Not an Armchair Scholar

Not an Armchair Scholar

John Steelman grew at a time when mob violence directed at African Americans frequently erupted in the deep south. The issue deeply concerned Steelman and he made it the subject of his doctoral dissertation at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: “A Study of Mob Action in the South” completed in 1928. Mob violence was something that he endeavored to understand and he believed it was important to speak with the perpetrators of such violence, but his opposition to lynching was not merely intellectual. When mobs threatened to kill someone Steelman would drive to the locale and speak with the principal actors. In Tuscaloosa he managed to secure the safe passage of a black man, Mr. Clarke, held at the jail who was in danger of being lynched. Steelman successfully negotiated his release from the Warden who allowed Steelman to drive Clarke to safety in Atlanta Georgia.

1928-1934