STRANGE FRUIT: Voices of a Lynching

"Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop."

Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote that lament after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. Strange Fruit was later made famous by Billie Holiday.

A third boy escaped being lynched that day— 80 years ago— in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African-American to have survived a lynching.

Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day.

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This story was produced by Joe Richman and Anayansi Diaz-Cortes with Samara Freemark, Annie Baer, Deborah George and Ben Shapiro.

Very Special thanks to James Madison, author of "A Lynching in the Heartland", Virgil Cameron, Indiana-Purdue University Archive, Fresh Air, and Wisconsin Public Television.

Playwright Charles Smith's play "The Gospel According to James" is based on James Cameron and the lynching of August 7, 1930. It will premiere at the Indiana Repertory Theater on March 22, 2011.

Support for the Radio Diaries series comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, and listeners like you.

WILLIE MCGEE AND THE TRAVELING ELECTRIC CHAIR

Bridgette McGee grew up knowing nothing about her grandfather, Willie McGee. Now she is on a quest to unearth everything she can about his life - and his death.

In 1945, Willie McGee was accused of raping a white woman. The all-white jury took less than three minutes to find him guilty and McGee was sentenced to death. Over the next six years, the case went through three trials and sparked international protests and appeals from Albert Einstein, William Faulkner, Paul Robeson, and Josephine Baker. McGee was defended by a young Bella Abzug arguing her first major case. But in 1951, McGee was put to death in Mississippi's traveling electric chair. His execution was broadcast live by a local radio station. Today, a newly discovered recording of that broadcast provides a chilling window into a lost episode of civil rights history. Narrated by Bridgette McGee, this documentary follows a granddaughter's search for the truth about a case that has been called a real-life To Kill A Mockingbird.

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Explore the Hidden Chapters of Willie McGee's Story

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Radio Diaries is celebrating 15 years of stories on public radio. We wanted to tell you about some of the things we've done over the past years. Then we realized we could do something better: show you. Check out our video to the left.

2010 is going to be a big year for us. Our current story, Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair is one of our best stories we've ever worked on. But we need your help now. Please consider donating to Radio Diaries. A gift of any size helps keep our organization going.

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The Audio History Project
We have launched a new series chronicling hidden chapters of 20th century history. Told in Radio Diaries style, the stories weave together home recordings, archival news clips, and first-person accounts to bring the past to life.

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Mandela: An Audio History
A five-part radio series documenting the struggle against apartheid through rare sound recordings, the voice of Nelson Mandela himself, as well as those who fought with him, and against him.

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Thembi's AIDS Diary:
A Year in the Life of a South African Teenager

Thembi was 19 when we first gave her a tape recorder. She kept an audio diary of her struggle to live with AIDS for more than a year. After the broadcast of her story she traveled around the world presenting her story.

She died on June 5th, 2009 from drug-resistant TB. She was brave and open about living with AIDS at a time when most South Africans were quiet about the epidemic. We learned so much from her and for that we are eternally grateful.
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You can hear our remembrance on NPR (streaming | download mp3). And you can hear her diary, which aired in 2006 here.