To put today's lynching into some historical context,
Mr. Bird was lynched 5-8 hours before Germany signed the
Armistice ending World War I. We were that close to the end of
a major war and people were still lynching black men for
little things like disturbing the peace. Please keep this in
mind if you wonder why there is so much anger over Confederate
monuments or events like the one in Charlottesville. The
papers didn't provide much information about the lynching
we're covering today. However, this lynching is connected with
a lynching we covered on November 12, 2014. George Whitesede
was lynched for the murder of a policeman. Our first article
covers both lynchings and is from The Concord Times (Concord,
North Carolina) dated November 12, 1918:
LYNCHING IN ALABAMA
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Self Confessed Slayer of Policeman Taken from Jail and Lynched.
LYNCHING IN ALABAMA
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Self Confessed Slayer of Policeman Taken from Jail and Lynched.
Sheffield, Ala., Nov. 12.—Geo Whiteside, a negro self
confessed slayer of John Graham, a Policeman of Sheffield was
taken from the Colbert County jail by a mob early today and
lynched.
Shortly afterward the mob left for Russellville, 20
miles south of here, some of their leaders declaring they
would lynch Henry Willingham, and Charles Hamilton, two other
negroes arrested in connection with the killing. They were
taken to Russellville for safekeeping after William Bird,
another negro implicated in the affair, had been lynched
Sunday night.
It is unknown whether Mr. Bird actually did have
something to do with the killing of policeman Graham. No other
paper hints that he was involved. They simply mention that he
was lynched for "creating a disturbance." Our next and final
article is from The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)
dated November 11, 1918:
NEGRO TAKEN FROM JAIL BY ALABAMA MOB AND HANGED
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Sheffield, Ala., Nov. 10 (by A. P.)—William Bird, a negro, was taken from the jail here to-night by a mob of about 100 men and hanged. Bird was captured and placed in jail this afternoon after a running fight with officers following a disturbance he was said to have created in the lower section of Sheffield. The negro was surrendered to the mob without violence.
NEGRO TAKEN FROM JAIL BY ALABAMA MOB AND HANGED
________
Sheffield, Ala., Nov. 10 (by A. P.)—William Bird, a negro, was taken from the jail here to-night by a mob of about 100 men and hanged. Bird was captured and placed in jail this afternoon after a running fight with officers following a disturbance he was said to have created in the lower section of Sheffield. The negro was surrendered to the mob without violence.
Thank you for joining us, and as always, we hope we
leave you with something to ponder.
