The distribution of cases on the map over-represents states, counties and cities in which CRRJ has conducted most of its research over the past decade. For example, CRRJ has concentrated its efforts in Birmingham, AL and New Orleans, LA, resulting in the discovery of many cases in these cities. Thus, their representation on the map may make them appear exceptionally violent places, as compared to locations like Dallas, TX or Jackson, MS.

It should be noted that the map, along with the rest of the cases in the archive, skew towards areas in which records of racial violence were made and subsequently discovered in an archive or other repository. There are vast swathes of the country where racist violence took its victims leaving no impression on the historical record. 

Please be aware that cases are displayed on a contemporary map of the United States. This map does not reflect the geography during the period in which the incident took place.

Across the period this archive spans (1930-1954), the built American landscape changed dramatically. Highways replaced county roads, suburban sprawl absorbed outlying communities, and urban renewal bulldozed Black neighborhoods in the name of progress. Some locales vanished completely as midcentury migration to larger urban centers depopulated the countryside.

While researchers and archivists who have assembled this archive have done their best to record the locations of each incident, researchers might want to further explore these locations via historical map databases such as the Sanborn Map collection at the Library of Congress or the USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer.

General User Agreement:

This information is provided for the purpose of supporting research and education on the history of racially motivated violence targeting African Americans in the Jim Crow South. Use of site contents or data in any way to harass, dox, or cause harm to any individual identified in this archive or their families is a prosecutable crime.