Owensboro native and author Woody Maglinger III’s book “Dark Days in the Ohio Valley” has officially released. It recounts three western Kentucky lynchings, spanning from 1884 to 1911.
Malinger who is currently serving in the role of Deputy Communications Director for the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s 62nd Gov. Matthew G. Bevin has always had a strong interest in history, particularly as it pertains to the local area.
“I was born to a household of parents who were both public school teachers,” Maglinger said. “My dad, in particular, was a high school social studies teacher at Owensboro High School for several decades. Growing up I had a real passion for reading and writing and my parents were an awesome inspiration on that front and dad in particular with history. While he specialized in world history, I found for whatever reason American history very interesting. Being around Owensboro I was always really interested when I’d hear individuals tell stories or in reading books that I’d get at the Daviess County Public Library and I’d always find those stories fascinating.”
That fascination with history wouldn’t stop during his childhood. Maglinger later graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science and Western Kentucky University with a master’s in history.
“When I was in graduate school at Western Kentucky I had taken some classes on American Legal History and I remember reading distinctly about the Brown v. Board of Education,” he said. “I had come across an interesting tidbit about one of the area’s most heinous lynching that was in Livermore, Ky., so that prompted me to go to the libraries and do research and worked with my professors there on my masters’ thesis. The topic wasn’t really pleasant, but it was important to tell. There were probably a lot of people, like me, that had lived in Owensboro my whole life and not realized those stories that were local to Hawesville, Owensboro, and Livermore.”
In his book, Maglinger recounts those times in history with what he describes as being “buried in the deep recesses of community memory are tales of dark days long since forgotten.”
The book also covers three tales of racial violence that occurred in the local area. A lynching in Owensboro in 1884, a lynching in Hawesville in 1897 and the final one in Livermore in 1911.
“The reason I chose those three, in particular, was the geography the bordering counties to Owensboro so relatively close in proximity but also the timeframe of how things either changed or maybe didn’t change over 30 years or so,” he said. “How the lynching’s changed, how newspaper coverage changed, and how any legal proceeding of those participating might have changed over time was interesting.”
“The Owensboro one, the Daviess County Jailer actually puts his life on the line to defend the prisoner he has. The Hawesville one, what makes that unique is the crowd was a large size, maybe 500 people there, and it was carried out in broad daylight including women and children present, so I found that interesting and disturbing,” explained Maglinger. “Then Livermore got the most attention as it was actually covered nationwide but also over in Paris in an article but there was also some debate of what actually happened there in that case.”
During this time, It was common that before the courts had a chance at a legal trial, the entire community would take the law into their own hands. There were a lot of lynchings across the United States but a vast majority were African Americans.
“It’s a very dark period in American history. To know we didn’t go through the proper channels of justice, it’s a pretty disturbing thing,” shared Maglinger. “I think the main thing I wanted to accomplish from this is when we look at our local community today, is to understand where we have been to frame where we are today. Obviously, we still have challenges today, but if we can understand where we’ve been it’s helpful. The good and the bad both help us to understand who we are and to help work towards that more perfect union as American.”
Maglinger said the book was an unexpected blessing.
He dedicated it to his parents who he says instilled in them from a young age the principle of the golden rule and how to think about others and stand in the gap and make a difference in others lives as well. He also gave much appreciation to his family, wife, Leigh Ann, daughter Hope, and son Will for their patience during this very busy time and the support to make it to the finish line. He shared it was a sacrifice as a family to complete this endeavor and so many friends, family and community members have reached out in support and have already purchased the newly released book.
