. >> kathryn fletcher is one of over 70 elderly african-americans interviewed by the reverend angela simsor her "remembering lynching" project housed at the institute of oral history. >> if we don't capture the narratives now, they will be lost to history forever. >> angela sims, who teaches ethics and black church studies in kansas city, missouri spent two years interviewing african-americans who grew up in what theologian james cohen callsed chate the shadow of the lynching tree. they lived in fear of one. or in the case of 92-year-old willie matthew thomas, narrowly escaped being lynched. >> so one of them said, look, we going to hang him or not? and they said, sure we're going to hang him. so he made up the noose, and they put it round my neck. and i -- i remembered in the bible it speak about how they treated jesus, and they said, "they led him away to be crucified." they led me away to be crucified, to be hung. >> thomas was saved when a white man, who knew his family, showed up with a shotgun and intervened. dr. sims got the idea for her project when she heard a speech about lynchi