The Negro and Crime in Virginia

1936. Chamberlain, Bernard Peyton. The Negro and Crime in Virginia. [Charlottesville, VA]: University of Virginia, 1936. 132 pp. Sewn printed wrappers. Moderately worn. Internally clean. A very good copy. $20. * This book, a publication of the University of Virginia's Phelps-Stokes Fellowship Papers, is a historical treatise that aims to analyze the factors surrounding "Negro criminality" during the time period. In the preface, Chamberlain notes the significant difficulty in finding reliable first-hand information for his study. He discovered that courts rarely kept separate records for African Americans, and the 1920 federal census data was outdated. He utilized various data sources, including questionnaires sent to judges and clerks (which were slow to appear and disappointing in content), the 1930 federal census figures, and later prison reports to draw his conclusions. The study specifically covers the social conditions, laws, and statistics related to crime and the African American population in Virginia in the early 20th century. Contents: Preface; I. Introduction; II. The Negro; III. The Negro in Virginia; IV. Criminality in General; V. Negro Criminality in Virginia; VI. Some Concluding Observations; Appendix: Report of Virginia Commission on Crimes and Prisons.