Lynching in the West

"Lynching in the West is an important and groundbreaking book, which revises the racialized history of lynching in the United States. Ken Gonzales-Day's argument is based on extensive archival research, and his careful, nuanced reading of images provides a beautiful example of how cultural historians can use photographs as primary evidence in exciting new ways."--Shawn Michelle Smith, author of Photography on the Color Line: W.E.B. Du Bois, Race, and Visual Culture In this meticulously researched and innovative study, Ken Gonzales-Day brings to light the history of lynching in California. As an artist, Gonzales-Day renders a stunning visual record of an absent history. As a scholar, he assembles the documents that reveal the racial violence that undergirds the development of the Golden State, the West, and the American Dream."--Chon A. Noriega, Professor and Director, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and Adjunct Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art