<I>Untitled (Assault of a Woman)</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1963
name: label: Created by
content: Mildred Jean Thompson, American, 1936 - 2003
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Woman or Women
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Man or Men
notes: label: Caption
content: In her 1892 publication, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All of Its Phases, civil rights activist Ida B. Wells described the insidious nature of sexual and mob violence perpetrated against Black women throughout the South. Wells recounted in disturbing detail the horrific instances where Black women were stripped naked, raped by one or multiple white men, hanged, and mutilated. Between 1880 and 1930, over 130 African American women were murdered by lynch mobs; countless others were sexually assaulted without legal recourse. Although Wells’s organization, and many other African American women and women’s groups, fought to obtain justice, the sheer number of Black women who were victimized and killed through mob violence was too often overlooked.
label: Caption
content: With this powerful work, Mildred Thompson directly depicts this history in all its horror.
label: Description
content: This is a pen and ink drawing depicting a scene in which male figures assault a Black female figure. The human bodies and faces are distorted and misshapen, with multiple The five male figures, their bodies and faces rendered in distorted and misshapen forms, are nude except for Western-style heeled boots and hats with center badges of the type worn by sheriffs or other law enforcement. They surround the female figure, grasping her arms and legs. The drawing is signed and dated [Mildred Thompson Nov. 1963 New York] in the lower left corner.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Hate crimes
label: Topic
content: Lynching
label: Topic
content: Men
label: Topic
content: Race discrimination
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Violence
label: Topic
content: White supremacy movements
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2020.57.1
objectType: label: Type
content: drawings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Mildred Thompson Estate
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 18 × 24 in. (45.7 × 61 cm)