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Memphis Area Lynching Locations Special Resource Study
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This is the Memphis Area Lynching Locations Special Resource Study project website. The National Park Service (NPS) will use this website to display public information throughout the course of this study. Meeting dates and locations will be posted here, along with project updates.
The National Park Service is conducting a special resource study (SRS) to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing a network of locations associated with lynchings in the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee, as authorized by Congress under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328). The study will evaluate several sites for their potential inclusion in the national park system. The law identified the following eight lynching sites in Tennessee to be included in the study:
1. 1868 Christopher Bender and Bud Whitfield (Memphis, Shelby County)
2. 1869 Wash Henley (Memphis, Shelby County)
3. 1892 Thomas Moss, Will Stewart, and Calvin McDowell (Memphis, Shelby County)
4. 1893 Lee Walker (Memphis, Shelby County)
5. 1894 Warner Williams, Daniel Hawkins, Robert Haynes, Edward Hall, John Hayes, and Graham White (Kerrville, Shelby County)
6. 1917 Ell Persons (Memphis, Shelby County)
7. 1939 Jesse Lee Bond (Arlington, Shelby County)
8. 1940 Elbert Williams (Brownsville, Haywood County)
Associated sites under analysis include the location of each lynching and key events leading up to and following the lynching, including any legal process and community activism. Sites associated with other lynchings within 100 miles of the city of Memphis, not listed in the legislation, may be identified through historical research and public input and added to the list of potential sites to be studied. The authorizing legislation allows three years to complete the study and submit it to Congress. Once received by Congress, the final study will be made available to the public.
The National Park Service acknowledges that the history of lynching is not confined to the Memphis area but was pervasive throughout the United States. Lynchings claimed the lives of thousands of African Americans in communities across the country, especially in the US South. The National Park Service recognizes the sensitive nature of this history and its relationship to extreme racism, violence, and death. The intent of this study is not to trivialize or minimize this traumatic history. This special resource study is an early effort to more fully address the broader legacy of lynching in our country's history and how it continues to shape the present moment.
For the purposes of this study, the National Park Service will use the definition of lynching as established by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1940, namely that a lynching is a killing committed outside of the law, by a group, and done under the pretext of service to justice, race, or tradition.
The 54 USC 100507 (United States Code) and NPS Management Policies 2006 have established the process for conducting congressionally authorized studies of potential additions to the national park system. They require that a study area meets four criteria to be recommended as an addition: (1) national significance, (2) suitability, (3) feasibility, and (4) need for direct NPS management. The study process is linear, and each of the four criteria are evaluated sequentially. If the study finds that a site does not meet one of the criteria, the study process will be curtailed for that site. Regardless of the outcome of the study, new units of the national park system can only be established by an act of Congress or by presidential proclamation.
Project Manager
(303) 987-6726
The National Park Service is conducting a special resource study (SRS) to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing a network of locations associated with lynchings in the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee, as authorized by Congress under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328). The study will evaluate several sites for their potential inclusion in the national park system. The law identified the following eight lynching sites in Tennessee to be included in the study:
1. 1868 Christopher Bender and Bud Whitfield (Memphis, Shelby County)
2. 1869 Wash Henley (Memphis, Shelby County)
3. 1892 Thomas Moss, Will Stewart, and Calvin McDowell (Memphis, Shelby County)
4. 1893 Lee Walker (Memphis, Shelby County)
5. 1894 Warner Williams, Daniel Hawkins, Robert Haynes, Edward Hall, John Hayes, and Graham White (Kerrville, Shelby County)
6. 1917 Ell Persons (Memphis, Shelby County)
7. 1939 Jesse Lee Bond (Arlington, Shelby County)
8. 1940 Elbert Williams (Brownsville, Haywood County)
Associated sites under analysis include the location of each lynching and key events leading up to and following the lynching, including any legal process and community activism. Sites associated with other lynchings within 100 miles of the city of Memphis, not listed in the legislation, may be identified through historical research and public input and added to the list of potential sites to be studied. The authorizing legislation allows three years to complete the study and submit it to Congress. Once received by Congress, the final study will be made available to the public.
The National Park Service acknowledges that the history of lynching is not confined to the Memphis area but was pervasive throughout the United States. Lynchings claimed the lives of thousands of African Americans in communities across the country, especially in the US South. The National Park Service recognizes the sensitive nature of this history and its relationship to extreme racism, violence, and death. The intent of this study is not to trivialize or minimize this traumatic history. This special resource study is an early effort to more fully address the broader legacy of lynching in our country's history and how it continues to shape the present moment.
For the purposes of this study, the National Park Service will use the definition of lynching as established by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1940, namely that a lynching is a killing committed outside of the law, by a group, and done under the pretext of service to justice, race, or tradition.
The 54 USC 100507 (United States Code) and NPS Management Policies 2006 have established the process for conducting congressionally authorized studies of potential additions to the national park system. They require that a study area meets four criteria to be recommended as an addition: (1) national significance, (2) suitability, (3) feasibility, and (4) need for direct NPS management. The study process is linear, and each of the four criteria are evaluated sequentially. If the study finds that a site does not meet one of the criteria, the study process will be curtailed for that site. Regardless of the outcome of the study, new units of the national park system can only be established by an act of Congress or by presidential proclamation.
Contact Information
Julie BellProject Manager
(303) 987-6726