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A Brief History of the Word ‘Picnic’:

Though the etymology of the word ‘picnic’ comes from a 17th Century French word, picque-nique with a meaning similar to today's meaning: a social gathering where each attendee brings a share of the food, the history of the word was forever stained in the late 1800’s.

Between 1882 and 1962 nearly 4,000 blacks were lynched in settings that are appropriately described as picnic-like. Philip Dray, a historian, stated: "Lynching was an undeniable part of daily life, as distinctly American as baseball games and church suppers. Men brought their wives and children to the events, posed for commemorative photographs, and purchased souvenirs of the occasion as if they had been at a company picnic." 

At the end of the 19th century, Henry Smith, a mentally challenged 17-year-old black male, was accused of killing a white girl. Before a cheering crowd of hundreds, Smith was made to sit on a "parade float" drawn by four white horses. The float circled numerous times before the excited crowd tortured, then burned Smith alive. After the lynching the crowd celebrated and collected body parts as souvenirs.

Dr. David Pilgrim
Curator at Jim Crow Museum (January 2004)

Via Ferris State University- Big Rapids, Michigan