the passage of the bill. They argued shamelessly
that antilynching legislation was unconstitutional
and that it interfered with states’ rights. Undeterred
by the failure of government to act, Americans ral-
lied to establish organizations that would continue
to protest lynchings. These included the Atlanta-
based Association of Southern Women for the Pre-
vention of Lynching and the Commission for
Interracial Cooperation.
A number of Harlem Renaissance writers used
their work to raise public awareness about lynching
and its dreadful toll on American families. Schol-
ars Kathy Perkins and Judith Stephens have identi-
fied some 10 plays written during the 1920s. The
substantial set of antilynching dramas includes
works such as Frances(1925) by G. D. Lipscomb,
FORUNBORNCHILDREN(1926) by MYRTLESMITH
LIVINGSTON, RACHEL (1916) by ANGELINA
GRIMKÉ,AFTERMATH(1919) by MARYBURRILL,
THENOOSE (1919) by Tracy Mygatt, GRANNY
MAUMEE (1914) by RIDGELEY TORRENCE, and
Mine Eyes Have Seen(1918) by ALICEDUNBAR-
NELSON.
Bibliography
Cutler, James E. Lynch-Law: An Investigation into the His-
tory of Lynching in the United States.Montclair, N.J.:
Patterson Smith, 1969.
Gunning, Sandra, Race, Rape, and Lynching: The Red
Record of American Literature.New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996.
Hall, Jaquelyn Dowd. Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniel
Ames and the Women’s Campaign Against Lynching.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.
Perkins, Kathy A., and Judith L. Stephens, eds. Strange
Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women.Bloom-
ington: Indiana University Press, 1998.
Stephens, Judith L. “‘And Yet They Paused’ and ‘A Bill
to Be Passed’: Newly Recovered Lynching Dramas
by Georgia Douglas Johnson.” African American Re-
view33 (1999): 519–522.
Wells-Barnett, Ida B. On Lynchings: Southern Horrors, a
Red Record and Mob Rule in New Orleans.New
York: Arno Press, 1969.
Zangrando, Robert. The NAACP Crusade against Lynch-
ing, 1909–1950.Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1960.lynching 327