Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.F.A. in Documentary Expression
Department
Southern Studies
First Advisor
Andy Harper
Second Advisor
John Rash
Third Advisor
David Wharton
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The role of silence is explored with regard to how two lynchings in North Mississippi have, or have not, been memorialized. L.Q. Ivy was lynched in Union County in 1925. Despite several newspaper articles over the decades since the lynching has occurred his death is not acknowledged in the local history narrative, nor is it memorialized with a marker. Elwood Higginbottom was lynched in neighboring Lafayette County in 1935 and, despite a silence that has persisted for decades, has recently been memorialized. The process of memorializing Higginbottom’s lynching and what it has meant to the family is compared to the continuing silence around Ivy. In addition, the development of a MFA project incorporating an experimental “illustrated audio” piece and website is described.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Jonathan, "Silence Descends: Lynchings and Their Aftermath in Lafayette and Union Counties, Mississippi" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1561.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1561