Lynching Survivor’s Memoir Wins Prestigious Book Award

Dr. James Cameron’s memoir A Time of Terror: A Survivor’s Story received the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Silver Award for the Great Lakes – Best Regional Non-Fiction during a ceremony held May 10th in Chicago. It is the only account of a lynching ever written by a survivor. The prize-winning 3rd edition contains 50 vintage photos, over 100 background notes, never-before-published chapters, and a Foreword, Introduction, and Afterword.

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Dr. James Cameron, Museum Founder and Lynching Survivor

James Cameron, also known as "Jim" to his sisters and "Apples" to his classmates, in school picture. Courtesy of the Cameron Family.

James Cameron was just sixteen in 1930 when he and two other teens were lynched in Marion, Indiana. His friends were killed but, miraculously, James survived. He spent a year in jail awaiting trial for the murder that triggered the lynching. He was sentenced as an accessory before the fact and served four years in the Indiana Reformatory with hardened adult criminals.

Cameron believed God saved him for a purpose. He left prison resolved to do something “worthwhile and God-like.” He spent the rest of his long life working to help us understand this tragic chapter of American history. Dr. Cameron showed us how to cope with our painful legacy through love, justice, and reconciliation.

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