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More Than a Snapshot: Will Brown's Lynching and the Violence of History

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This teaching module discusses the history racial violence in the Midwest, featuring a webinar with Ashley Howard, author of the 2025 book, Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement.

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  • More Than a Snapshot: Will Brown's Lynching and the Violence of History
    This teaching module discusses the history racial violence in the Midwest, featuring a webinar with Ashley Howard, author of the 2025 book, Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement.
  • Omaha Grapples with its Ugly Past (Will Brown)
    This article looks at the legacy of the lynching of Will Brown, featuring interviews with prominent, Black Omaha community members Preston Love and Ernie Chambers, as well as University of Nebraska-Omaha Urban studies professor, Barbara Hewins-Maroney.
  • Omaha's Riot in Story & Pictures
    This series of photographs document the race riot in Omaha that culminated in the lynching of Will Brown in front of the Douglas County Courthouse. In the first, as many as 20,000 people gather outside an already damaged courthouse. In the second, white rioters smile around the remains of the police car they had set ablaze. And in the third, federal troops guard the intersection of 24th and Lake streets, an area with a large number of Black homes and businesses.
  • Remembering a dark past, renewing resolve for the future (Will Brown)
    This article from the Omaha World Herald describes Omaha's official observance of the 100-year anniversary of the lynching of Will Brown. Omaha Mayor, Jean Stothert, spoke at the commemoration calling Will Brown's lynching one of the darkest days in our history.
  • The Lynching of Will Brown
    The day after the lynching of Will Brown, the Omaha Bee devoted the first two pages of its edition to the racial terror violence enacted by a mob of white Omahans. The articles on these pages provide different perspective of the race riot, from the crowds cheering at the destruction of government buildings, to the alleged assault victim's shock at the incident. The newspaper also featured a list of victims of the mob.
  • Webinar - More Than a Snapshot: Will Brown's Lynching and the Violence of History
    In this webinar, Professor Ashley Howard of the University of Iowa discusses racial violence in the Midwest with Dr. Katrina Jagodinsky and her Rights & Wrongs in American Legal History class.