Eliza Woods was an African-American woman who was lynched on 19 August 1886 in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

, after being accused of poisoning and killing her employer, Jessie Woolen. Woods had been Woolen's cook. When it was found that Woolen's stomach contained arsenic and that Woods had a box of rat poison at home, it was concluded that she was responsible for the death. A crowd of 1,000 was reportedly present when Woods was dragged from the jail and hanged naked in front of the courthouse. Bullets were then shot into her body. This lynching was notable both for the gender of the victim and the biracial participation of the crowd. Three years later, in 1889, Woolen's husband confessed that he had killed his wife. The case was among the first that

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

(1862–1931) wrote about before becoming a prominent anti-lynching campaigner. In 2020, a plaque detailing the lynching was installed at the courthouse where Woods was hung.

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Lynching deaths in Tennessee Racially motivated violence against African Americans American murder victims People murdered in Tennessee Murdered African-American people 1886 in Tennessee 1886 murders in the United States August 1886 events Female murder victims History of women in Tennessee Jackson, Tennessee African-American history of Tennessee Women lynching victims in the United States Lynching victims in the United States {{crime-stub

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