James Cameron, 92, who at 16 survived being lynched from a maple tree in Marion, Ind., and decades later was present when the U.S. Senate apologized for its failure to enact federal anti-lynching laws, died June 11 of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Milwaukee.
Mr. Cameron, who kept a piece of the rope that had scarred his neck moments before he was spared, was the only known survivor of a lynching attempt. An astute student of history, he lectured widely and in 1988 founded the Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee.
The museum, one of the first of its kind in the country, explores the story of African Americans from slavery to the present. Mr. Cameron started the museum in his basement, and it gained widespread support as a venue of reconciliation.
Marty Stein, one of the early benefactors, told the Milwaukee Journal in 2005 that the museum was a place "you go and ask questions and not be embarrassed that you might insult someone."
"It's a place where the two communities -- African Americans and Europeans -- can come together . . . to build bridges."
Mr. Cameron was born in La Crosse, Wis., and lived in Birmingham and Kokomo, Ind., before moving to Marion, Ind., at 14.
On Aug. 7, 1930, two years into Mr. Cameron's stay in Marion, the 16-year-old and two acquaintances were arrested and accused of murder, robbery and rape. A white couple was parked in a lovers lane when the trio came upon them and one of the group suggested robbing the couple.
Mr. Cameron later said he changed his mind and ran away before the man, Claude Deeter, 23, was fatally shot. The woman later denied being raped.
Within hours, the three young black men were in jail. A mob broke into the jail, beat them and dragged them into the street. Thomas Shipp, 18, and Abram Smith, 19, were hanged from trees in front of the courthouse. Then came Mr. Cameron's turn.
In his autobiography, Mr. Cameron recalled the raw, inhuman sound of the mob, which included members of the local Ku Klux Klan. He once said he still could remember the faces of the 2,000 white people who gathered there, some with their children. Some eating. He prayed for his life.
Then, as the noose grew tighter around his neck, a voice called out: "Take this boy back. He had nothing to do with any raping or shooting of anybody."
His neck scarred, he was returned to jail and sentenced for robbery.
After serving about five years in prison in Marion, he left to live with an aunt in Detroit. He married there before moving in 1939 to Anderson, Ind. There he owned the only black business in town -- a combination shoeshine parlor, record shop and knickknack store.
In Anderson for about 10 years, he started chapters of the NAACP throughout Indiana. The civil rights work was difficult in the Klan-heavy state, and he felt support from local blacks was sometimes lacking because of fear, said his son, Virgil Cameron. He decided to leave Indiana and go to Canada, but when he stopped off in Milwaukee, several job opportunities caught his attention.
Mr. Cameron worked in a brewery for a few years and at Milprint packaging company awhile. He also went to a trade school to become a boiler engineer. He worked at one of the biggest malls in Milwaukee, Mayfair Shopping Center, until age 65. He also owned a rug-cleaning business, which afforded him the chance to travel.
In 1979, he and his wife went to Israel, where he visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the memorial to the 6 million people killed in the Holocaust. He returned to Milwaukee determined to build a museum telling the history and struggles of African Americans. He began by telling the story of the 4,700 people, mostly black, who were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
Last June, Mr. Cameron, frail and in a wheelchair, came to Washington to bear witness to the U.S. Senate apology condemning its past failures to outlaw lynching.
"It's 100-something years late," he said later. "But I'm glad they are doing it."
Besides his son of Milwaukee, survivors include his wife 68 years, Virginia Cameron of Milwaukee; two children, Walter Cameron of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Dolores Cameron of Chicago; five grandchildren; six great grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
The museum, one of the first of its kind in the country, explores the story of African Americans from slavery to the present. Mr. Cameron started the museum in his basement, and it gained widespread support as a venue of reconciliation.
"It's a place where the two communities -- African Americans and Europeans -- can come together . . . to build bridges."
Mr. Cameron was born in La Crosse, Wis., and lived in Birmingham and Kokomo, Ind., before moving to Marion, Ind., at 14.
On Aug. 7, 1930, two years into Mr. Cameron's stay in Marion, the 16-year-old and two acquaintances were arrested and accused of murder, robbery and rape. A white couple was parked in a lovers lane when the trio came upon them and one of the group suggested robbing the couple.
Mr. Cameron later said he changed his mind and ran away before the man, Claude Deeter, 23, was fatally shot. The woman later denied being raped.
Within hours, the three young black men were in jail. A mob broke into the jail, beat them and dragged them into the street. Thomas Shipp, 18, and Abram Smith, 19, were hanged from trees in front of the courthouse. Then came Mr. Cameron's turn.
In his autobiography, Mr. Cameron recalled the raw, inhuman sound of the mob, which included members of the local Ku Klux Klan. He once said he still could remember the faces of the 2,000 white people who gathered there, some with their children. Some eating. He prayed for his life.
Then, as the noose grew tighter around his neck, a voice called out: "Take this boy back. He had nothing to do with any raping or shooting of anybody."
His neck scarred, he was returned to jail and sentenced for robbery.
After serving about five years in prison in Marion, he left to live with an aunt in Detroit. He married there before moving in 1939 to Anderson, Ind. There he owned the only black business in town -- a combination shoeshine parlor, record shop and knickknack store.
In Anderson for about 10 years, he started chapters of the NAACP throughout Indiana. The civil rights work was difficult in the Klan-heavy state, and he felt support from local blacks was sometimes lacking because of fear, said his son, Virgil Cameron. He decided to leave Indiana and go to Canada, but when he stopped off in Milwaukee, several job opportunities caught his attention.
Mr. Cameron worked in a brewery for a few years and at Milprint packaging company awhile. He also went to a trade school to become a boiler engineer. He worked at one of the biggest malls in Milwaukee, Mayfair Shopping Center, until age 65. He also owned a rug-cleaning business, which afforded him the chance to travel.
In 1979, he and his wife went to Israel, where he visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the memorial to the 6 million people killed in the Holocaust. He returned to Milwaukee determined to build a museum telling the history and struggles of African Americans. He began by telling the story of the 4,700 people, mostly black, who were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
Last June, Mr. Cameron, frail and in a wheelchair, came to Washington to bear witness to the U.S. Senate apology condemning its past failures to outlaw lynching.
"It's 100-something years late," he said later. "But I'm glad they are doing it."
Besides his son of Milwaukee, survivors include his wife 68 years, Virginia Cameron of Milwaukee; two children, Walter Cameron of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Dolores Cameron of Chicago; five grandchildren; six great grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
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James Cameron; Survived Lynching, Founded Museum
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By Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Washington Post Staff WriterTuesday, June 13, 2006
James Cameron, 92, who at 16 survived being lynched from a maple tree in Marion, Ind., and decades later was present when the U.S. Senate apologized for its failure to enact federal anti-lynching laws, died June 11 of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Milwaukee.
Mr. Cameron, who kept a piece of the rope that had scarred his neck moments before he was spared, was the only known survivor of a lynching attempt. An astute student of history, he lectured widely and in 1988 founded the Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee.
The museum, one of the first of its kind in the country, explores the story of African Americans from slavery to the present. Mr. Cameron started the museum in his basement, and it gained widespread support as a venue of reconciliation.
Marty Stein, one of the early benefactors, told the Milwaukee Journal in 2005 that the museum was a place "you go and ask questions and not be embarrassed that you might insult someone."
"It's a place where the two communities -- African Americans and Europeans -- can come together . . . to build bridges."
Mr. Cameron was born in La Crosse, Wis., and lived in Birmingham and Kokomo, Ind., before moving to Marion, Ind., at 14.
On Aug. 7, 1930, two years into Mr. Cameron's stay in Marion, the 16-year-old and two acquaintances were arrested and accused of murder, robbery and rape. A white couple was parked in a lovers lane when the trio came upon them and one of the group suggested robbing the couple.
Mr. Cameron later said he changed his mind and ran away before the man, Claude Deeter, 23, was fatally shot. The woman later denied being raped.
Within hours, the three young black men were in jail. A mob broke into the jail, beat them and dragged them into the street. Thomas Shipp, 18, and Abram Smith, 19, were hanged from trees in front of the courthouse. Then came Mr. Cameron's turn.
In his autobiography, Mr. Cameron recalled the raw, inhuman sound of the mob, which included members of the local Ku Klux Klan. He once said he still could remember the faces of the 2,000 white people who gathered there, some with their children. Some eating. He prayed for his life.
Then, as the noose grew tighter around his neck, a voice called out: "Take this boy back. He had nothing to do with any raping or shooting of anybody."
His neck scarred, he was returned to jail and sentenced for robbery.
After serving about five years in prison in Marion, he left to live with an aunt in Detroit. He married there before moving in 1939 to Anderson, Ind. There he owned the only black business in town -- a combination shoeshine parlor, record shop and knickknack store.
In Anderson for about 10 years, he started chapters of the NAACP throughout Indiana. The civil rights work was difficult in the Klan-heavy state, and he felt support from local blacks was sometimes lacking because of fear, said his son, Virgil Cameron. He decided to leave Indiana and go to Canada, but when he stopped off in Milwaukee, several job opportunities caught his attention.
Mr. Cameron worked in a brewery for a few years and at Milprint packaging company awhile. He also went to a trade school to become a boiler engineer. He worked at one of the biggest malls in Milwaukee, Mayfair Shopping Center, until age 65. He also owned a rug-cleaning business, which afforded him the chance to travel.
In 1979, he and his wife went to Israel, where he visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the memorial to the 6 million people killed in the Holocaust. He returned to Milwaukee determined to build a museum telling the history and struggles of African Americans. He began by telling the story of the 4,700 people, mostly black, who were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
Last June, Mr. Cameron, frail and in a wheelchair, came to Washington to bear witness to the U.S. Senate apology condemning its past failures to outlaw lynching.
"It's 100-something years late," he said later. "But I'm glad they are doing it."
Besides his son of Milwaukee, survivors include his wife 68 years, Virginia Cameron of Milwaukee; two children, Walter Cameron of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Dolores Cameron of Chicago; five grandchildren; six great grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
The museum, one of the first of its kind in the country, explores the story of African Americans from slavery to the present. Mr. Cameron started the museum in his basement, and it gained widespread support as a venue of reconciliation.
"It's a place where the two communities -- African Americans and Europeans -- can come together . . . to build bridges."
Mr. Cameron was born in La Crosse, Wis., and lived in Birmingham and Kokomo, Ind., before moving to Marion, Ind., at 14.
On Aug. 7, 1930, two years into Mr. Cameron's stay in Marion, the 16-year-old and two acquaintances were arrested and accused of murder, robbery and rape. A white couple was parked in a lovers lane when the trio came upon them and one of the group suggested robbing the couple.
Mr. Cameron later said he changed his mind and ran away before the man, Claude Deeter, 23, was fatally shot. The woman later denied being raped.
Within hours, the three young black men were in jail. A mob broke into the jail, beat them and dragged them into the street. Thomas Shipp, 18, and Abram Smith, 19, were hanged from trees in front of the courthouse. Then came Mr. Cameron's turn.
In his autobiography, Mr. Cameron recalled the raw, inhuman sound of the mob, which included members of the local Ku Klux Klan. He once said he still could remember the faces of the 2,000 white people who gathered there, some with their children. Some eating. He prayed for his life.
Then, as the noose grew tighter around his neck, a voice called out: "Take this boy back. He had nothing to do with any raping or shooting of anybody."
His neck scarred, he was returned to jail and sentenced for robbery.
After serving about five years in prison in Marion, he left to live with an aunt in Detroit. He married there before moving in 1939 to Anderson, Ind. There he owned the only black business in town -- a combination shoeshine parlor, record shop and knickknack store.
In Anderson for about 10 years, he started chapters of the NAACP throughout Indiana. The civil rights work was difficult in the Klan-heavy state, and he felt support from local blacks was sometimes lacking because of fear, said his son, Virgil Cameron. He decided to leave Indiana and go to Canada, but when he stopped off in Milwaukee, several job opportunities caught his attention.
Mr. Cameron worked in a brewery for a few years and at Milprint packaging company awhile. He also went to a trade school to become a boiler engineer. He worked at one of the biggest malls in Milwaukee, Mayfair Shopping Center, until age 65. He also owned a rug-cleaning business, which afforded him the chance to travel.
In 1979, he and his wife went to Israel, where he visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the memorial to the 6 million people killed in the Holocaust. He returned to Milwaukee determined to build a museum telling the history and struggles of African Americans. He began by telling the story of the 4,700 people, mostly black, who were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
Last June, Mr. Cameron, frail and in a wheelchair, came to Washington to bear witness to the U.S. Senate apology condemning its past failures to outlaw lynching.
"It's 100-something years late," he said later. "But I'm glad they are doing it."
Besides his son of Milwaukee, survivors include his wife 68 years, Virginia Cameron of Milwaukee; two children, Walter Cameron of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Dolores Cameron of Chicago; five grandchildren; six great grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxeI5gFJZRw
*****
James Cameron (February 25, 1914 – June 11, 2006) was an American civil rights activist. In the 1940s, he founded three chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Indiana.[1] He also served as Indiana's State Director of the Office of Civil Liberties from 1942 to 1950.
In the 1950s he moved with his family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he continued as an activist and started speaking on African-American history. In 1988 he founded America's Black Holocaust Museum in the city, devoted to African-American history from slavery to the present.
Cameron was a survivor of a lynching attempt, which occurred when he was a 16-year-old suspect in a murder/robbery case in Marion, Indiana; two older teenagers were killed by the mob.[1]
Cameron was born February 25, 1914, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to James Herbert Cameron and Vera Carter. After his father left the family, they moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and then to Marion, Indiana. When James was 14, his mother remarried.
In August 1930, when Cameron was 16 years old, he had gone out with two older teenage African-American friends, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. They attempted to rob a young white man, Claude Deeter, and killed him. His girlfriend Mary Ball was with him, and said she had been raped. Cameron said he ran away before the man was killed.[1][2] The three youths were caught quickly, arrested, and charged the same night with robbery, murder and rape. (The rape charge was later dropped, as Ball retracted it.)
A lynch mob broke into the jail where Cameron and his two friends were being held. According to Cameron's account, a lynch mob of 12,000–15,000 at the Grant County Courthouse Square took all three youths from the jail. The older two were killed first: Shipp was taken out and beaten, and hanged from the bars of his jail window; Smith was dead from beating before the mob hanged both the boys from a tree in the square.[1][2] Cameron was beaten and a noose was put around his neck; before he was hanged, the voice of an unidentified woman intervened, saying that he was not guilty. Frank Faunce, a local sports hero and football All-American from Indiana University, intervened and removed the noose from Cameron's neck, saying he deserved a fair trial. Faunce escorted the young man to a return to the jail. Cameron's neck was long scarred from the rope.[citation needed]
Flossie Bailey, a local NAACP official, and the State Attorney General worked to gain indictments against leaders of the mob in the lynchings but were unsuccessful. No one was ever charged in the murders of Shipp and Smith, nor the assault on Cameron.[3]
Cameron was convicted at trial in 1931 as an accessory before the fact to the murder of Deeter, and served four years of his sentence in a state prison. After he was paroled, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked at Stroh Brewery Company and attended Wayne State University.[4]
In 1991, Cameron was pardoned by the state of Indiana.[4]
Cameron studied at Wayne State University to become a boiler engineer and worked in that field until he was 65. At the same time, he continued to study lynchings, race, and civil rights in America and trying to teach others.
Because of his personal experience, Cameron dedicated his life to promoting civil rights, racial unity, and equality. While he worked in a variety of jobs in Indiana during the 1940s, he founded three chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This was a period when the Ku Klux Klan was still active in the Midwest, although its numbers had decreased since its peak in the 1920s. Cameron established and became the first president of the NAACP Madison County chapter in Anderson, Indiana.[1]
He also served as the Indiana State Director of Civil Liberties from 1942 to 1950. In this capacity, Cameron reported to Governor of Indiana Henry Schricker on violations of the "equal accommodations" laws designed to end segregation. During his eight-year tenure, Cameron investigated more than 25 incidents of civil rights infractions. He faced violence and death threats because of his work.
By the early 1950s, the emotional toll of threats led Cameron to search for a safer home for his wife and five children. Planning to move to Canada, they decided on Milwaukee when he found work there. There Cameron continued his work in civil rights by assisting in protests to end segregated housing in the city. He also participated in both marches on Washington in the 1960s, the first with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the second with King's widow Coretta and Jesse Jackson.
Cameron studied history on his own and lectured on the African-American experience. From 1955 to 1989 he published hundreds of articles and booklets detailing civil rights and occurrences of racial injustices, including "What is Equality in American Life?"; "The Lingering Problem of Reconstruction in American Life: Black Suffrage"; and "The Second Civil Rights Bill".[5] In 1982 he published his memoir, A Time of Terror: A Survivor's Story.
After being inspired by a visit with his wife to the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel, Cameron founded America's Black Holocaust Museum in 1988. He used material from his collections to document the struggles of African Americans in the United States, from slavery through lynchings, and the 20th-century civil rights movement. When he first started collecting materials about slavery, he kept it in his basement. Working with others to build support for the museum,[1] he was aided by philanthropist Daniel Bader.[4]
The museum started as a grassroots effort and became one of the largest African-American museums in the country.[citation needed] In 2008, the museum closed because of financial problems. It reopened on Cameron's birthday, February 25, 2012, as a virtual museum.
Cameron and his wife, Virginia Hamilton, had five children. He died on June 11, 2006, at the age of 92, from congestive heart failure.[1] He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee. Two sons, David and James, had died before him.[6] He was survived by his wife Virginia and three children: Virgil, Walter, and Dolores Cameron, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.[1]
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxeI5gFJZRw
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