Lynching of Cordella Stevenson

Cordella Stevenson was an African-American woman who was sexually assaulted and lynched by a mob of white men in Columbus, Mississippi on December 15, 1915.

Lynching of Cordella Stevenson
Part of Jim Crow Era
Map of Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi
DateDecember 15, 1915
LocationColumbus, Mississippi
ParticipantsA white mob
Deaths1

Lynching

A barn owned by a white man, Gabe Frank, was burned down in a suspected arson attack. Stevenson's son was accused of burning the barn even though he hadn't been seen in the area for months. Local police arrested Cordella Stevenson and her husband Arch Stevenson and held them for six days hoping that she would tell them where her son was.[1]

At 10:00 PM on December 15, 1915, a mob of white men broke into their home, sexually assaulted her and hung her naked from a tree near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.[2]

Arch escaped on foot and ran into Columbus, but was unable to obtain aid. Arch moved to Alabama to a small town named Wylam near Birmingham where one of his sons was already established. Arch and his children appear on census records (1920) there and he is listed as "widower" and listed as a driver in the coal mine. No one was ever arrested for Stevenson's rape and murder.[3]

Black women lynched 1900-1919

Black women lynched in Mississippi 1900-1919[4]

Date of death Name Place Cause
1914 Jennie Collins Bolivar County Alleged to have aided the escape of an accused murderer
November 24, 1914 Mrs. Jane Sullivan Byhalial, Marshall County Arson
December 10, 1915 Mrs. Cordella Stevenson Columbus, Lowndes Co. Alleged arson
1918 Alma House Clarke County Murder
1918 Maggie House Shubuta, Clarke County Suspected of murder

Bibliography

Notes

  1. Chicago Defender, December 18, 1915.
  2. Ginzburg 1988, p. 96.
  3. Segrave 2010, p. 133.
  4. Thompson 2015, p. 66.

References

  • "Rape, Lynch Negro Mother". The Chicago Defender. Chicago, especially to African American readers in the Southern United States: Robert S. Abbott . 1915. ISSN 0745-7014. OCLC 18766972.
  • Ginzburg, Ralph (1988). 100 Years of Lynchings. Black Classic Press. ISBN 9780933121188. - Total pages: 270
  • Segrave, Kerry (July 8, 2010). Lynchings of Women in the United States The Recorded Cases, 1851-1946. McFarland. ISBN 9780786460083. - Total pages: 189
  • Thompson, Julius E. (June 8, 2015). Lynchings in Mississippi A History, 1865-1965. McFarland. ISBN 9781476604251. - Total pages: 259
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