A Lynching in Little Dixie

James T. Scott’s 1923 lynching in the college town of Columbia, Missouri, was precipitated by a case of mistaken identity. Falsely accused of rape, the World War I veteran was dragged from jail by a mob and hanged from a bridge before 1000 onlookers. Patricia L. Roberts lived most of her life unaware that her aunt was the girl who erroneously accused Scott, only learning of it from a 2003 account in the University of Missouri’s school newspaper. Drawing on archival research, she tells Scott’s full story for the first time in the context of the racism of the Jim Crow Midwest.

The late Patricia L. Roberts was an artist who worked in both visual arts and writing. She lived in Vestal, New York.

Patricia L. Roberts
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 200
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7492-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3486-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface by Lawrence D. Roberts 1
Introduction 3
1. The New Mexico Mystery 11
2. The Place 21
3. Columbia and the Civil War 32
4. Reconstruction and Beyond 40
5. Life in Chicago 54
6. What James Scott Was Missing Back in Columbia 71
7. James Scott’s Possible Great Adventure 95
8. Whose Side Are We Fighting on Anyway? 117
9. Sweet Land of Liberty 131
10. The Last Week 144
11. The Aftermath 159
12. Still Partially Cloudy 171
Chapter Notes 181
Bibliography 187
Index 191