Lynching of Cleo Wright

Cleo Wright (June 23, 1915 – January 25, 1942) was an African-American cotton-mill worker who was lynched during the afternoon of January 25, 1942, after earlier being accused of attacking a white woman with a knife and attempting to sexually assault her, and subsequently stabbing a police officer in the face.^[1]

History[]

On January 25, 1942, in Sikeston, Missouri, a black man entered the home of two women whose husbands were away in the army. He attacked one of them with a six-inch knife, nearly severing three of her fingers and ripping her abdomen so her intestines spilled out. Neighbors, including the victims grandfather, intervened, and the attacker fled. Wright was found nearby, walking calmly, with a bloodstained knife in his pants. When arrested, an altercation ensued with Night Marshall Hess Perrigan, who shot Wright eight times. A mob grabbed the unconscious Wright, poured gasoline on him, and burned him in front of Smiths Chapel. Threats were made to other blacks of the city, and many fled the city. Others armed themselves and guarded the entrance to their neighborhood. Governor Forrest Donnell directed the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Sheriff John Hobbs to assign additional men to the scene. Nearly 100 residents who fled never returned to the community. Afterwards, blacks who had armed themselves and patrolled the community opened a chapter of the NAACP, seeking protection from mob violence. The white community considered the killing justified. Church leaders, while generally negative on the righteousness of lynching, were afraid to speak out one way or the other due to the fear it would "drive a wedge" between members.^[2]

References[]

^ Teachout, Terry (May 30, 1999). "Close to Home". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ Capeci Jr., Domenic J (1998). The Lynching of Cleo Wright. The University Press of Kentucky. Retrieved 18 November 2018.

Lynching of Cleo Wright

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