[Ads-l] Better Antedating of "Peckerwood" (White Person)

[Shapiro, Fred]

This is a really fine antedating, Garson.  It is particularly interesting in that it suggests that "peckerwood" in this sense may have been originated by white persons themselves rather than by African Americans.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2026 3:53 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Better Antedating of "Peckerwood" (White Person)

Excellent work.
This citation from 1900 is from an article about life in an Arkansas
prison. The article states that a "peckerwood" is a "white man"
according to prison slang.

Date: April 4, 1900
Newspaper: Fort Smith News Record
Newspaper Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Article: Life in the "Pen"
Quote Page 2, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers.com%2Farticle%2Ffort-smith-news-record-peckerwood%2F201734554%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C84ed4f54b5d04ed97e2d08dee30f5a6f%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C639197852283453780%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Qmy7PoCXbAG%2FqOZ4ccamM6HNEyjL5U7w1kBraZV5MVY%3D&reserved=0<https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-smith-news-record-peckerwood/201734554/>

[Begin excerpt]
"What mode of punishment do the authorities use?" asked the reporter.

"They have but one - whipping. They just take a "peckerwood" or a
"bully," the former is what they call a white man and the latter a
negro, throw him down, make one man sit on his head and another on his
feet and then the guard takes a leather strap that weighs about four
pounds, and takes the skin off his back just like you poured scalding
water on it. It is horrible," concluded the young man with a shudder.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 10:14 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> peckerwood (OED, 2., 1928)
>
> 1908 Muskogee (Okla.) Cimeter 19 June 1/1 (Newspapers.com)
>
> The peckerwoods in Ark.were struck with wonder as they gazed on a private car composed of what they termed "them niggers" from Oklahoma.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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