John A. Beadles
Born:
Connection to Illinois: Beadles taught at Lakeview High School in Decatur and Pontiac Township High School in Pontiac. Biography: John A. Beadles is the author of A History of Southernmost Illinois, published in 1990. He began his teaching career at high schools at Lakeview in Decatur, Illinois; Pontiac Township in Pontiac, Illinois; and Bishop DuBourg in St. Louis, Missouri. He has also taught at Syracuse University, Cazenovia College for Women, Lane College/United Negro College Fund, the State University of New York (Geneseo), St. Louis Community College (Meramec), and Kennesaw State University (Georgia).
Awards:
Selected Titles
Pulling off the Sheets: The Second Ku Klux Klan in Deep Southern Illinois ISBN: 0809339420 OCLC: 1390554951 Saluki Publishing 2024 Unmasking old-time racism in southern Illinois Pulling off the Sheets tells the previously obscured history of the Second Ku Klux Klan which formed in deep southern Illinois in the early 1920s. Through meticulous research into both public and private records, Darrel Dexter and John A. Beadles recount the Klan’s mythical origins, reemergence, and swift disappearance. This important historical account sets out to expose the lasting impact of the Klan on race relations today. The ideation of the Klan as a savior of the white race and protector of white womanhood was perpetuated by books, plays, and local news sources of the time. The very real but misplaced fear of Black violence on whites created an environment in which the Second Klan thrived, and recruitment ran rampant in communities such as the Protestant church. Events like the murder of Daisy Wilson intensified the climate of racial segregation and white supremacy in the region, and despite attempts at bringing justice to the perpetrators, most failed. The Second Klan’s presence may have been short-lived, but the violence and fear it inflicted continues to linger. This disturbing historical account challenges readers to “pull back the sheet” and confront the darkest corners of their past. Dexter and Beadles emphasize the importance of acknowledging the damage that white supremacy and racism cause and how we can move toward healing. |
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Stained with Blood and Tears: Lynchings, Murder, and Mob Violence in Cairo, Illinois, 1909-1910 ISBN: 0809370050 OCLC: 1140296772 Saluki Publishing 2019 Packed with villains, victims, and heroes, Stained with Blood and Tears recounts the story of what has been called the “equal opportunity” lynchings of Will “Froggie” James, who was black, and Henry Salzner, a white man, in the rowdy river town of Cairo, Illinois, on November 11, 1909. This book is the first to focus on one of the most infamous nights of lynching in the history of the United States, when about one thousand men and women were transformed into a murderous mob. The book also details a lesser-known attempted lynching of a suspected purse snatcher by another mob about ninety days later. That mob was beaten back by about a dozen mostly African American deputies and a white sheriff. Stained with Blood and Tears ends with the saga of the killing of a Cairo policeman in the police station by the sheriff from a neighboring county over an incident that began in a Cairo brothel. The book thoroughly examines a dark side of Cairo’s past when it had a Jim Crow mind-set and crooked policemen and was awash in liquor and teeming with prostitutes and gambling houses. The violence of the era led the town’s Catholic priest to lament, “Must this fair city of ours go ever in garments spattered with blood?” |