Lynching of Laura Nelson, L.D. Nelson in Oklahoma

In 1911, an Oklahoma mob lynched Laura Nelson, 35, and her 13-year-old son Lawrence over the Old Schoolton Bridge at Yarbrough’s Crossing west of Okemah. Images of the tragedy were taken and later, brazenly sold as postcards.  James Allen, author of Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America, described the picture of Laura:

Grief and a haunting unreality permeate this photo. The corpse of Laura Nelson retains an indissoluble femininity despite the horror inflicted on it. Specterlike, she seems to float – thistledown light and implausibly still.

I often think about Laura Nelson and her son. Lately, I’ve been talking about her a lot with my daughter Juliette who is planning a portrait of Nelson for her senior portfolio. She is interested in majoring in arts education or photojournalism and will apply to the University of Oklahoma in the fall. Eventually, I want to go to Okemah soon to photograph the place where Laura and her son died and where they are buried. Their graves are unmarked.

But, it rained yesterday and I decided not to go. Someday, I’ll get there, and when I do, I’ll bring back pictures to show you.

Woody Guthrie, Jesus Christ and A Picture From Life’s Other Side

Woody Guthrie, was born in Okemah. Some reports say his father Charles was present at the lynchings. This troubled Woody throughout his life and he wrote three songs about it including A Picture From Life’s Other Side. This is the third stanza:

Now the next scene is down by the river,
A heart-broken mother and babe,
In the habour light glare see them shiver,
Outcasts that no one will save;
Once she was a true woman
Somebody’s darlin’ and pride,
God help her, she leaps, there is no one to weep,
That’s a picture from life’s other side.

In writing about life’s other side, Woody Guthrie was basically referring to the darkness that pervades our world. Without a doubt, he viewed Christianity as an everyday fight, and a faith that had to be lived. Bob Dylan said he could listen to Woody’s songs and actually learn how to live. To that end, Woody said, “All my songs blow out of Christ.”

Finally, as we travel the highways and byways of this world, may we have the courage to save those wrongly outcasted Woody sang about, and the courage to shine a light on the darkness that permeates life’s other side.

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