Reviews

John Lee -- 13 Aug 1911 lynching Durant Oklahoma -- is accused of raping and fatally wounding my maternal great grandmother, Fannie Cannon Campbell (aka Mrs. Lee Redden Campbell, (b. 26 Feb 1887 - d. 14 Aug 1911). Fannie was at home baking pies with their two youngest kids (Velma 18 mos and Vera 2 yrs ). At the time of the attack, my great grandfather and their two sons (Bryce and Paul) were on the way to/from the train station to pick up Fannie's mother, who'd missed the train. I am trying to learn more about Mr. Lee and his family as well as my own.  

Top notch history on a relevant subject. The author weaves extra-legal executions with the changing media technology developing at the same time. While lynchings began to peak after the Civil War, the camera and movies were first developing as public media.
In the chapter, Religion, Wood mentions that some recent scholars have associated lynchings with expiation of sin, analogous, in a roughshod way, with the crucifixion of Christ. But, as she points out, most of those attendant at lynchings probably did not see this perspective. Rather, they were out to (a) bring about quick revenge and (b) in this manner attempt to prevent further crime. But the man hanged may have not committed a crime, in some cases.
Although Wood does not go into the psychoanalytic angle much, she does mention citations of psycho-sexual sadism, and its opposite, masochism, in a projected sense. But she doubts that any of the perpetrators of lynchings thought much about this, although they patently claimed to be protecting their females.
Wood also notes the similarity between men hunting animals and hunting alleged criminals. This is in the next chapter on Photography. Here, she cites Susan Sontag's observation that taking a photography, or a "shot," is "sublimated murder." There's a lot of room for understanding and reflection just in these chapters, but the whole book is full of them. Highly recommended.