Primary Sources

This is a glossary of the most frequently used primary sources from the Alabama Memory Project. The sources listed below may be found in digital databases, state and local archives and health departments, police departments, Sheriff’s offices, courthouses, probate courts, public libraries, and county and city historical centers.  Most photos and oral histories were taken by researchers themselves. 

Arrest Records

Arrest records are a specific type of legal document created by local police departments to record when an individual is taken into police custody. Preservation and access to these records can vary widely based on the time period and place of research.

Both police records and arrest records can be key pieces of evidence in lynching cases. These records may contain information about the timeline, people, and circumstances surrounding a lynching case that were not published or confirmed in newspaper reports. 

Black Newspapers

Black newspapers are authored and edited by Black journalists. 

We use Black newspapers to track how information about lynching spreads within the Black community and to gather a more accurate narrative about the lynching than white newspapers may suggest. 

Census Record

A census record is a specific type of genealogical record that is created by the federal government every ten years used to count the U.S. population. 

Census records often provide some of the most useful information about the life of the victim.

Congressional Testimony

Congressional testimony refers to public hearings held by the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, or a Joint or Special Committee of Congress.

AMP uses both Congressional testimony published for the 1871-1872 Joint Select Committee on Alabama Klan Violence and Congressional testimony from 1875 testifying to election massacres in Eugaula and Mobile to search for additional lynching cases that may not have been included in current national lynching databases.

Death Certificate

A death certificate is a type of vital record created by either a county or state agency to record information about an individual’s death and burial. In Alabama, counties were legally required to record deaths starting in 1881. In 1908, Alabama State Law changed to require that all deaths in the state of Alabama be recorded by the Alabama Center for Health Statistics. Some death records at both the county and state-level have been lost, destroyed, or neglected. 

Death Index

A death index is a list of available death record information stored by the state vital statistics office. Many death indexes, but not all, are digitized and searchable on online databases such as Ancestry and FamilySearch. A death index is not the same as a Death Certificate; however, if a person’s death is listed in a death index, then a death certificate should be stored and accessible through the state Department of Health Statistics.

Genealogical Record

A genealogical record is a general term that includes census records, marriage records, and birth and death records.

We use genealogical records to document information about lynching victim’s personal lives and family histories. 

Governor’s Record

A governor’s record is a document created by a state governor and their administration during their term of office. These documents are usually stored at a state or national archival collection. 

In Alabama, governor’s records are stored at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) in Montgomery. These files can contain letters, newspaper clippings, and other sources from individuals across the state urging a governor to take action or comment on a lynching. In some instances, our researchers have found letters written by family members of lynching victims or by  the victim themself demanding justice. 

Maps

We use maps to locate lynchings, homes of lynching victims, and chronicle the time and distance that passed in a lynching event.

Marriage Record

A marriage record is a type of vital record created by either a county or a state court to legally recognize a marriage. Before 1888 in Alabama, marriage licenses and bonds were registered in the Probate Court (also known as the “Orphan’s Court before 1850) in the county of the bride’s residence. The records can be found in Probate Court in the county where the license was issued or sometimes in the county records stored at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. In 1936, Alabama started keeping statewide marriage records. For current fees and instructions for obtaining copies of the State’s records, contact the Alabama Department of Public Health

We use marriage records to find new information on lynching victims and their family. We use a combination of online and in-person research to look for marriage records stored at both the state and the county level. 

Oral History

Oral histories are interviews with people who have first-hand knowledge or memory of a lynching. 

We use oral histories to preserve the narratives of the people that remember, experienced, or were passed down stories of lynching in Alabama. These sources usually reveal new or different information than can be found in any other source and often reveal lynchings that were not documented in newspapers or legal records. 

Sheriff’s Records

Sheriff’s records were created by the sheriff of a county and his administration during his term of office. These sources are usually stored at county-level courts or by the local sheriff’s office itself. Preservation and access to these records vary widely.

Sheriff’s records and arrest records can be key pieces of evidence in lynching cases. These records may contain information about the timeline, people, and circumstances surrounding a lynching case that were not published or confirmed in newspaper reports. 

White Newspapers

White newspapers are written and edited primarily by white journalists. 

We understand the narratives presented in white newspapers usually endorse or incite violence against Black communities and are full of mistruths and fabrications. We use them to understand how white communities represented and understood lynching.