Identity and violent death - Contextualizing lethal gun violence within the African American community of Dallas, TX (1900-1907)

During the Freedman's Cemetery Project of the 1990s, evidence of lethal gun violence was recovered archaeologically from several early twentieth century burials. Although lying in unmarked graves, those who died violently still have the chance of being identified through the very bullets that robbed them of their lives. Forensic identification of the bullets and other archaeological criteria are compared to descriptions of gunshot victims in newspaper accounts and other archival records, and individual as well as group identity is examined in the process. These moments of violence also provide a unique window into exploring the extent and underlying causes of violence perpetrated within and against the African American community of Dallas, Texas, in the first decade of the twentieth century.