The Lawson family photograph has become one of the most haunting images connected to Appalachia’s past. Taken in Winston-Salem in December 1929, it shows a family that would be almost entirely gone within days.

On Christmas Day, Charlie Lawson killed his wife, Fannie, and six of their children before taking his own life. Only sixteen-year-old Arthur Lawson survived because he had been sent away from the farm. The aftermath became almost as disturbing as the crime itself, with crowds visiting the farmhouse, reports of paid tours, the family’s Christmas cake becoming part of the spectacle, and a 1930 murder ballad preserving the tragedy in song.

But the biggest mystery has always been why. Later accounts proposed explanations ranging from a possible head injury to much more disturbing allegations published decades after the killings. This video separates what is documented from what was alleged and what later became folklore.

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