James M. Redwine

Judge Lynch! James M. Redwine

Judge Lynch Holds Court! That was the banner headline in a Posey County, Indiana newspaper after seven African American men were murdered by a white mob during October, 1878. The paper described the lynch mob as consisting of two to three hundred of the county's "best men." Then the newspaper editor, who had been an eyewitness to the murders on the campus of the Posey County courthouse, called for the, "dark pall of oblivion", to cover the crimes. Although it comes too late to help the victims and their families, perhaps their story will at last come to light and help prevent some contemporary or future injustice.