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Memphis and the Lynching at the Curve

Site of the lynching (modern day)

Thomas Moss symbolized the urban entrepreneurial class of African Americans that emerged in the decades following the Civil War. Moss invested in a community-owned grocery store, the People’s Grocery, which he managed at night after spending his days working as a postman. The People’s Grocery was located at the southeast corner of what is today Mississippi Blvd and Walker Ave, known then as “the Curve” for the distinctive turn that streetcars made at the corner. During an era in which African Americans were subject to racial subjugation, the People’s Grocery stood as an emblem of pride for the community.

William Barrett, a white man and proprietor of a rival store in the area, felt economically threatened by the People’s Grocery. After he was injured in a scuffle that took place in the Curve on 2 March 1892, Barrett determined to use the incident to discredit Moss’s establishment. Barrett blamed his injuries on a young worker at the People’s Grocery, William Stewart. Barrett arrived at the People’s Grocery the next day with a police officer to arrest Stewart. Instead, Barrett and the officer were met by Clint McDowell, a grocery clerk, who refused to give up his co-worker’s location. Furious, Barrett struck McDowell with a revolver, losing his grip in the process. McDowell’s athleticism got the better of Barrett. McDowell grabbed the fallen revolver and shot at Barrett, barely missing him. Barrett and the officer retreated. McDowell remarked in the Appeal-Avalanche, “Being the stronger, I got the best of the scrimmage.” This statement only fueled Barrett’s anger. Subsequently, Barrett notified the authorities of the incident. Within a few days Barrett was deputized by a Shelby County Court judge, with permission to form a group to get revenge on those who offended him at the People’s Grocery.

Well aware that an attack was imminent, the patrons of the People’s Grocery asked local authorities for protection. The city of Memphis refused, as the Curve was located just outside of the city, thus outside their jurisdiction. Faced with no other option, a group of men armed themselves inside the People’s Grocery. On Saturday, March 5, Barrett and his men marched towards the Curve. A gunfight ensued in which three of Barrett’s men were injured.

The Memphis Commercial and the Appeal Avalanche inaccurately characterized the attack as evidence that the African American tenants of the People’s Grocery were planning a race war against whites, when in fact those inside the People’s Grocery were simply defending their establishment from attack...

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change (Nathaniel Collins Ball)
Source date: 
Sep 30 2015 (all day)
Tags: 
Nathaniel Collins Ball, The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
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The People's Grocery Lynchings (Thomas Moss, Will Stewart, Calvin McDowell)

Mar 9 1892 (all day)

In March of 1892, in a mixed race neighborhood called the Curve, near  Mississippi Blvd and Walker Avenue a white grocer named William Barrett found his business shrinking because of the success...

Research material

Polk's City Directory, 1891

Illustration from Memphis Appeal Avalanche, 3/10/1892

Memphis Appeal Avalanche, 3/10/1892

New York Sun 3-10-1892

New York Sun, 3/10/1892

New York Times, 3/10/1892

New York Times, 3/11/1892

Appeal Avalanche, Drawings of Calvin McDowell and Thomas Moss

Appeal Avalanche, Drawings of Calvin McDowell and Thomas Moss, 3/28/1892

Photo: Ida B. Wells, Maurine Moss, Betty Moss, and Tom Moss, Jr.

People's Grocery Historical Marker

Ida B Wells Historical Marker mentioning the People's Grocery Lynching

News

Courtesy University of Chicago, via Nathaniel C. Ball, MA of The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change.

In 1892, Memphis and the world showed Thomas Moss HATE. Today, we can show his descendants LOVE.

YouTube

Ida B. Wells – The Light of Truth

YouTube

The Red Record: People's Grocery PART 2

The Red Record: People's Grocery PART 1

Ida B. Wells: The Lynching at the Curve (Feature film coming 2018)

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
Illustration of the Peoples Grocery Lynching from the March 10th, 1892 edition of the Memphis Appeal-Avalanche

How the Location of the Peoples Grocery Lynching Was Rediscovered

Local news coverage of the 125th anniversary of People's Grocery Lynchings

Focusing on local history (Commercial Appeal Letter to the Editor)

Commercial Appeal, Letters to the Editor, 3/9/2017

History: Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Her Passion for Justice, by Lee D. Baker
Content © Copyright The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis and respective authors
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