Bagnall’s short story is part of the substantial
Harlem Renaissance–era literature about lynching.
His work reveals the horrific and personal nature of
mob violence. It also considers the living hell expe-
rienced by those who lodge deadly charges against
others, claims that not only devastate the immedi-
ate families of the accused but also clearly victimize
the supposedly avenged white families.
Urban League Bulletin
The first official publication of the NATIONAL
URBANLEAGUEand the precursor to OPPORTU-
NITY,the popular and influential monthly magazine
that emerged in 1923. CHARLESS. JOHNSON, edi-
tor of Opportunity,served as editor for the bi-
monthly Bulletin.
According to historians Abby Arthur Johnson
and Ronald Johnson, the Bulletinfocused primarily
on events and issues that pertained directly to the
organization. Charles S. Johnson, however, made
an effort to include illuminating editorials about
contemporary issues and trends related to African-
American life, communities, and progress. His ex-
ample fueled the efforts of EUGENEKINCKLEJONES
and other Urban League members who wanted to
develop a more widely circulated and influential
publication.Bibliography
Johnson, Abby Arthur, and Ronald Maberry Johnson.
Propaganda & Aesthetics: The Literary Politics of
African American Magazines in the Twentieth Cen-
tury.Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1979.
Moore, Jesse. A Search for Equality: The National Urban
League, 1910–1961.University Park: Pennsylvania
State University Press, 1981.
Parris, Guichard, and Lester Brooks. Blacks in the City: A
History of the National Urban League.Boston: Little,
Brown, 1971.
Weiss, Nancy. The National Urban League, 1910–1940.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.538 Urban League Bulletin