Isadore Banks was a World War I veteran and a prosperous African American landowner in Arkansas. In 1954, he was brutally lynched, and despite the horrific nature of his murder, no one was ever brought to justice.
Isadore Banks was born on July 15, 1895, in Arkansas, during a period marked by widespread racial violence. At that time, Jim Crow laws were enforced, enabling white people to treat African Americans with disdain and hostility. This created an environment where the lynching of African Americans was tragically common.
In 1918, during world war 1, Banks saw an opportunity to serve his country. Enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1918, he joined approximately 400,000 black men who served during the war. This was the first international conflict in which African Americans played a notable role, with around half of these men deployed to Europe. For many, including Banks, the war was a chance to demonstrate their loyalty and patriotism.
After the war, Banks returned to Arkansas, where he began working in various capacities before landing a job at a utility company. His work involved laying lines and support poles to bring electricity to Marion, as well as surrounding communities.
The hope among African Americans was that their involvement in the war would lead to improved rights at home. However, the post-war period was marred by the Red Summer of 1919, a time of widespread white supremacist terrorism and racial riots in more than three dozen cities across the United States, including a rural county in Arkansas. These attacks led to many deaths, numerous injuries, and significant property damage.
Despite the racial hostilities of the era, Banks rose to become “a prominent and respected leader, a Freemason, and one of the wealthiest African-American landowners in Marion, Crittenden County, region of Arkansas. In 1947, he had at least 640 acres, according to land records. He also provided support to other black farmers in the form of tools or farm supplies, along with supporting local black schools.
Tragically, Banks’s prosperity and influence did not protect him from the deep-seated racism of the time. On June 4, 1954, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Newspaper accounts said his wife, Alice Banks, told authorities he went to get money from the bank to pay his workers. Days later, his body was found in a gruesome state: he had been chained to a tree, doused with fuel, and set on fire from the knees up. He was identified by the presence of his empty truck nearby, with his loaded shotgun and coat still inside.
No evidence was found on his body or in the area to identify his killers, and local law enforcement conducted little to no investigation. The Grant Co-Op Gin, a group of prominent black citizens of the county which Banks was a member of, offered a reward of $1,000 for any information, but none was ever provided. The NAACP also tried to help the investigation, but still nothing was done to try and find Banks’s murderers.
The murder of Isadore Banks dealt a severe blow to the African-American community of Crittenden County. In the aftermath of his death, community members checked in on each other and tried to piece together what had happened amongst themselves.
There are several theories regarding the motive behind Isadore Banks’s murder. One theory suggests that Banks refused to sell his land to several white men, who grew violent out of frustration with his repeated refusals. Another theory suggests that Banks was renting land from a white woman, and white farmers, coveting this land, killed him to take control of it. A different theory speculates that Banks might have been romantically involved with a white woman. Lastly, it is also believed that his success as a prosperous black man in the deeply segregated South made him a target.
Decades after his death, Banks’s family continues to seek justice and answers. In 2010, his service during World War I was formally recognized with military honors, but the scars of his brutal murder remain.
