WORLD HISTORY AND FACTS

Lynching of Jesse Washington May 15, 1916–world history and facts Jesse Washington was a seventeen-year-old African American farmhand who was lynched in the county seat of Waco, Texas, on May 15, 1916, in what became a well-known example of racist lynching.  Washington was convicted of raping and murdering Lucy Fryer, the wife of his white employer in rural Robinson, Texas.  He was chained by his neck and dragged out of the county court by observers. He was then paraded through the street, all while being stabbed and beaten, before being held down and castrated. He was then lynched in front of Waco's city hall. Over 10,000 spectators, including city officials and police, gathered to watch the attack. There was a celebratory atmosphere among whites at the spectacle of the murder, and many children attended during their lunch hour.  Members of the mob cut off his fingers, and hung him over a bonfire after saturating him with coal oil.  He was repeatedly lowered and raised over the fi