The Lynching of Will James

Found on the website of the James Allen collection of Lynching Postcards is a set of seven images devoted to the lynching of Will James. The photographs tell an important story of how this lynching was glorified and established as an attraction for the town of Cairo Illinois. Two photos in particular are especially compelling in their portrayal of Commercial Avenue in Cairo. 

First, image 43 (above), shows what is probably a drawing/painting of Commercial Avenue. The image shows what appears to be a normal main avenue in an average sized city in early 1900s America. In image 44 (right), we see a far different portrayal of Commercial Avenue.

Image 44 shows us Commercial Avenue filled with citizens of Cairo at night time during the lynching. The street is lit up for the lynching as a street would be lit today if a concert, festival, or parade took place on it. The street is packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder as far as the camera can see. The photographer found a perch far behind and high above the crowd in order to take a picture. The body of Will James cannot even be seen. 

What I find so compelling about these two images is that the lynching, the death of a man, was such an attractive event for so many people that the town of Cairo spent the time and money to establish the event as one for thousands of spectators. Perhaps town officials saw it as a way for citizens to come together. Perhaps they saw the event as a way to advertise the consequences of certain actions. All that I know, however, is that the lynching was enough of a big deal for the town of Cairo to come together with enthusiasm to watch a man die.