Churchgoing white citizens streamed directly from morning worship to participate in a lynching

Evidence

The word that Wilkes had been captured and was to be lynched in the nearby town of Newnan reached Atlanta on a Sunday morning. The scene was surreal. When the city’s white churches emptied from morning services, many worshippers streamed straight from church to the train station, hoping to participate in the much-anticipated lynching. To meet demand, the Atlanta and West Point Railroad put together a special run with six coaches; conductors roamed the platform, shouting, “Special train to Newnan! All aboard for the burning!” But that train was soon overwhelmed, with people hanging on to the outside of the cars and climbing onto the roofs to ensure they didn’t miss the spectacle. Police had to be called in, and the railroad commissioned a second ten-car train behind the first. Packed with approximately two thousand Atlanta citizens, both trains sped toward Newnan. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 91

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to White Too Long’s central thesis that white Southern Christianity and white supremacy were symbiotically fused — the churchgoing crowds here are the same demographic Jones anatomizes throughout. — connects to: Lynching crowds voiced religious ecstasy, merging mob murder with worship. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 97; White churchgoers streamed directly from Sunday worship to a mass lynching — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 91; Theology of white Protestant superiority undergirded a century of lynchings — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 29 (+2 more)
• SHARE: A specific person interested in American religion or Jim Crow history would find the phrasing ‘All aboard for the burning!’ a vivid, citable detail.

Broader Connections

• White churchgoers streamed directly from Sunday worship to a mass lynching #corroborates (1.00) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 91
• Lynching was collective public ritual expressing white supremacy, not aberrant violence #qualifies (0.80) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 162
• Lynching crowds voiced praise to God at the moment of death #expands (0.78) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 97
• Theology of white Protestant superiority undergirded a century of lynchings #qualifies (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 29