Educational Media Reviews Online

For most people, postcards are meant to remind us of enjoyable events or travels. What if the event commemorated is a lynching? Jarring images of lynchings of African Americans set the tone for this fifteen-minute documentary film. Lynching postcards were a highly profitable business for photographers and were proudly shared with friends and family. The smiling children gathered around lynched bodies to celebrate a “festival of violence” are especially unsettling.

The historians interviewed in this film discuss the complicity of state and local governments in lynchings. In one case, a mayor in Waco, Texas allowed a photographer to set up his equipment prior to a lynching in exchange for a portion of the profits. The unmasked faces in the photos remind us that the people committing and attending lynchings had no fear of prosecution.

Activists such as W.E.B. DuBois (writing for the NAACP) and Ida B. Wells utilized lynching postcards to shine a light on the violence and to push for anti-lynching laws. One historian interviewed stated that while more than 200 anti-lynching bills have been presented to congress, none have passed. Lynching postcards are now a testament to the legacy and brutality of lynching in the United States.

Awards:
2022 Image Awards (NAACP), Won, Image Award Outstanding Short-Form Series or Special Reality/Nonfiction

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