In the century after the Civil War, more than 4,000 black Americans were lynched. Men, women and children were publicly tortured and killed in acts of mob violence meant to incite fear. This week America’s first national lynching museum and memorial opens in Montgomery, Alabama. The Equal Justice Initiative mapped out known accounts of lynching here: lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore. | Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station at donate.npr.org/1A and subscribe to our podcast. Have questions? Email the show at 1a@wamu.org and find us on Twitter @1a.