Lynching and the Law [1933]

With a New Introduction by Paul Finkelman

This title was issued under the auspices of the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching. A work of great authority because it was produced by Southern jurists, it was cited frequently in the 1932 Senate hearings on lynching. Its conclusions are based in part on a comprehensive survey of over 3,700 lynchings, mostly of African Americans, between 1889 and 1932. Chadbourn also asked 1,000 prominent Southern lawyers and legislators how they would prevent the practice. Using this data, he proposes a model lynching law.

James Harmon Chadbourn [1905-1982] was a legal scholar and an expert in civil procedure, Federal jurisdiction and evidence. Born, raised and educated in the South (B.A., The Citadel, 1926; LL.B., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1931), he was the Fessenden Professor of Harvard Law School from 1963 until his retirement in 1974.

Paul Finkelman is a leading authority on the legal and Constitutional history of American slavery. A professor at several important universities and law schools, he also served as the president and chancellor of Gratz College, the oldest independent Jewish college in the United States.

xiv (iii-xiv new Introduction), iii-xi, 221 pp.