Lynching of Laura & L. D. Nelson Okemah OK Oklahoma 1911 Farnum RPPC Postcards
Original 1911 real photo postcards of the lynching of Laura and L. Photographer is George Henry Farnum out of Okemah (photographer stamp on reverse).
There are four known existing images of this lynching taken from a boat. They are negative numbers 2894, 2897, 2898, and 2899. Three of the four images are seen in a Wikipedia article entitled, Lynching of Laura and L. Nelson and the fourth (2899) is described. Photographs 2894 (offered here) and 2898 are close-up shots of L.
Photographs 2897 and 2899 show the bridge and spectators. The 2nd real photo postcard offered here (negative number 2895), is a newly discovered example from this series. Extensive information on this tragic event can be found online. From the aforementioned Wikipedia article, we read.
1878 and 1897 were an African-American mother and son who were lynched on May 25, 1911, near Okemah, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Had shot and killed Okemah's deputy sheriff, George Loney, on May 2, 1911, while Loney and a posse were searching the Nelsons' farm for a stolen cow. And Laura were both charged with murder, in Laura's case because she had been the first to grab the gun. Her husband, Austin, pleaded guilty to larceny and was sent to the relative safety of the state prison in McAlester. Were held in the Okemah county jail, possibly along with Laura's baby, to await trial.
During the night of May 2425, Laura and L. Were kidnapped from their cells by between a dozen and 40 white men, allegedly including Charley Guthrie, father of the folk singer Woody Guthrie. The Associated Press reported that Laura was raped. Were then hanged from a railroad bridge over the North Canadian River. According to one source, Laura's baby was with her but survived the attack.
Sightseers gathered on the bridge in the morning. George Henry Farnum, the owner of Okemah's only photography studio, took photographs, which were distributed as postcards, a common practice at the time.
The district judge convened a grand jury, but the killers were never identified. Four of Farnum's photographs are known to have survivedtwo spectator scenes and one close-up view each of Laura and L. Three of the images were re-published in 2000 and exhibited at the Roth Horowitz Gallery in New York by James Allen, an antique collector. The images of Laura Nelson are the only known surviving photographs of a female lynching victim.
Nelson is Very Good+ with a light crease in the lower right corner and some light staining on the reverse as shown. The image of Laura & L. Is also Very Good+ with a 1 1/4 inch indentation mark near the right edge that doesn't really detract. Nelson in both cards is original to the photo and printed that way (as seen in Wikipedia article).
SIZE: Measures approximately 3 3/8 x 5 3/8 inches each. The item "Lynching of Laura & L. Nelson Okemah OK Oklahoma 1911 Farnum RPPC Postcards" is in sale since Sunday, September 10, 2017.
This item is in the category "Collectibles\Postcards\Real Photo". The seller is "abvintagephotos" and is located in Pennsylvania. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Type: Real Photo (RPPC)
- Era: Divided Back (c. 1907-1915)
- Postage Condition: Unposted
- Subject: Lynching
- Region: Okemah OK Oklahoma