Rayford Logan published a book in 1954 that named the years from 1877 to 1901 as the nadir of American race relations. He argued this period marked when Black status in society reached its absolute lowest point after the Civil War ended slavery.
James W. Loewen used the term in books as recently as 2006, extending the timeline to 1941 with World War II entry. This extension covers the era following the financial Panic of 1873 and includes nationwide sundown towns.
Between 1889 and 1922 lynchings reached their worst level with almost 3,500 victims. Almost all victims were Black men according to NAACP calculations.
Through the 1930s more than 1.5 million Blacks would leave the South for better lives in the North. They sought work and the chance to escape lynchings and legal segregation.
In 1924 the Klan had four million members controlling governorships and state legislatures in Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, California, Georgia, Oregon, and Texas.