting them and disappearing into the woods. That same night, a reign of terror was unleashed on Birmingham's black community: black businesses were set ablaze, posses of armed white men roamed the streets, and dozens of black men were arrested in the largest manhunt in Jefferson County history. Weeks later, Nell identified Willie Peterson as the attacker who killed her sister Augusta and their friend Jenny Wood. With the exception of being black, Peterson bore little resemblance to the description Nell gave the police. An all-white jury convicted Peterson of murder and sentenced him to death. In [this volume], [the author] tells the gripping and tragic story of the attack and its aftermath - events that shook Birmingham to its core. Having first heard the story from her father - who dated Nell's youngest sister when he was a teenager - [the author] scoured the historical archives and documented the black-led campaigns that sought to overturn Peterson's unjust conviction, spearheaded by the NAACP and the Community Party. The travesty of justice suffered by Peterson reveals how the judicial system could function as a lynch mob in the Jim Crow South. [This volume] also sheds new light on the struggle for justice in Depression-era Birmingham. This riveting narrative is a testament to the courageous predecessors of present-day movements that demand an end to racial profiling, police brutality, and the criminalization of black men."--Jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 256 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates
Note
Source of cataloging data: WCP
Contents
  • Introduction--Part 1 Danger in the Magic City
  • August 4, 1931
  • A city beset by fear
  • Reign of terror in the black community
  • Fear, loathing, and oblivion in the white community
  • Part 2 Trials and Tribulations
  • The arrest: September 23, 1931
  • Attempted murder
  • Grand jury testimonies
  • The NAACP comes to life
  • Mounting the defense
  • House of pain
  • "A temporarily dethroned mind"
  • "An outrageous spectacle of injustice"
  • A tumultuous year
  • Part 3 Never Turning Back
  • Staying on the firing line
  • Charles Hamilton Houston
  • A lynching in Tuscaloosa
  • Moving the case forward
  • No Negroes allowed
  • A flood of letters
  • A multitude of regrets
  • Grave doubts as to his guilt
  • Jim Crow justice
  • Epilogue: the community that kept faith
  • Afterword: letter to my father
Isbn
9780822371175
Instance
Label
Murder on Shades Mountain : the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham
Title
Murder on Shades Mountain
Title remainder
the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham
Statement of responsibility
Melanie S. Morrison
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
"One August night in 1931, on a secluded mountain ridge overlooking Birmingham, Alabama, three young white women were brutally attacked. The sole survivor, Nell Williams, age eighteen, said a black man had held the women captive for four hours before shooting them and disappearing into the woods. That same night, a reign of terror was unleashed on Birmingham's black community: black businesses were set ablaze, posses of armed white men roamed the streets, and dozens of black men were arrested in the largest manhunt in Jefferson County history. Weeks later, Nell identified Willie Peterson as the attacker who killed her sister Augusta and their friend Jenny Wood. With the exception of being black, Peterson bore little resemblance to the description Nell gave the police. An all-white jury convicted Peterson of murder and sentenced him to death. In [this volume], [the author] tells the gripping and tragic story of the attack and its aftermath - events that shook Birmingham to its core. Having first heard the story from her father - who dated Nell's youngest sister when he was a teenager - [the author] scoured the historical archives and documented the black-led campaigns that sought to overturn Peterson's unjust conviction, spearheaded by the NAACP and the Community Party. The travesty of justice suffered by Peterson reveals how the judicial system could function as a lynch mob in the Jim Crow South. [This volume] also sheds new light on the struggle for justice in Depression-era Birmingham. This riveting narrative is a testament to the courageous predecessors of present-day movements that demand an end to racial profiling, police brutality, and the criminalization of black men."--Jacket
Cataloging source
NcD/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1949-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Morrison, Melanie
Dewey number
345.761/02532
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
KF224.P48
LC item number
M677 2018
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Peterson, Willie
  • Trials (Rape)
  • Birmingham (Ala.)
  • African Americans
Label
Murder on Shades Mountain : the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham, Melanie S. Morrison
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Note
Source of cataloging data: WCP
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction--Part 1 Danger in the Magic City -- August 4, 1931 -- A city beset by fear -- Reign of terror in the black community -- Fear, loathing, and oblivion in the white community -- Part 2 Trials and Tribulations -- The arrest: September 23, 1931 -- Attempted murder -- Grand jury testimonies -- The NAACP comes to life -- Mounting the defense -- House of pain -- "A temporarily dethroned mind" -- "An outrageous spectacle of injustice" -- A tumultuous year -- Part 3 Never Turning Back -- Staying on the firing line -- Charles Hamilton Houston -- A lynching in Tuscaloosa -- Moving the case forward -- No Negroes allowed -- A flood of letters -- A multitude of regrets -- Grave doubts as to his guilt -- Jim Crow justice -- Epilogue: the community that kept faith -- Afterword: letter to my father
Control code
ocn988758405
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
x, 256 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780822371175
Lccn
2017039036
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780822371175
  • (OCoLC)988758405
Label
Murder on Shades Mountain : the legal lynching of Willie Peterson and the struggle for justice in Jim Crow Birmingham, Melanie S. Morrison
Publication
Copyright
Note
Source of cataloging data: WCP
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction--Part 1 Danger in the Magic City -- August 4, 1931 -- A city beset by fear -- Reign of terror in the black community -- Fear, loathing, and oblivion in the white community -- Part 2 Trials and Tribulations -- The arrest: September 23, 1931 -- Attempted murder -- Grand jury testimonies -- The NAACP comes to life -- Mounting the defense -- House of pain -- "A temporarily dethroned mind" -- "An outrageous spectacle of injustice" -- A tumultuous year -- Part 3 Never Turning Back -- Staying on the firing line -- Charles Hamilton Houston -- A lynching in Tuscaloosa -- Moving the case forward -- No Negroes allowed -- A flood of letters -- A multitude of regrets -- Grave doubts as to his guilt -- Jim Crow justice -- Epilogue: the community that kept faith -- Afterword: letter to my father
Control code
ocn988758405
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
x, 256 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780822371175
Lccn
2017039036
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780822371175
  • (OCoLC)988758405

Subject

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