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–Ida B. Wells

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Charlie Morris and Sylvester Lewis Story Corps Interview

Click here for Story Corps Interview Page

In April, 1939, a young African American man was accused of stealing merchandise from a store in Tennessee. Shortly afterward, he was found dead in a nearby river.

That man’s name was Jessie Lee Bond. His death certificate says he drowned accidentally, but his family always maintained that after an argument with white shop owners, he was lynched — shot, castrated, and thrown in a river.

At StoryCorps, Charlie Morris (L), Jessie Lee’s brother, remembers the moment he learned what happened.

No one has ever been charged in Charlie’s brother’s death. But his story inspired a lawmaker in Tennessee to introduce a bill to the legislature that would create a task force to study unsolved civil rights crimes. That bill stalled in the state Senate.

Story Corps
Tags: 
Charlie Morris, Story Corps, Sylvester Lewis
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Jesse Lee Bond

Apr 28 1939 (all day)

Jesse Lee Bond was lynched in Arlington,Tennessee on April 28, 1939 – in broad daylight, on the town square. The authorities lied about it, and the newspapers remained silent. It took more than...

News

Family fights for memory of lynching victim with memorial marker

ABC24 News

"A Library Has Been Lost," by John Ashworth

An Accidental Drowning Available for Online Viewing

LSP's Service to Commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the Lynching of Jesse Lee Bond

Arlington must tell truth about 1939 lynching

The Commercial Appeal

Vigil in Arlington to Honor Jesse Lee Bond, Victim of 1939 Lynching

http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/movies/2017/11/05/indie-memphis-2017-film-festival-award-winners/830468001/

Indie Memphis: 2017 Film Festival Award Winners

The Commercial Appeal
https://mlk50.com/mlk-legacy-themes-evoked-by-local-filmmakers-at-memphis-indie-film-festival-8706ad402a19

MLK legacy, themes evoked by local filmmakers at Memphis Indie Film Festival

MLK50 Memphis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2-1neTpnfY&feature=youtu.be

A longer one-hour version of the Jesse Lee Bond story

YouTube

An interview with Sylvester Lewis on the history of Gray's Creek Baptist church African Americans in the ArlingtonEades Community

The Quiet Lynching of Jesse Lee Bond - Two Minute Video

IndieGoGo: The Quiet Lynching of Jesse Lee Bond

Interview with Charlie Morris, brother of Jesse Lee Bond

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