Anti-black racism, retaliation against Lawrence for scolding white children who threw rocks at her
Charges
None
Elizabeth Lawrence was an African-American woman who was lynched by a mob inBirmingham, Alabama, in early July 1933. Lawrence, a schoolteacher and mother, was targeted after she verbally reprimanded a group of white children who had been throwing stones at her.[1][2][3][4][5] Following her murder, her home was burned to the ground, and her son fled to Boston to escape further violence.[1][2][4][5]
In late June or early July 1933, Lawrence was walking along a country road approximately five miles from her home when a group of young white children began taunting her and throwing rocks and dirt. Lawrence responded by scolding the children, an act that within the racial hierarchy of theJim Crow South was a major social transgression.[1][2][3][4][5]
On the night of the murder in early July (many sources reporting July 5, 1933), a mob consisting of the children's parents and other local residents surrounded Lawrence's home. Lawrence was shot and killed, and then her house was burned to the ground; historians note it is probable she was still inside the residence during the fire.[1][2][3][4][5]
Lawrence's son, Alexander, was not present during the attack. When he returned and attempted to file a report regarding his mother's murder with the Jefferson County law enforcement, a mob re-gathered and threatened to kill him as well. Fearing for his life, Alexander fled toBoston. He was one of an estimated six million African Americans who left the South during theGreat Migration to escape racial violence.[1][2][4][5]
