On a frigid February night in 1935, Eleanor arrives at the Arthur U. Newton Gallery for the NAACP’s An Art Commentary on Lynching. Earl unusually escorts her inside, acting on President Roosevelt’s orders due to death threats that forced the exhibit’s relocation from Jacques Seligmann. Eleanor recalls battling Franklin over attending; only after two more lynchings did he relent.

Inside, Eleanor greets Walter White and Mary Bethune, shaking hands in view of a mixed crowd. They frame the exhibit as a new tactic after FDR’s refusal to support the anti-lynching bill, aiming to push the issue into mainstream consciousness. Walter emphasizes letting the art speak to spur action.

Walter introduces artist Hale Woodruff and his work By Parties Unknown, depicting a bound lynching victim left on church steps. Woodruff explains the title’s common use to shield perpetrators. Mary and Eleanor probe the church setting, and Woodruff highlights the lynchers’ hypocrisy. The image’s visceral impact affects even Earl.

They conclude at Reginald Marsh’s sketch captioned “This is her first lynching,” which reconfigures a seemingly festive crowd into a mob initiating a child into racial violence. Eleanor finds it the most disturbing piece, recognizing how communities normalize atrocity. She affirms a hard lesson: inaction in the face of racism is acquiescence.