Charlotte Harris Lynched, 6 March 1878

A-131

About a dozen disguised people took Charlotte Harris from the custody of jailers in eastern Rockingham County on the night of 6 March 1878 and hanged her from a tree approximately 13 miles southeast of here. This is the only documented lynching of an African American woman in Virginia, and it received nationwide attention. A grand jury that met here failed to identify any of the lynchers. Harris had been accused of inciting a young African American man to burn the barn of a white farmer. This man was later acquitted on all charges. More than 4,000 lynchings took place in the United States between 1877 and 1950; more than 100 people, primarily African American men, were lynched in Virginia.

Department of Historic Resources, 2020

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Staunton Spectator, 12, 15 March, 23 April 1878. Chicago Daily Tribune, 13 March 1878. Rockingham Register, 7, 14 March, 25 April 1878. Richmond Daily Dispatch, 11, 16, 18 March, 17 April 1878. Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 26 March 1878. Alexandria Gazette, 11, 16, 27 March, 17 April 1878. New York Herald, 10 March 1878, 17 April 1878. Washington Daily Critic, 17 April 1878. Washington Evening Star, 11 March, 17 April 1878. Racial Terror: Lynching in Virginia: https://sites.jmu.edu/valynchings/va1878030601/ https://sites.jmu.edu/valynchings/the-lynching-of-charlotte-harris/ https://sites.jmu.edu/valynchings/victims/ Map of Rockingham County, D. J. Lake and Co., 1885. http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/171434/Stonewall+Magisterial+District++Milnes++Elkton+Sta+++McGaheysville++Port+Republic++Montevideo+Above/Rockingham+County+1885/Virginia/