Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

Who was George Tompkins?  

In 1922, a 19-year-old Black man was found dead in Riverside Park in Indianapolis. While newspapers called it a lynching, the coroner declared the cause of death as suicide, and the case faded into obscurity. One hundred years later, as a graduate student, Haley Brinker heard about the case and sought to understand who this young man was beyond his moniker of “victim.”  

Join speaker Haley Brinker as we delve into the politics surrounding the lynching death of Tompkins, the importance of a human-centered approach and how the archive can bring insight into the lives of those long dead.   

This program is supported by the Indiana Humanities Advancing Racial Equity Speaker Bureau.

Price: FREE

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