The most common justification for lynchings and other forms of extra-legal violence in the South was the protection of white women from perceived sexual transgressions allegedly committed by Black men. These dubious allegations were used by white mobs to terrorize and control southern Blacks. In order to challenge public perception and expose white mobs as murderers and criminals, Jessie Daniel Ames organized a meeting in Atlanta to find ways white women could help eliminate the crime of lynching in the South. As a result of this meeting, the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL) was formed in 1930. The ASWPL operated as a regionwide women’s crusade, establishing associations in each state, including the Georgia Association for the Prevention of Lynching. Georgian members of the ASWPL conducted investigations into lynchings and mobilized an educational campaign based on their own research. Ames and other women of the ASWPL also worked to prevent lynching by condemning politicians and law enforcement officials who turned a blind eye when Black prisoners were turned over to white mobs. Through political pressure, rigorous research, and public campaigns, women of the ASWPL effectively challenged pervasive white perceptions of lynching and helped bring an end to lynch law in the South.

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