40.3756° N, 82.3971° W → 32.3792° N, 86.3077° W

A roadmap through a violent history.

In November 2018, I had the opportunity to travel with the rest of the American Studies senior class to the Equal Justice Initiative’s (EJI) Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. The museum and memorial are dedicated to chronicling the history of racist oppression in the United States and commemorating the countless Black Americans who lost their lives to racist violence. This book, 40.3756° N, 82.3971° W → 32.3792° N, 86.3077° W is a product of that trip. Using historical lynching data from EJI, this book charts our route from Gambier, Ohio, to Montgomery and marks the number of recorded racial lynchings in 320 counties along the way.

The book, upright and unfolded to show county labels and illustrations of rivers and roads within

Strong typography is at the heart of the book. Bold black and crimson text give the design heft, counterbalanced by lighter washes of blue and green watercolor. Most of the text is set in Gentium Book Basic, whose old-style characteristics lend themselves well to the acetone transfer printing process. For a sharp contrast, the title is set large in the more modern Butler.

In May 2019, Kenyon College purchased 40.3756° N, 82.3971° W → 32.3792° N, 86.3077° W for inclusion in its Special Collections.
Photos courtesy of Ellen Sheffield.