History of terror lynchings of Black people in Kansas is remembered by faith group
Hanged from the Kansas River bridge. Hanged from a pole. Hanged, and then shot three or four times.
These were some of the stories of terror lynchings in Kansas remembered during a virtual prayer vigil held Friday by Kansas Interfaith Action, a statewide multi-faith advocacy organization. The vigil was the culmination of a week of virtual events the group hosted.
“We’re remembering real people and their real stories,” said the Rev. Rachel Pryor, KIFA board chair.
She began the event, held on Zoom and live-streamed on social media, by defining terror lynchings. While lynchings can also refer to lynchings of people in indigenous groups, a terror lynching is specific to the Black community.
It has a broader impact and sends an intentional message, she said.
The focus of Friday afternoon’s event was to draw attention to the stories that are sometimes ignored in discussions about Kansas history, which was a free state during the period of legal slavery in the U.S.
Six people shared stories of lynchings in their communities:
- In Salina, 1893, a newspaper article published about the lynching of Dana Adams called him a “worthless negro.” Visitors ripped apart his shirt once the coroner took his body down and left with the pieces.
- Pete Vinegar, Isaac King, and George Robertson were killed in Lawrence in 1882. A mob of around 100 men in masks dragged them out of jail and hanged them from the bridge.
- In Topeka in 1889, around 10,000 people participated in the lynching of Nat Oliphant. A mob made a hole in the jail wall, dragged him down the stairs and hanged him on a pole. Oliphant’s body was reported stolen from his grave a few days later.
- In Girard in 1885, a group of armed men hanged John Lawrence from a rafter of a house; another man fired several shots at his body. And in Cherokee in 1894. Jeff Tuggle was lynched.
- In Johnson County, a mob went to a Black man’s home, tore it down, then killed him.
- In Wichita in 1874, a group of Texans killed Charley Sanders and gave the rebel war call.
White people who lynched Black people, Pryor said, felt they “were doing their moral duty,” while Black people were considered suspicious only for existing. Lynching was accepted, she continued, because Black people were seen as criminals.
“We can’t overstate how this attitude continues to influence our criminal justice system even today,” Pryor said.
The names of many of those who were terrorized have been lost to time, said pastor Karen Nyhart at Old Mission United Methodist Church in Fairway.
“People of color were intentionally erased by white dominated newspapers and historians who did not feel these stories were worth reporting or who did not want such a negative picture of their community to be disseminated,” Nyhart said.
The Rev. Robert Johnson, pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita, said one of KIFA’s advocacy priorities is racial justice.
As part of a discussion about not letting energy die down after a racial tragedy, he said, the organization is starting an online series that begins Tuesday evening. The workshop will discuss the racial history of America and Kansas and will provide strategies for having those conversations.
“Black Kansans know how directly Kansas’ history of racial discrimination leads to constricted opportunities and even criminalization of Black and brown people today,” Johnson said in a news release.
The faith leaders also called for an end to systemic racism, criminal justice reform and an end to the death penalty.
Friday’s event ended with a prayer.
“Today, we gather to pray not only for our past, but for our future,” the faith leaders said. “We remember; we confess; and we proclaim that we will no longer be silent.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 5:35 PM.
