Editing Brownsville, Tennessee (section)

===Lynchings===
From the late 19th into the early 20th century, whites lynched three African-American men in Brownsville, two in the 20th century.<ref name="AP">[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee-lawyer-trying-to-solve-1940-slaying-of-naacp-member/ Associated Press, "Tennessee lawyer seeks justice in 1940 slaying of NAACP member"], CBS News, June 22, 2015; accessed June 4, 2018</ref>

In 1939, with Haywood County's black majority<ref name="mitchell">"Elbert Williams", Letter M. Mitchell to Walter White, NAACP, July 1, 1940, Letter from Mitchell to NAACP headquarters-tab, Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Clinic, Northeastern University School of Law, 2017</ref> disenfranchised, a number of blacks in Brownsville founded a local [[NAACP]] chapter. They worked to assert their right to register and vote in the presidential election of 1940. In June 1940 threats were made against the group, and Elisha Davis was kidnapped by a large white mob. They demanded the names of NAACP members and their plans. He fled town, followed by his family, losing his successful service station and all their property.<ref name="neu">[http://nuweb9.neu.edu/civilrights/elbert-williams/ "Elbert Williams"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204011022/http://nuweb9.neu.edu/civilrights/elbert-williams/|date=February 4, 2017 }}, Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Clinic, Northeastern University School of Law, 2017.</ref>

On June 20, 1940, [[Elbert Williams]], secretary of the NAACP chapter, and Elisha's brother Thomas Davis were questioned by police. Thomas Davis was released,<ref name="neu"/> but Williams was never seen alive again. His body was found in the [[Hatchie River]] a few days later, with bullet holes in his chest.<ref name="neu"/> He is considered to be the first NAACP member to have been [[Lynching|lynched]] for civil rights activities; he is the last recorded lynching victim in the state.<ref name="enc">[https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/lynching/  Kathy Bennett, "Lynching"], ''Tennessee Encyclopedia'', 2017/updated 2018</ref> Several other NAACP members were run out of town by police, fearing for their lives.<ref name="neu"/><ref name="blackpast">[http://www.blackpast.org/aah/williams-elbert-1908-1940 Jim Emison, "Williams, Elbert (1908–1940)"], Black Past website</ref>

[[Thurgood Marshall]] of the NAACP conducted an investigation of Williams' murder and appealed to the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] to prosecute the case, providing affidavits of witnesses. [[FBI]] agents were sent to the town in September to protect blacks wanting to register to vote, but the local people were fearful because there had been no prosecution of Williams' killers. In October 1940, ''[[The Crisis]]'', the magazine of the NAACP, reported that no blacks registered to vote.<ref>"FBI Says It Protected Brownsville Citizens"], ''The Crisis'', October 1940, p. 324</ref> Thomas Davis and his family moved North and resettled in [[Niles, Michigan]].<ref name="neu"/> The DOJ closed the Williams case in 1942.<ref name="AP"/>

In 2015, a historical marker honoring Elbert Williams was dedicated in Brownsville.<ref name="blackpast"/>