Duluth lynchings
On June 15, 1920, three African-American (Black) circus workers, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie, suspects in an assault case, were taken from the jail and lynched by a White mob of thousands in Duluth, Minnesota. Rumors had circulated that six Black men had raped and robbed a nineteen-year-old White woman. A physician who examined her found no physical evidence of rape.
| Duluth lynchings | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Nadir of American race relations | |
| Location | Duluth, Minnesota |
| Target | Six arrested suspects |
| Victims | Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie |
| Perpetrators | Mob (estimated 1,000 - 10,000 participants) |
| Motive | The alleged rape of Irene Tusken |
| Part of a series on the |
| Nadir of American race relations |
|---|
The 1920 lynchings are the only known instance of lynching of African-Americans in Minnesota. Twenty other lynchings were recorded in Minnesota, and included mainly Native Americans and Whites. Three men were convicted of rioting, but none served more than fifteen months. No one was ever prosecuted for the murders.
The state of Minnesota passed anti-lynching legislation in April 1921, and lynchings have not been recorded in Minnesota since. In 2003, the city of Duluth erected a memorial to the lynched men. In 2020, Max Mason, who was convicted in court after the lynchings, was granted the first posthumous pardon in the history of the state.