Monroe Work: Documenting Mob Violence in America

For this lesson, we will start off by introducing ourselves to Monroe Work, who is widely regarded as a hero for his work in recording the harrowing statistics regarding white supremacist mob violence. While we explore Monroe Work’s work, please consider how you will answer these essential questions at the end of this lesson:

Who was Monroe Work? and what was his contribution  to African Americans’ quality of life in the 20th century?

What is mob violence? How has mob violence been used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries?

Is capital punishment (the death penalty) equitably utilized throughout the United States? Are minorities over penalized?

Is there any correlation between the decline of mob violence and the rise of a formal prison system/ capital punishment?

To provide context on Monroe Work, lets review the brief bio below.

*courtesy of MonroeWorkToday.org

It is widely considered that ‘lynching’ refers to a death by hanging. Lets review some common misconceptions around the phenomenon of lynching/ mob violence.

*Info-graphic Courtesy of MonroeWorkToday.org 

Now lets explore Monroe Work’s work.

*Info-Graphic Courtesy of MonroeWorkToday.org

Please refer back to this map displaying white supremacist mob violence .

Now examine the info-graphics below.

*Courtesy of the Death Penalty Info Center

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Now that we have provided context, lets reflect on our essential questions:

Who was Monroe Work? and what was his contribution to African Americans’ quality of life in the 20th century?

What is mob violence? How has mob violence been used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries?

Is capital punishment (the death penalty) equitably utilized throughout the United States? Are minorities over penalized?

Is there any correlation between the decline of mob violence and the rise of a formal prison system/ capital punishment?

*Both of the sources of content in this lesson: MonroeWorkToday.org, and the Death Penalty Information Center are licensed “free use with hyperlink”.