Oxford in Lafayette County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Lynching in America ⎯⎯⎯ The Lynching of Elwood Higginbottom
Community Remembrance Project
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 1, 2023
1. Lynching in America side of marker
Inscription.
Lynching in America
Thousands of black people were the victims of racial terror lynching in the United States between 1877 and 1950. The lynching of African Americans during this era was a form of racial terrorism intended to intimidate black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. After the Civil War, violent resistance to equal rights for African Americans and an ideology of white supremacy led to fatal violence against black women, men, and children accused of violating social customs, engaging in interracial relationships, or committing crimes. Community leaders who spoke against this violence were themselves often targeted by mobs. Racial terror lynching became the most public and notorious form of subordination directed at black people and was frequently tolerated or even supported by law enforcement and elected officials. White mobs were usually permitted to engage in brutal violence with impunity. Many black people were pulled out of jails or given over to mobs by law enforcement officials who were legally required to protect them. Terror lynchings often included burnings and mutilation, sometimes
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in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many names of those whose lives were claimed by these acts of violence were not recorded and will never be known, but over 650 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Mississippi alone, at least seven having taken place in Lafayette County.
The Lynching of Elwood Higginbottom
On the evening of September 17, 1935, Elwood Higginbottom, a 28-year old African-American tenant farmer, husband, and father to three children, was in custody in the Oxford jail. Four months earlier, landholder Glen Roberts led a posse to Higginbottom's house over a property dispute. Higginbottom defended himself and fled after Roberts was fatally shot. After Roberts's funeral, “citizens of Oxford and the county joined with officers of [Lafayette] and other counties” in a manhunt. They beat Higginbottom's sister and threatened burning his brothers to death in retaliation. Captured a few days later in Pontotoc County, Higginbottom was held in Jackson until his trial date in Oxford. With anger mounting that a guilty verdict was not forthcoming quickly enough, a mob of 50-150 white men gathered outside the
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 1, 2023
2. The Lynching of Elwood Higginbottom side of marker
jail. They broke in and drove Higginbottom to a wooded area near this location, the Three-Way, on Old Russell Road. Higginbottom fought for his life, but the mob forced a rope around his neck and hanged him to death. Reports described five bullet holes in his body. The lynching sparked outrage from the NAACP, which wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt and blamed Higginbottom's death on “callous indifference” toward federal or state protections against “anarchic mobs.” Roosevelt's administration did not respond. Officials in Mississippi charged no one for Mr. Higginbottom's murder.
Erected 2018 by Equal Justice Initiative.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Law Enforcement. In addition, it is included in the Lynching in America series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 17, 1935.
Location. 34° 23.133′ N, 89° 30.394′ W. Marker is in Oxford, Mississippi, in Lafayette County. It is at the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and Molly Barr Road, on the right when traveling south on North Lamar Boulevard. Touch for map. Marker is at or near
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 1, 2023
3. The Lynching of Elwood Higginbottom / Lynching in America Marker
this postal address: 1431 N Lamar Blvd, Oxford MS 38655, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the North Mississippi Hills. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
“A Replica marker of one side is located at the Equal Justice Initiatives' National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The Equal Justice Initiative supports efforts to locally memorialize documented victims of racial violence and to educate communities about the history of racial injustice.” Mark Hilton
Oxford Eagle website entry (October 30, 2018) (Submitted on July 13, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 643 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 4. submitted on October 16, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.
