Welcome to Buried in Silence. Here you will find a map, timelines, and an illustrated audio story detailing the life and lynching of L.Q. Ivy and Elwood Higginbotham.
Why “Buried in Silence”? All too often the events surrounding lynchings, the victims, and the perpetrators were “buried in silence”. White people refused to talk about it, black people who talked too much about it might find themselves facing a mob. The stories were buried, sometimes literally.
Elwood Higginbotham was memorialized with a historical plaque in 2018. L.Q. Ivy has not been memorialized. As you learn more consider what the simple act of placing a memorial has meant to the Lafayette County community.
In the Resources section you will find links to source material and additional educational sites. Please look at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Lynching in America report and consider the scale of lynchings in the United States.