Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching facts for kids

The Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL) was a group of women who worked to stop lynching in the Southern United States. Lynching was a terrible act where a mob of people would kill someone, often by hanging, without a fair trial. Most victims were African Americans.

The ASWPL was started by Jessie Daniel Ames in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 1930. The group was made up of white women, mostly from middle and upper-class families. They believed that only white women could convince other white women to join their cause. The ASWPL became very active and had members in every county in the South. Along with another group called the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC), the ASWPL helped change how many white people thought about lynching.

Why the ASWPL Started

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, most lynchings in the United States happened in the South. The number of lynchings had been going down, but in 1930, there was a sudden increase. That year, 21 lynchings were reported, and 20 of the victims were African Americans.

On November 1, 1930, 26 important Southern women met in Atlanta. They wanted to talk about why lynchings were increasing and how women could help stop them.

Challenging False Excuses

One common excuse for lynching was that it was done to "protect" white women. Jessie Daniel Ames, who started the ASWPL, explained that these claims of attacks on white women by Black men were rarely true. She said the real reason for lynchings was racial hatred. Ames also felt that white women were being used in this false story to hide other reasons, like wanting economic power.

Ames used ideas from religious groups and other organizations like the League of Women Voters to guide the ASWPL's work.

Growing the Movement

On that first day in November, about 12 women signed a public statement against lynching. Over time, more than 40,000 Southern women signed the same statement. A main group of 12 women agreed to hold meetings in their home states to fight lynching.

Women from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas met with Ames in Dallas a few days later. They made a strong statement:

"Lynching is an indefensible crime. Women dare no longer allow themselves to be the cloak behind which those bent upon personal revenge and savagery commit acts of violence and lawlessness in the name of women. We repudiate this disgraceful claim for all time."

Ames started the ASWPL chapter in Georgia in January 1931. By April, groups had formed in almost all Southern states.

ASWPL's Impact

In 1934, the ASWPL made a formal statement. They said that lynching was a natural result in any community that treated some of its citizens badly because of their race. They also said it happened where people took advantage of weaker groups for money, denied equal education, separated people by race, and stopped citizens from having a say in government.

By the early 1940s, the ASWPL had 109 groups with 4 million members. The CIC helped fund the ASWPL. In May 1940, the ASWPL celebrated a whole year without a single lynching. The year before, there had only been three.

In 1940, some ASWPL members did not support a national anti-lynching law in Congress. Ames believed that efforts to stop lynching were best handled by individual states. Instead of a new law, they pushed for more education, cooperation between police and media, and more members.

In 1942, Jessie Daniel Ames felt the ASWPL had achieved its goals, so she closed the organization.

In 1979, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall wrote a book called Revolt Against Chivalry. It was about Jessie Daniel Ames and the important work of the ASWPL.

How the ASWPL Worked

The ASWPL used the influence of women in their local towns to create a "new way of thinking." They did this by connecting with women to help the movement grow. They also taught Southern women that the idea behind lynching—that it was only for "revenge for an attack on a white woman"—was a myth. The ASWPL shared facts and numbers to prove their points. Because they were seen as "Southern ladies," their words had even more power to break down these false ideas.

Working with Leaders

ASWPL members talked to police officers and sheriffs in their communities. They asked them to protect African Americans from being lynched. One ASWPL leader said, "We were determined not be just another body of resolution-passer. So we went to work where it meant the most: on the county sheriffs."

In 1934, Sallie L. Hanna, who led the ASWPL in Texas, got seven candidates for governor to promise to use their power to end lynching. The winner, James V. Allred, was one of those who had promised to stop lynching in Texas. By 1938, police officers and sheriffs stopped 40 known attempts at lynching. Many of them had promised in writing to support the ASWPL's plan.

Spreading the Word

Besides talking to law enforcement, the women of ASWPL spoke to church groups across the South about lynchings. They also created a network of women who could find out about possible lynchings before they happened. These women would report the threats to the police, or sometimes even go themselves to try and stop the lynchings. Later, the ASWPL worked with local newspapers to share news about potential lynchings so that those involved could not keep their actions secret.

The ASWPL also demanded "thorough investigation" of any mob killings of African Americans. These investigations were a big change. Before the ASWPL started watching, lynchings were often "hushed up" and quickly forgotten.