Between 1877 and 1950, racial terror lynching claimed the lives of thousands of African Americans and enforced white supremacy through public, notorious violence meant to intimidate Black people and maintain racial hierarchy and segregation. Many victims were killed without legal conviction, often after accusations unsupported by evidence, alleged violations of social customs, or claims involving interracial relationships, while white mobs seized people from jails, prisons, courtrooms, and police custody without fear of punishment. In Kentucky, at least 169 racial terror lynchings have been documented, including at least 6 in Shelby County. On July 20, 1891, Sam Pulliam, a Black man, was lynched by a mob of at least 60 White people after the wife of a prominent White farmer accused him of assault while her husband was away. Fearing violent reprisal and no chance to defend himself, he tried to flee on the Louisville Southern railroad, but the Shelbyville Chief of Police intercepted him and took him into custody. Soon afterward, a White mob kidnapped him and hanged him from a tree. The local White press portrayed the mob sympathetically and used derogatory, dehumanizing language against Pulliam, reinforcing deadly stereotypes of Black men as threats to White womanhood. Like nearly all lynching victims, he was killed by a White mob that never faced prosecution.