Nancy Locklin

Bertie Lindsey, Maurice Mays, and the events leading up to the Knoxville Race Riot of 1919

This post was written by contributor Shelby Davidson (MC’21) and edited by N. Locklin. It has been split into two parts due to length and the complexity of the topic. Knoxville generally prided itself on being an accepting and nonviolent area, but with the end of World War I, Black soldiers returning to lives whereContinue reading “Bertie Lindsey, Maurice Mays, and the events leading up to the Knoxville Race Riot of 1919”

The First Night Marauder Attack?

On May 8 1919, Della Wagner (Sometimes Delia Waggoner, later Cunningham, later Whaley) was staying with her sister and her sister’s husband at Callaway and Crooked St., now known as Douglas Ave, in Knoxville. She told the police that she awoke to find a man standing in her room and screamed. The man showed herContinue reading “The First Night Marauder Attack?”

The Forensics Challenge

This post was written by contributors Leigh Ann Brewington (MC’21) and Carrie Mitchell (MC ’23) and edited by N. Locklin. Today, there is a long list of things that must be done before a murder trial can begin. This includes things such as gathering evidence, having witnesses give statements, deciding which charges to go for,Continue reading “The Forensics Challenge”

Overview of the Night Marauder attacks

Between 1919 and 1926, east Tennessee was terrorized by a serial killer dubbed the “Night Marauder” by the press. Up until 1921, his attacks were focused in and around the city of Knoxville. Most attacks followed the same pattern—the intruder would break into a modest home, one that did not have electricity, and approach aContinue reading “Overview of the Night Marauder attacks”

Introduction to the Project

I had recently published a book, Murder, Justice, and Harmony in an Eighteenth-Century French Village (Routledge, 2019) and was pretty excited to talk about it with my students. The regulars, mostly history majors, heard so much about my work and especially how the histories of emotions, of violence, and of murder had opened my eyesContinue reading “Introduction to the Project”