The Capital City Murders: Black Women and Serial Murder in Interwar Era Washington, D. C.

• In Event: New Directions in the Field of Black Women's History

Abstract

Drawing from newspapers, crime magazines, and legal records, this multi-layered story examines a string of Black and white female killings occurring in Washington, D. C. at the dawning of World War II. It highlights Black women’s homicides, the varying institutional and community responses to the murders, police officers’ complicity in Black women’s assaults, and city officials’ efforts to apprehend a murderer. An exploration of Black women’s homicide cases offering a compelling story about urban Black life in the nation’s principal seat of political power and democracy. This slice of urban history illuminates how structural inequalities and hierarchies reinforced longstanding discriminatory practices, making it difficult for Black women to labor, socialize, and ultimately live in the nation’s capital.

Author

• LaShawn Harris, Michigan State University