Metadata Terms
These terms refer to the metadata we aim to collect for each lynching victim. They cover both metadata about the victim’s life, and metadata about the lynching event related to the victim.
Accused Crime or Social Transgression
“Accused crime or social transgression” describes the crime that a lynching victim was accused of committing or the societal norm they may have broke. This does not necessarily describe a formal legal accusation of a crime and in fact rarely did.
Age
Age refers to the approximate or exact duration of a person’s life before they were killed. If the exact age is unknown, an approximate age is provided.
County of Birth/Death
County of birth or death refers to the county where a victim was born or the place where a victim died.
Education Level
Education level refers to a person’s highest level of schooling.
Head of Household
“Head of household” is a term used to indicate the primary wage earner of a family or families living in the same house.
Identification Status
“Identification status” is a term used by AMP to track if a lynching victim’s name has been confirmed and documented using primary sources. Our two categories of identification status are:
- “Identified” – previously identified by an esablished date base, such as the Equal Justice Initiative, the CSDE Lynching Databse, or Monroe Work Today.
- “Identified by the Alabama Memory Project” – not found in published databases; identified by the Alabama Memory Project and researched by AMP students
Legal Ramifications
“Legal ramifications” indicates if a lyncher ever faced legal ramifications for their actions.
Literacy Status
Literacy status refers to the ability of a person to read and write. Depending on the decade, a person’s literacy status could affect their ability to register to vote or find a job. Often literacy status is recorded in federal census records.
Location of Lynching
The location of a lynching is used to describe the place of death for the victim. Multiple locations may be associated with the lynching of a victim. This term refers only to the location of the victim’s death.
Name Variations
“Name variations” is used to account for variations on a victim’s name across found documents. Black citizens’ names were often misspelled or recorded incorrectly in government and other published documents. AMP accounts for every possible name variation for a victim.
Occupation
Occupation refers to a victim’s job or profession.
Primary Accusers
“Primary accusers” describes the person or persons that accuse a lynching victim of a crime or social transgression.
Property Ownership
Property ownership refers to whether a person owned the land they lived and/or worked on.