The Lynching of Cleo Wright [Hardcover]

Dominic J. Capeci Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 1998

" Winner of the 1999 Missouri History Book Award On January 20, 1942, black oil mill worker Cleo Wright assaulted a white woman in her home and nearly killed the first police officer who tried to arrest him. An angry mob then hauled Wright out of jail and dragged him through the streets of Sikeston, Missouri, before burning him alive. Wright's death was, unfortunately, not unique in American history, but what his death meant in the larger context of life in the United States in the twentieth-century is an important and compelling story. After the lynching, the U.S. Justice Department was forced to become involved in civil rights concerns for the first time, provoking a national reaction to violence on the home front at a time when the country was battling for democracy in Europe. Dominic Capeci unravels the tragic story of Wright's life on several stages, showing how these acts of violence were indicative not only of racial tension but the clash of the traditional and the modern brought about by the war. Capeci draws from a wide range of archival sources and personal interviews with the participants and spectators to draw vivid portraits of Wright, his victims, law-enforcement officials, and members of the lynch mob. He places Wright in the larger context of southern racial violence and shows the significance of his death in local, state, and national history during the most important crisis of the twentieth-century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On January 25, 1942, a few weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a black oil-mill worker knifed Grace Sturgeon, a white soldier's wife, in her home. When apprehended, Cleo Wright also knifed a marshal, and was shot repeatedly. Hours later, while his victims were recuperating in a hospital and Wright lay dying in an unsecured jailhouse, a white Sikeston, Mo., mob kidnapped him, lynched him, then dragged him through the streets by car and set him on fire in the black community. The lynching set off a storm of protest that was led by the NAACP and the black press. Considered a national outrage on the heels of Pearl Harbor (the Japanese used the lynching for anti-American propaganda), the need for the appearance of a united front and the desire to develop a real anti-lynching law pressed the involvement of the Justice Department's civil rights section. Capeci, who teaches history at Southwest Missouri State University, offers a case study of the incident and examines the area's history, community mores, as well as the aftermath. His extensive research, including interviews with survivors, is evident in his intricate and engrossing perspective, especially when describing the lynching and the bloodshed that led to it. The book is most successful when examining the lives of Grace and Cleo and the events that drew them together and pushed their communities apart. It's less successful when it reduces to weak sociology, such as "Wright beckoned his own destroyers." And while the ironic revelation that mob members believed their actions supported the boys overseas is stunning, a chapter designed to show one white family's reaction to the lynching seems peripheral.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Between 1889 and 1941, 3,842 deaths by lynching were recorded nationwide. Then, on January 25, 1942, a mob lynched black mill worker Cleo Wright in the 8000-person town of Sikeston, MO. Apparently, he had assaulted a white woman in her home and then attacked the police officer who arrested him. Later that day, Wright was dragged from the city hall and burned alive. Capeci (Layered Violence, Univ. Pr. of Mississippi, 1991) has written a detailed, scholarly analysis, heavily footnoted, of a case that symbolized the clash of traditional, racist culture with an emerging modernity sparked by World War II. He discusses its impact on local, state, and national history?for the first time, the U.S. Justice Department intervened in a lynching, although it failed to secure any indictments. Augmenting this account are interviews with Wright's contemporaries, including his sister and the woman he assaulted. Recommended for academic collections on race relations.?Gregor A. Preston, formerly with Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; First Edition edition (May 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813120489
• ISBN-13: 978-0813120485
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #935,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sikeston native appreciates scholarly expose of a hate crime, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lynching of Cleo Wright (Hardcover)

As a 20-year old young lady, born and raised in Sikeston, Missouri (the subject of the book), I am thankful that someone has finally seen fit to make sure Mr. Wright's life wasn't in vain. This book is a scholarly, yet stomach-turning account of vigilante "justice", sociological cause and effect, and old-fashioned racism. Properly put into historical context, the tragedy is made painfully clear. May we continue to learn from our mistakes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Southern Gentleman, November 25, 2006

By 

True Blue - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Lynching of Cleo Wright (Hardcover)

Must read for those who thought that these things only happen[ed] in the South. Informative and very well written.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Lynching of Cleo Wright, November 21, 2007

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W. M. Arbaugh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lynching of Cleo Wright (Hardcover)

This book is written like a academic thesis, however it does not include the most significant information that would have made it worthwhile - the names of the individuals who were responsible for the lynching. One has to wonder what the motivation of the author really was. It seems only to meet the basic standards of "publish or perish". It is too important a topic to be used as a college term paper.