In the epitaph of the late Year 1923 must be written that it saw less than half as many lynchings in the U. S. as its predecessor, 1922. There were 61 lynchings in 1922; only 26 last year.
The table of lynchings for 1923 includes :
Florida 5
Mississippi 5
Georgia 4
Oklahoma 3
Alabama 2
Arkansas 2
Texas 2
Louisiana 1
Missouri 1
Virginia 1
26
Of the 26 victims, one was a colored woman and two were white men. Seven were accused of attacks on women. "Other offenses for which lynchings occurred include mistaken identity, aiding in escape, associating with white women, being in an automobile accident, . . . frightening white children, etc."
James Weldon Johnson, Secretary of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, compiled these figures. Mr. Johnson, a native of Jacksonville, is a graduate of Atlanta University. In the South he was principal of a Negro high school and practised law. Then he moved to Manhattan to collaborate with his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, in writing a light opera which was never produced. Later he became U. S. Consul for various Latin-American countries. Then he was a contributor to various magazines, and now is Secretary of the N. A. A. C. P., which carries on propaganda for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, for releasing the Negro soldiers who took part in the Houston riots, etc.