In “Blood Done Sign My Name” Timothy Tyson, a white man around my age, writes about the murder of Henry Marrow, a black man. This murder occurred in Oxford, NC during Tyson’s childhood.
When he went back to Oxford, while writing the book, to use the newspapers from that time, they no longer existed. If I remember correctly, all written records of the murder had disappeared from the library. That passage in the book really got my attention. At least in some cases, primary sources no longer even exist.
I recommend this book.
eta: the reason to point this out is to emphasis there really aren’t any good & valid statistics, now or in earlier times.