Chronology of events

Background

In 1920, Duluth is home to a small Black community. It is a period of heightened racial conflict across the country.

The lynchings

On June 15, 1920, police arrest several young Black men accused of raping a white woman. That evening, three of them – Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie – are taken from jail by a mob and lynched.

Legal proceedings

A call for justice, but the lynch mob is only lightly punished. Two Black men are tried on questionable charges of rape.

Incarcerations

Three white men are imprisoned for rioting. One Black man, Max Mason, is imprisoned for rape.

Afterwards

Many Black people leave Duluth. Minnesota's Black community establishes the Duluth Branch of the NAACP and campaigns for anti-lynching legislation. Years later, the three victims are finally properly laid to rest.