{"id":68,"date":"2025-11-03T19:42:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2025-11-05T21:24:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:24:49","slug":"am_glossary-of-terms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/?page_id=68","title":{"rendered":"Glossary of Terms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Racial Violence Terms<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Racial Terror Lynchings <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We focus specifically on lynchings of Black Americans by white Americans for the purpose, be it stated or implied, of strengthening and extending white supremacy. Racial terror lynchings occurred outside of any legal process and were not some form of \u201cfrontier justice.\u201d  It was meant to subdue, intimidate, and control Black Americans. Racial terror lynchings are by far the most common form of lynching in American history. The term was coined by the Equal Justice Initiative in in its 2017 report, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror<\/em><\/a>. <\/strong>The Alabama Memory Project has identified over 800 racial terror lynchings in the state of Alabama between the years of 1865 and 1966, more than half of which were previously unidentified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempted Lynching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempted lynchings refer to near-killings where one or more of the required elements of a lynching were present but the intended victim escaped or was rescued. For example, Elmore Clark was one of three black men accused of murdering a white woman in Tuscaloosa in 1933. While they were being transported to Birmingham for trial, a mob of white men reportedly overpowered law enforcement officers and shot the prisoners. Clark survived and fled.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Primary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Click below to view our primary sources<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Arrest Records<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrest records are a specific type of legal document created by local police departments to record when an individual is taken into police custody. Preservation and access to these records can vary widely based on the time period and place of research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both police records and arrest records can be key pieces of evidence in lynching cases. These records may contain information about the timeline, people, and circumstances surrounding a lynching case that were not published or confirmed in newspaper reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Newspapers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black newspapers are authored and edited by Black journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use Black newspapers to track how information about lynching spreads within the Black community and to gather a more accurate narrative about the lynching than white newspapers may suggest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Census Record<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A census record is a specific type of genealogical record that is created by the federal government every ten years used to count the U.S. population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Census records often provide some of the most useful information about the life of the victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressional Testimony<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressional testimony refers to public hearings held by the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, or a Joint or Special Committee of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMP uses both Congressional testimony published for the 1871-1872 Joint Select Committee on Alabama Klan Violence and Congressional testimony from 1875 testifying to election massacres in Eugaula and Mobile to search for additional lynching cases that may not have been included in current national lynching databases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death Certificate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A death certificate is a type of vital record created by either a county or state agency to record information about an individual\u2019s death and burial. In Alabama, counties were legally required to record deaths starting in 1881. In 1908, Alabama State Law changed to require that all deaths in the state of Alabama be recorded by the Alabama Center for Health Statistics. Some death records at both the county and state-level have been lost, destroyed, or neglected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death Index<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A death index is a list of available death record information stored by the state vital statistics office. Many death indexes, but not all, are digitized and searchable on online databases such as Ancestry and FamilySearch. A death index is not the same as a Death Certificate; however, if a person\u2019s death is listed in a death index, then a death certificate should be stored and accessible through the state Department of Health Statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genealogical Record<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A genealogical record is a general term that includes census records, marriage records, and birth and death records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use genealogical records to document information about lynching victim\u2019s personal lives and family histories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor\u2019s Record<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A governor\u2019s record is a document created by a state governor and their administration during their term of office. These documents are usually stored at a state or national archival collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Alabama, governor\u2019s records are stored at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) in Montgomery. These files can contain letters, newspaper clippings, and other sources from individuals across the state urging a governor to take action or comment on a lynching. In some instances, our researchers have found letters written by family members of lynching victims or by  the victim themself demanding justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use maps to locate lynchings, homes of lynching victims, and chronicle the time and distance that passed in a lynching event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marriage Record<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A marriage record is a type of vital record created by either a county or a state court to legally recognize a marriage. Before 1888 in Alabama, marriage licenses and bonds were registered in the Probate Court (also known as the \u201cOrphan\u2019s Court before 1850) in the county of the bride\u2019s residence. The records can be found in Probate Court in the county where the license was issued or sometimes in the county records stored at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. In 1936, Alabama started keeping statewide marriage records. For current fees and instructions for obtaining copies of the State\u2019s records, contact the Alabama Department of Public Health<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use marriage records to find new information on lynching victims and their family. We use a combination of online and in-person research to look for marriage records stored at both the state and the county level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oral History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oral histories are interviews with people who have first-hand knowledge or memory of a lynching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use oral histories to preserve the narratives of the people that remember, experienced, or were passed down stories of lynching in Alabama. These sources usually reveal new or different information than can be found in any other source and often reveal lynchings that were not documented in newspapers or legal records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff\u2019s Records<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff\u2019s records were created by the sheriff of a county and his administration during his term of office. These sources are usually stored at county-level courts or by the local sheriff\u2019s office itself. Preservation and access to these records vary widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff\u2019s records and arrest records can be key pieces of evidence in lynching cases. These records may contain information about the timeline, people, and circumstances surrounding a lynching case that were not published or confirmed in newspaper reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Newspapers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

White newspapers are written and edited primarily by white journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We understand the narratives presented in white newspapers usually endorse or incite violence against Black communities and are full of mistruths and fabrications. We use them to understand how white communities represented and understood lynching. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Metadata Terms<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Click below to view our metadata terms<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Accused Crime<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAccused crime or social transgression\u201d describes the crime that a lynching victim was accused of committing or the societal norm they may have broke. This does not necessarily describe a formal legal accusation of a crime and in fact rarely did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Age <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Age refers to the approximate or exact duration of a person\u2019s life before they were killed. If the exact age is unknown, an approximate age is provided. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Country of Birth\/Death<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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County of birth or death refers to the county where a victim was born or the place where a victim died. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Education Level<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Education level refers to a person\u2019s highest level of schooling.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Head of Household<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHead of household\u201d is a term used to indicate the primary wage earner of a family or families living in the same house. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Legal Ramifications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLegal ramifications\u201d indicates if a lyncher ever faced legal ramifications for their actions. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Literacy Status<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Literacy status refers to the ability of a person to read and write. Depending on the decade, a person\u2019s literacy status could affect their ability to register to vote or find a job. Often literacy status is recorded in federal census records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Location of Lynching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The location of a lynching is used to describe the place of death for the victim. Multiple locations may be associated with the lynching of a victim. This term refers only to the location of the victim\u2019s death. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Name Variations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cName variations\u201d is used to account for variations on a victim\u2019s name across found documents. Black citizens\u2019 names were often misspelled or recorded incorrectly in government and other published documents. AMP accounts for every possible name variation for a victim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Occupation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Occupation refers to a victim\u2019s job or profession. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Primary Accusers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPrimary accusers\u201d describes the person or persons that accuse a lynching victim of a crime or social transgression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Property Ownership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Property ownership refers to whether a person owned the land they lived and\/or worked on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Racial Violence Terms Racial Terror Lynchings  We focus specifically on lynchings of Black Americans by white Americans for the purpose, be it stated or implied, of strengthening and extending white supremacy. Racial terror lynchings occurred outside of any legal process and were not some form of \u201cfrontier justice.\u201d  It was meant to subdue, intimidate, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-68","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Andrew Morgan","author_link":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/?author=3"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Racial Violence Terms Racial Terror Lynchings  We focus specifically on lynchings of Black Americans by white Americans for the purpose, be it stated or implied, of strengthening and extending white supremacy. Racial terror lynchings occurred outside of any legal process and were not some form of \u201cfrontier justice.\u201d  It was meant to subdue, intimidate, and…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197,"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions\/197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adhc1.ua.edu\/alabama_memory\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}