Decade-Old Mural In Elgin Found To Depict A 1930s Lynch Mob

By Mae Rice in News on May 20, 2016 7:00PM

Warning: Disturbing image of a 1930s lynching below.

A decade-old mural in downtown Elgin, IL sparked controversy this week when residents realized that it portrayed the lower half of a famous photo of a lynching. Thursday night, locals gathered at the mural to demand its removal.

"I think it speaks hatred, evilness," Sequanda Haugabook told ABC7. She was among the black protesters who gathered at the mural Thursday to demand its removal, chanting "Take it down," the Elgin Courier-News reported.

The parallels between the mural, "American Nocturne," and the 1930s photo from Marion, IN had escaped previous notice because the mural only depicts the lower half of the photo, which shows the crowd. It omits the upper half of the photo, which shows the lynching.

The controversy began when Elgin resident Richard Farr, 25, and St. Charles resident Alex Cokinos, 33, noticed the parallels between the mural and the photo Tuesday night, and posted a side-by-side of the two images on Facebook, the Courier-News reported. The similarities were news to everyone—including city officials, who didn't know about the mural's inspiration when it was made, Elgin communications director Kristine Rogowski told CBS.

Farr's post has since sparked a public conversation throughout Elgin, and the city plans to hold a public meeting next week to discuss the mural's future.

David Powers, the artist who painted the mural, has defended his work. “The idea here was talking about lynching, asking questions, the history,” Powers told the Elgin Courier-News on Thursday.

He doesn't seem to think the mural will stay up, though. He told ABC7 that city officials are "total cowards" who will "crumble like a cheap suit and hang me out to dry."

Here's the original, 1930s photo that the mural parallels:

The lynching of two black men in Marion, IN (Indiana Historical Society, P0411)

Here's a side-by-side of the two images, tweeted out by the Tribune's Kurt Gessler, that shows the similarities between the two images: