Lincoln Library​
Carnegie Room North
326 South 7th Street
Springfield, Illinois 
Saturday, November 15, 2025
12 pm to 1 pm

Public historian, Renatto V. Carr, PhD, presents The 1942 Lynching of James Person in Edgar County, Illinois. It was one of the earliest 20th century lynchings outside the South to result in federal officials indicting and convicting white people for violating the civil rights of a black person, Person’s 1942 slaying deserves considerable scholarly attention. Research relies heavily on the Federal Bureau of Investigation report, local and regional newspapers, public archives, and oral histories.

Renatto V. Carr holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree in criminal justice, and a doctorate degree in historical studies from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His research focuses on 19th and 20th century American history, particularly  emphasizing white on black violence. This includes the systems and legacies of enslavement, slave codes, black codes, convict leasing, lynchings (particularly lynchings that have occurred outside of the South), so-called “race riots,” law enforcement suppression, and the rape and sexualized violence inflicted upon African American women. His work explores how these forms of violence intersect with issues of gender and class. In addition, his scholarship centers on the Midwest, with particular emphasis on Illinois and Indiana, regions that have been vastly understudied as it pertains to white supremacy and anti-black violence. Carr has authored an article on James Person, which is scheduled for publication in the Journal of African American History in February 2026.