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Content: A Brief History of Mass Shootings – Behind the Tower
Maria Esther Hammack provides a survey of mass shootings in the United States as context for the tower shooting. Behind the Tower
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A Brief History of Mass Shootings
        
By Maria Esther Hammack
The notion portrayed by media outlets and the memory that materializes about the UT tower shooting in regards to it being the “first” violent school shooting, the “first” military-connected shooting, or even the “first” violent killing spree in the United States is a mythicized misconception. Historically the United States has witnessed many mass shootings, not originating from the UT tower shooting in 1966, but in fact predating that incident, and as early as 1891.The reasons that led to the August 1966 University of Texas sniper shootings and the perception that this incident was the first mass shootings in the country, not only demonstrates how our society acknowledges why violent crime happens, but also how the past is remembered through the perception of what is morally right and wrong, as well as because of our society’s tendency to so readily forget the past. This brief history of violent crime in the United States, from 1891 to 1966 aims to shed light on how we understand violent crime, particularly why mass shootings happen through an examination of past mass shootings. It also aims to allow us to learn about how mass shooting incidents such as the tower shooting of 1966 are remembered, but also forgotten, and how this remembrance and forgetting have come to shape our perception of the continuity of mass shootings in the history of the United States, particularly before 1966, and the causes that deliver these. In order to comprehend the extent of Columbine, Charleston, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech and other mass shootings of today, however, we must examine those that happened in the past, and see how or if these historical occurrences have shaped how we understand the University of Texas’ tower shootings of August 1st, 1966. The mass shootings and violent crime rates that we witness today, particularly those that happen on school property, or those related to military, or ex-military personnel are seldom a reflection of today’s generation, but reflect hard to explain violent crime dynamics that have existed for a long time in this country. Mass shootings have been occurring since even before the turn of the twentieth century. Disturbing and senseless shootings have occurred since 1891 in this country. On March 28, 1891 a man with a doubled barreled shotgun fired upon a crowd of students and faculty attending a school exhibition in Parson Hall School House in Liberty, Mississippi.1The perpetrator wounded over fourteen people mostly children, with several being seriously wounded.2This incident is perhaps one of the earliest reported school mass shootings in the country.