Center in Shelby County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Racial Terror Lynchings ⎯⎯⎯ The Lynching of Lige Daniels
Community Remembrance Project
Photographed by Jeff Leichsenring, April 23, 2023
1. Racial Terror Lynchings
Inscription.
Racial Terror Lynchings, also, The Lynching of Lige Daniels. Community Remembrance Project.
Racial Terror Lynchings. Thousands of black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the United States between 1877 and 1950. During this era, racial terror lynching of African Americans emerged as a stunning form of violent resistance to emancipation and equal rights for African Americans, intended to intimidate black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. Racial terror lynching was most prevalent in the South and was used to uphold white supremacy and enforce decades of political, social, and economic exploitation. Lynching became the most public and notorious form of terror and subordination. White mobs were usually permitted to engage in racial terror and 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 in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many of the names of lynching victims were not recorded and will never be known, but over 330 documented lynchings of black people took place in Texas alone, including Mr. Daniels and Mr. Buddy Evans, who was lynched on May 21, 1928, in Shelby County.,
The Lynching of Lige Daniels. On August 2, 1920, Lige Daniels, an African American man, was confined inside the county jail in Center, Texas awaiting trial. News of his arrest spread quickly through Shelby County and the state. Mr. Daniels was accused of killing a white woman during a time when deep racial hostility burdened black people with presumptions of guilt and focused suspicion on black residents anytime crimes were discovered. Although no evidence of guilt had been reviewed in court regarding the allegations against Lige Daniels, the accusation sparked immediate mob violence. From twenty miles south, a message was sent to Center's authorities, warning that if Mr. Daniels was not killed that day, a delegation from San Augustine would arrive later that night "to attend to the matter." Despite an order from the Governor to secure Mr. Daniels's safety, a mob of white men, swelling to an estimated one thousand participants, beat down the jail's doors and stormed inside. The mob seized Mr. Daniels from his cell and hanged him from an oak tree on the courthouse yard. Like many victims of racial terror lynching, no proof of Lige Daniels's guilt was required. Despite the fact that perpetrators of the lynching posed for photographs under his brutalized body, no one who participated in the mob was held accountable for his lynching.
Racial Terror Lynchings
Thousands of black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the
United States between 1877 and 1950. During this era, racial terror lynching of
African Americans emerged as a stunning form of violent resistance to emancipation
and equal rights for African Americans, intended to intimidate black people and
enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. Racial terror lynching was most prevalent
in the South and was used to uphold white supremacy and enforce decades of
political, social, and economic exploitation. Lynching became the most public and
notorious form of terror and subordination. White mobs were usually permitted to
engage in racial terror and 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 in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many of the
names of lynching victims were not recorded and will never be known, but over 330
documented lynchings of black people took place
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in Texas alone, including Mr.
Daniels and Mr. Buddy Evans, who was lynched on May 21, 1928, in Shelby County.
The Lynching of Lige Daniels
On August 2, 1920, Lige Daniels, an African American man, was confined inside the
county jail in Center, Texas awaiting trial. News of his arrest spread quickly through
Shelby County and the state. Mr. Daniels was accused of killing a white woman
during a time when deep racial hostility burdened black people with presumptions of
guilt and focused suspicion on black residents anytime crimes were discovered.
Although no evidence of guilt had been reviewed in court regarding the allegations
against Lige Daniels, the accusation sparked immediate mob violence. From twenty
miles south, a message was sent to Center's authorities, warning that if Mr. Daniels
was not killed that day, a delegation from San Augustine would arrive later that night
"to attend to the matter." Despite an order from the Governor to secure Mr. Daniels's
safety, a mob of white men, swelling to an estimated one thousand participants, beat
down the jail's doors and stormed inside. The mob seized Mr. Daniels from his
Photographed by Jeff Leichsenring, April 23, 2023
2. The Lynching of Lige Daniels
cell
and hanged him from an oak tree on the courthouse yard. Like many victims of racial
terror lynching, no proof of Lige Daniels's guilt was required. Despite the fact
that perpetrators of the lynching posed for photographs under his brutalized
body, no one who participated in the mob was held accountable for his lynching.
Erected 2018 by Equal Justice Initiative and Community Remembrance Project.
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 May 21, 1928.
Location. 31° 47.037′ N, 94° 10.108′ W. Marker is in Center, Texas, in Shelby County. It is at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Hicks Street, on the left when traveling south on Martin Luther King Drive. Located in Hicks Mortuary parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 804 Martin Luther King Dr, Center TX 75935, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American South, specifically in the Deep
Photographed by Jeff Leichsenring, April 23, 2023
3. Racial Terror Lynchings / The Lynching of Lige Daniels Marker
South, and in the Piney Woods. 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 New Spain, the Republic of Texas, 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
Credits. This page was last revised on December 3, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 26, 2023, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. This page has been viewed 1,848 times since then and 224 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 26, 2023, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. 4. submitted on October 16, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
