Untitled (Assault of a Woman)
Object Details
- Caption
- In her 1892 publication, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All of Its Phases, civil rights activist Ida B. Wells described the insidious nature of sexual and mob violence perpetrated against Black women throughout the South. Wells recounted in disturbing detail the horrific instances where Black women were stripped naked, raped by one or multiple white men, hanged, and mutilated. Between 1880 and 1930, over 130 African American women were murdered by lynch mobs; countless others were sexually assaulted without legal recourse. Although Wells’s organization, and many other African American women and women’s groups, fought to obtain justice, the sheer number of Black women who were victimized and killed through mob violence was too often overlooked.
- With this powerful work, Mildred Thompson directly depicts this history in all its horror.
- Description
- This is a pen and ink drawing depicting a scene in which male figures assault a Black female figure. The human bodies and faces are distorted and misshapen, with multiple The five male figures, their bodies and faces rendered in distorted and misshapen forms, are nude except for Western-style heeled boots and hats with center badges of the type worn by sheriffs or other law enforcement. They surround the female figure, grasping her arms and legs. The drawing is signed and dated [Mildred Thompson Nov. 1963 New York] in the lower left corner.
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Data Source
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Date
- 1963
- Object number
- 2020.57.1
- Created by
- Mildred Jean Thompson, American, 1936 - 2003
- Subject of
- Unidentified Woman or Women
- Unidentified Man or Men
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Mildred Thompson Estate
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
- Type
- drawings
- Medium
- ink on paper (fiber product)
- Dimensions
- H x W: 18 × 24 in. (45.7 × 61 cm)
- See more items in
- National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Topic
- African American
- American South
- Art
- Gender
- Hate crimes
- Lynching
- Men
- Race discrimination
- Race relations
- Violence
- White supremacy movements
- Women
- Record ID
- nmaahc_2020.57.1
