08/10/2026
African American History year round; history of which many have all been unaware.
Did you know that 'Strange Fruit' was inspired by an event that took place in Indiana less than 100 years ago?
The poem by Abel Meeropol, later made famous through Billie Holiday's powerful recording, was inspired by one of the darkest chapters in Indiana history—and today marks the anniversary of that event.
On Aug. 7, 1930, an angry white mob broke into the Grant County jail in Marion, Indiana, and dragged three Black teenagers into the street, where they beat and tortured them before a crowd of more than 5,000 spectators. Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, both 19 years old, were praying when the mob took them from their cells. They were hanged outside the courthouse. Sixteen-year-old James Cameron was also brutally beaten but narrowly escaped being lynched.
None of the members of the mob who murdered Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith were ever convicted. Instead, James Cameron—the only survivor—was tried, convicted as an accessory, and sentenced to prison. After his release, he became a lifelong civil rights advocate, helping establish four NAACP chapters in Indiana, writing extensively about racial justice, and founding America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee. In 1993, the State of Indiana granted Cameron a full pardon.
Photographs of the lynching circulated across the country and became one of the most infamous images of racial terror in American history. The image deeply affected Abel Meeropol, inspiring him to write the poem "Strange Fruit," which Billie Holiday later transformed into one of the most powerful protest songs ever recorded.
Today, we remember Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, honor the resilience and legacy of James Cameron, and acknowledge this painful chapter in Indiana's history so that it is never forgotten.
📖 https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/aug/7
📰 Image: The Indianapolis Star, Aug. 8, 1930 (courtesy of IndyStar)
