Synopses & Reviews
The hangman's knot is a simple thing to tie, just a rope carefully coiled around itself up to thirteen times. But in those thirteen turns lie a powerful symbol, one of the most powerful in history, and particularly in America, whose relationship to the noose is all too deep and complicated.
Our history with hangings is shockingly recent. The last man to be hanged in the United States was Billy Bailey, who was executed in Delaware in 1996 for committing a double murder. Hanging has since been disallowed in that state, but it is still legal, in certain situations, in New Hampshire and Washington. An incident in Jena, Louisiana, in 2006, in which nooses were used to symbolically menace black students, is a fresh reminder of just how potent this emblem of racism and savage violence still is.
All that meaning, and all that history, is a lot to see in a coiled rope. But the fact is, that meaning is felt by all of us. And Jack Shuler, a professor of American literature and black studies, is the right man to explore it: from Judas Iscariot, perhaps the most infamous hanged man, to the killing of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the murderers at the heart of Capotes In Cold Blood, and beyond. Shuler goes era by era, tracing the evolution of this dark practice in episodes, and revealing the ways each one impacted the society around it. As he investigates the death of John Brown and the 1930 lynching that inspired the song Strange Fruit,” his travels take him across Americaand not just the Southuncovering our deep secrets and searching for meaning.
Shulers account is a kind of shadow history of America: for all the celebrated strides weve made towards integration and harmony, those victories are hollow without an appreciation for what they vanquished. The Thirteenth Turn is a courageous and searching book that reminds us where we come from, and what is lost if we forget.
Review
and#147;Richly researched and beautifully written, this is an essential history of our countryand#8221;and#151;
Boston Globeand#147;Thoroughly engagingand#133; a finely tuned studyand#8221;and#151;Washington Post
and#147;A book that is as haunting as its subjectand#8221;and#151;CHOICE
and#147;In-depth reportage... a comprehensive, remarkable and necessary examination of our countryand#8217;s ugly pastand#8221;and#151;Truthdig
and#147;Transfixingand#133; a panoramic, unforgettable renderingand#8221;and#151;Kirkus Reviews, *starred review*
and#147;The Thirteenth Turn is a thoughtful, profound book. Jack Shuler has taken an object we are all too familiar with in our history-the noose-and found in its story an urgent lesson on how to live." and#151;Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, author of Dead Man Walking and Death of Innocents
Synopsis
The story of a rope, a symbol, and rough justice in America.The hangmanand#8217;s knot is a simple thing to tie, just a rope carefully coiled around itself up to thirteen times. But in those thirteen turns lie a powerful symbol, one that is all too deeply connected to Americaand#8217;s pastand#151;and present.
The last man to be hanged in the United States was Billy Bailey, who was executed in Delaware in 1996 for committing a double murder. Even today, hanging is still legal, in certain situations, in New Hampshire and Washington. And the noose remains a potent cultural symbol. An incident in Jena, Louisiana, in 2006, in which nooses were used to menace black students, made national news. Yet little has changed: according to author Jack Shuler, there have been nearly 100 and#147;noose incidentsand#8221; just in the last two years.
The Thirteenth Turn unravels these stories, from Judas Iscariot, perhaps the most infamous hanged man, to the killing of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the murderers at the heart of Truman Capoteand#8217;s In Cold Blood, and beyond. In his travels across America, Shuler traces the evolution of this dark practice. As he investigates the death of John Brown, or the 1930 lynching that inspired the song and#147;Strange Fruit,and#8221; he finds that the very places that perpetrated these acts now seek to forget them.
Shulerand#8217;s account is a kind of shadow history of America: a reminder that vigilantes and hangmen play a crucial role in our national story. The Thirteenth Turn is a courageous and searching book that reminds us where we come from, and what is lost if we forget.
About the Author
Jack Shuler holds the John and Christine Warner Chair at Denison University, where he is an associate professor teaching American literature and Black Studies. He is the author of two books on the nexus of race and violence in America,
Calling Out Liberty and
Blood and Bone. Shulerand#8217;s criticism, interviews, reviews, and poems have appeared in the
Columbia Journal of American Studies, Journal of Southern History, South Carolina Review, Southern Studies, and
Failbetter, among others. He lives in Ohio.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
ORIGINS
CHAPTER 1 The Thirteenth Turn: Origins of the Noose, 11
CHAPTER 2 Rope, Ritual, Roots: The Iron Age Hanging of Tollund Man, 27
CHAPTER 3 An Ignoble Death: Hanging from the Roman Empire to Medieval
Europe, 39
REVOLUTIONS
CHAPTER 4 At the Crossroads:The Spectacle of Hanging in Colonial New
York, 55
CHAPTER 5 Hanging Hannah Occuish in Post-Revolution America, 81
CHAPTER 6 Meteors of War: Death by Hanging and the End of Slavery, 99
CHAPTER 7 The Noose in the Museum: Hanging and Native America, 127
LYNCHING
CHAPTER 8 Alone from a Tree: Lynching in the Post-Reconstruction South,159
CHAPTER 9 A Story of Hands: An Early Twentieth-Century Lynching in the
American Midwest, 183
CHAPTER 10 Strange Fruit:The Legacy of Marion, 201
A GOOD DEATH
CHAPTER 11 When the Gallows Come Down, 221
CHAPTER 12 The New Burning Cross, 239
CHAPTER 13 The Noose in Our World, 267
Notes 281
Sources 323
Selected Bibliography 325
Index 337