1920 Duluth lynchings
in Duluth, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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201 E 1st St, Duluth, MN 55802, USA Print route »
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On June 15, 1920, three African American circus workers, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie, suspects in an assault case, were taken from the jail, attacked, and lynched by a white mob of thousands in Duluth, Minnesota. Rumors had circulated that six African Americans had raped and robbed a nineteen-year-old girl. A physician's examination of her subsequently found no evidence of rape or assault.This was the only time blacks were lynched in Minnesota. Others of the 20 known victims were Native Americans and whites. Three men were convicted of rioting, but none served more than 15 months. No one was ever prosecuted for the murders.
Prosecutions proceeded for the circus workers. The NAACP hired defense counsel for the seven black circus workers who were indicted for rape; they gained the dropping of charges for five. One man was acquitted at trial. Max Mason was convicted and lost his appeal. He served four years in state prison. The parole board released him in 1925 on the condition that he leave the state. A special grand jury investigated the lynchings, strongly criticizing the police chief and the Commissioner for Public Safety.
The state of Minnesota passed anti-lynching legislation in April 1921. In 2003, the city of Duluth erected a memorial to the lynched men.
