Measuring a prisoner's head (possibly at Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater), ca. 1900.

Ethel Ray Nance was living in Moose Lake, Minnesota, when Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie were lynched in Duluth on June 15, 1920. In this audio excerpt, recorded in the 1970s, Nance discusses her reaction to the news of the lynchings.

Law Professor Lea Vandervelde (University of Iowa) explains the U.S. Supreme Court's 1857 decision, based in part on the Dred and Harriet Scott's time in Minnesota, and how the decision split the nation in two prior to the outbreak of war in 1861. Richard Josey (Minnesota Historical Society) focuses on the Scotts' time at Fort Snelling from 1836 to 1840.

On June 15, 1920, in Duluth, Minnesota, three young black men, falsely accused of raping a white woman, were pulled from their jail cells and lynched by a mob numbering in the thousands. In June 2020, the Minnesota Historical Society marked the centennial of the lynchings with a week of remembrance. In this video, Minnesota historians, authors, and prominent community members share their perspectives about the legacy of the Duluth lynchings.

A group gathers in front of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, at the corner of North Second Avenue and East First Street. Photograph by Flickr user Fibonacci Blue, September 28, 2019.

Text on the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, at the corner of North Second Avenue and East First Street. Photograph by Flickr user Peter Fleck, November 25, 2007.

Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, at the corner of North Second Avenue and East First Street. Photograph by Flickr user artstuffmatters, June 17, 2020. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, at the corner of North Second Avenue and East First Street. Photograph by Flickr user Peter Fleck, November 25, 2007. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Jim Alexander (left) with Gordon Parks at Clark College, Atlanta. Photograph by Jim Alexander, February 8, 1988. CC BY-SA 4.0.