Today in class, we talked about the implications of the retreat from Radical Reconstruction, followed by the disfranchisement of African Americans across the South between 1890 and 1910. One of the results was that spectacles of racial violence–like lynchings–increased in number and even, literally, in popularity, as huge crowds attended some of the most gruesome hangings, collected souvenirs, and exchanged postcards about the experience. You can learn more about this period by viewing a gallery of these postcards at the website Without Sanctuary. The movie at this site provides a slideshow of some of the postcards, together with a narrative by the writer who collected them. Viewing this site is optional, and please be aware that many of these images are very graphic and disturbing.

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