Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project Northeastern University School of Law

CIVIL RIGHTS AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROJECT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

YEAR END REPORT 2019 he Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Proj- cases in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Tect (CRRJ) was founded in 2007. Through Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, clinical courses, research, civil rights advocacy, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. legal services, and community engagement, CRRJ pursued reparative programs related to affiliated scholars and students examine the several cases on its docket, assisting families relationship between race-based miscarriag- and communities in their efforts to generate es of justice in US history and current press- civic dialogue by placing markers at signifi- ing racial and criminal justice issues. CRRJ in- cant sites, hosting commemorative events, vestigates cold cases of racial homicide and and engaging with filmmakers. supports communities seeking to unearth information about past racial violence and to CRRJ sponsored several events in 2019 to ad- engage in dialogue aimed at reconciliation. vance collaboration and connection among CRRJ resurrects these cases to construct researchers and advocates. CRRJ’s work- an historicized understanding of obsta- shop series featured five talks that brought cles to equal justice today. together researchers, students, and invited guests in the fields of civil rights and historical In 2019, CRRJ continued to develop the Burn- injustices to discuss new research projects in ham-Nobles archive by researching scores of an informal setting.

Above: The family of Royal Cyril Brooks at the unveiling of a historical marker in Gretna, Louisiana.

Cover: Sam Terry and his wife Minnie Kate Terry (left); Quick-Trigger Cops Kill Pair in Last Week in Dec., Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 8, 1949 (center); Rufus Johnson (right). CRRJ CASE DOCKET 2019

ALABAMA thored a petition to state officials and the NAACP launched an investigation. Betty Jean Bunn—Mobile, Mobile County, AL (Mar. 1952) The local coroner ruled Butler’s death a “justifiable homicide.” The NAACP hired an attorney, Bryan Chancey, to Betty Jean Bunn died in March 1952 in Mobile, Alabama. represent Butler’s widow in a wrongful death suit. Butler’s A report by the Civil Rights Congress stated that she was widow filed her claim against TCI in 1949. She was award- stabbed while babysitting at her aunt’s home. The report ed $10,000 by an all-white jury in 1952. TCI appealed the indicated that the killer had not been identified. CRRJ’s in- verdict to the Alabama Supreme Court which upheld the vestigation of this case is ongoing. award.

Captain Leonard Butler—Edgewater, Jefferson Mitchell Dunklin—Lowndes County, AL (July 4, County, AL (June 5, 1948) 1944) On June 5, 1948, Captain Leon- On July 4, 1944, 22-year-old World War II veteran Mitch- ard Butler was murdered by ell Dunklin was dragged from his home by Sheriff Otto two employees of the Tennes- Moorer and a group of unidentified white men and killed. see Coal, Iron, and Railroad After killing Dunklin, Moorer and the group of men came Company (TCI). Butler, an Al- back to the Dunklin house and threatened to kill Dunklin’s abama native, was a miner at father and mother if they told anybody about the homi- Edgewater Mine, which was cide. Dunklin’s sister, Mary Francis Moore, reported the owned and operated by TCI. death of her broth- Butler also served as pastor er in a letter that of the First Baptist Church of was referred to J. Gary-Ensley, frequented meet- L. LeFlore of the ings of the NAACP in Birming- Mobile Branch of ham, and was a member of the the NAACP. She local PTA. also asked the FBI to investigate her TCI claimed Butler was killed brother’s murder, because he harassed a white but it does not ap- teenager and pulled a gun pear that the FBI when approached by the com- ever did so. Sheriff pany’s deputies. However, an Moorer reportedly alternative motive may have had a reputation been Butler’s activism in sup- for using excessive port of the unionization of the Negro Miner’s Death force against Afri- Edgewater Mine. The Edgewa- Halts Coal Production, can Americans. ter Local of the United Mine The Dothan Eagle, June Workers of America (UMW) was 9, 1948. In this letter, dated established in 1934, and Butler August 14, 1944, Mitchell Dunklin’s sister, Mrs. Mary Frances rose to the ranks of local vice Moore, reported her brother’s death. She also reported that president–the highest position an African-American could the mob group that killed her brother beat her parents, hold. Butler’s commitment to the union elicited severe re- writing “They beat my mother and father very bad, and told taliation from TCI. He and his family were forced to leave them if they said anything about it, they would be dealt their home in Edgewater and relocate to Capstown. with the same.” Her letter was forwarded on to J.L. LeFlore of the Mobile Chapter of the NAACP. In response to Butler’s death, over half of TCI’s 4,500 employees went on strike. Black newspapers around the country came to Butler’s defense, alleging he had never owned a gun. The Negro Citizens Defense Committee au-

1 Sylvester Hobdy’s death certificate lists his cause of death as “pistol wounds in head and chest.”

Jessie Hood’s draft card.

Sylvester Hobdy—Selma, Dallas County, AL (Apr. Daniel Webster Hunter—Birmingham, Jefferson 29, 1953) County, AL (Dec. 5, 1949) Sylvester Hobdy was killed by police officers R.F. Poole Daniel Webster Hunter and Billy Turner on April 29, 1953, in Selma, Alabama. Ac- was shot by William A. cording to newspaper reports, the death occurred after Dobson on December Hobdy, armed with a knife, chased his wife and kids from 5, 1949. The circum- their house, stabbed a neighbor, and then stabbed one of stances of his death the police officers in the arm. Poole and Turner reported are unknown. Hunter that Hobdy ignored the two warning shots that they fired. was the son of Lillian Hobdy’s death certificate indicates that he was shot multi- and Frank Hunter and ple times. He was in his late thirties when he died, leaving worked for his father, behind his wife, Earnestine, and two young sons, Robert who was a manager at and Elvester. Ace’s Detective Service. He had three sisters, Jessie Hood—Oakman, Walker County, AL (Jan. 8, Robbie Ann, Helen Ma- 1951) rie, and Doris, and one On January 8, 1951, Jessie Hood was shot and killed by brother Frederick. Oakman Police Chief George Alfred Warren. According to reports, Lloyd Colvin called Warren around 10pm because Wash Paramore— Hood was outside of his house drunk and disturbing the Gordon, Houston peace. Colvin was hosting a Bible Study. According to County, AL (Nov. 4, Warren, when he arrived, Hood was in a car outside the 1943) house. Warren claimed he tried to remove Hood from the Wash Paramore was car but Hood resisted and kicked Warren. Warren stated found dead on the that during the scuffle he noticed a pocket knife in Hood’s morning of November Letter written on November 6, hand, and that Hood swung the knife at him but only hit 4, 1943, near the train 1943, addressed to Thurgood his sleeve. In response, Warren shot Hood twice. Hood tracks just outside of Marshall, Special Counsel of died on the way to the hospital. Gordon, Alabama. He the NAACP, from W. G. Porter, re- was not yet 25 years porting on the death of Wash Warren was indicted by the Walker County grand jury for old. Ruling his death Paramore. murder in the second degree. He waived extradition in an accident, a coroner’s California and was brought to the Walker County jail. The jury determined that he was hit and dragged by a train. outcome of the legal proceeding is unknown. Many in the community were skeptical, and the NAACP requested that the DOJ investigate the case. The DOJ declined to investigate unless the NAACP could provide solid evidence that the death was not an accident. Hence there was no investigation into Paramore’s death.

2 Paramore had been acquitted in July 1943 of murder Corp Railhead Company at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, charges for the 1941 killing of his former boss, Curtis War- Mississippi. At the end of the war in 1946, he returned to ren. Paramore was initially convicted and sentenced to Birmingham, Alabama where his parents, Mattie Julian life imprisonment on the basis of a confession that was al- and James Addison Thomas, and wife, Estella Pullum, still legedly coerced through threats and beatings. On appeal, lived. the confession was suppressed and Paramore was acquitted. By that time, he had spent two years in jail. Edward Waithe—Mobile, Mobile County, AL (July 2, 1946) Herbert Thompson—Emelle, Sumter County, AL Edward Waithe died on July 2, 1946 in Mobile. His death (May 9, 1953) certificate states that he accidentally drowned as a result Herbert “Monk” Thompson, a 33-year-old carpenter from of falling into the water at Turner Terminal. He was report- Choctaw County, Alabama, died on May 9, 1953 in Emelle, ed missing two days before his body was found by officers Alabama. On March 28, 1953, members of the Dial family of the SS Williams Phipps, where he was working. Waithe’s stopped at a jail in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, where family believes he drowned as a result of being chased by Thompson was imprisoned for reasons unknown. As they a mob into the water. had done for many other African Americans, the Dial family paid Mr. Thompson’s bond and informed him that he James Walter Walker—Montgomery, would be required to work for them in order to pay back Montgomery County, AL (May 29, 1948) his debt to the Dials. Thompson was transported to the James Walter Walker was killed by Dial family’s farm, where he was expected to work for no a police officer in Montgomery, pay and with no opportunity to leave. On May 6, 1953, Alabama on the night of Satur- Thompson decided to leave the farm. He was caught at- day, May 29, 1948. Walker was a tempting to flee by Fred and Oscar Dial. According to wit- 30-year-old resident of Fort De- nesses, Thompson was “tied by the neck, feet and waist posit, Alabama, where he was with ropes to a bale of hay and beaten by eight men with employed by the town’s mayor, ropes.” He did not receive any medical attention and died Thomas Sanderson Coleman. three days later. Thompson’s official cause of death was reported as pneumonia, with the associate state toxicol- According to the Montgomery ogist, Nelson Grubbs, noting only that he found wounds Police Department, Officer Hiram and lacerations on Thompson’s legs and left thigh. D. Holland apprehended Walk- er on a charge of public drunk- On September 4, 1953, seven men were indicted by a fed- enness and called for a patrol eral grand jury for violations in connection with the en- wagon to take Walker to the city slavement and death of Thompson and the enslavement jail. As Holland led Walker to the of three other individuals. The indictment listed Lind- wagon, Walker allegedly pushed say Winyard Dial (43), Oscar Edwin Dial (34), Fred N. Dial a steel door in Holland’s face and (25), Grady Clarence Dial (28), Robert Mitchell Dial (44), started running. Holland caught brothers; Arthur “Otto” Arnold Dial (27), a second cousin; up to Walker and yelled “stop or and Charles Francis Harper. Each man reportedly posted I’ll shoot.” Walker reportedly hit a $1,000 bond, aside from Oscar Dial and Charles Harp- Holland and fought to take his er, who posted $2,500 bond, and were released pending weapon. During the altercation, trial. On May 14, 1954, a jury found Oscar and Fred Dial Holland shot Walker, who died principally responsible for the enslavement and death of immediately. CRRJ is seeking fur- Thompson. Both men were sentenced to 18 months in ther information on the matter. The article titled Ask prison. Probe of Negro Deaths, Eugene Ward—Bessemer, featured in the James David Thomas—Birmingham, Jefferson Jefferson County, AL (April Decatur Daily on June County, AL (Apr. 23, 1949) 30th, 1948) 15, 1948, lists Eugene On Saturday, April 23, 1949, James David Thomas was shot Ward as one of six Eugene Ward, 37, was shot and black people killed by and killed by J. T. Walthall at the age of 31. The coroner killed by Patrolmen Lawton ruled his death a justifiable homicide. No further details officers in Jefferson Grimes and Sam Montgomery in County since March about his death are known. Thomas enlisted in the Army at Bessemer, Alabama on April 30, the age of 22 and was a Private in the 93d Quartermaster 27, 1948.

3 James Collins Brown’s death certificate lists cause of death as Dave Wilson’s death “acute left subdural “marked the sixth police- hemorrhage.” slaying of a Negro citizen in 41 days in the Birmingham area.” Man Killed by Special Deputy, Birmingham World, May 14, 1948

1948. Officers claimed that Ward was reaching in his pock- FLORIDA et for a knife and resisting arrest when they shot him. His death was ruled a justifiable homicide by Coroner J. T. Mc- James Collins Brown—Tampa, Hillsborough Collum of Bessemer. County, FL (May 27, 1955) Dave Wilson—Porter, Jefferson County, AL (May James Collins Brown was found dead in a jail cell on May 27, 1955. Brown was arrested at a bar in Tampa, Florida 9, 1948) the night before. Police Officers Oscar Ayala and Samuel Dave Wilson, 50, died after Special Deputy Mack Alexan- Brazelton entered the bar for a different matter and saw der shot him near Flat Creek in Porter, Alabama on May 9, Brown slumped over. Witnesses reported that Brown was 1948. Officers claimed that they received two complaints drunk and fell out of his booth several times. Officers tried that Wilson was acting “disorderly” before Alexander ar- to get Brown to stand but he could not, so the officers car- rived at his home. Alexander alleged that Wilson came out ried him out to their car and to the city jail. The next day he of his home with a knife in his hand and threatened to kill was found dead in his jail cell. anyone coming to the door. Coroner Joe Hildebrand determined that Wilson’s death was a justifiable homicide. An autopsy found that Brown died of “acute left subdural hemorrhage,” caused by a blow to the head. Nardy E. Raw- ls and J.C. Jackson, relatives of Brown, requested an F.B.I. ARKANSAS investigation to determine if there was any foul play. The F.B.I. found no civil rights violations and closed the inves- Herman Clay tigation. In April 1950, Mrs. Roselee Clay of Chicago wrote a letter to the special counsel to the NAACP reporting that her son, William (Willie) Frank Hawthorne—Miami, Miami- Herman Clay, had been killed by an officer while in jail in Dade County, FL (Dec. 2, 1949) Blytheville, Mississippi County, Arkansas for stealing whis- On December 2, 1949, William F. Hawthorne was shot and key. She claimed that this had occurred “six years ago or killed by an off-duty policeman, Andres L. Almoina, in more,” placing the murder around 1944. Miami. William, known as “Willie,” was 26 years old at the time. He had served in the Navy as a Steward’s Mate, First CRRJ has not been able to find additional information Class, from 1943-45. about any deaths in the Blytheville jail in this timeframe. However, newspaper clippings reveal a strikingly similar According to news reports, Almoina, a motorcycle patrol- series of events that took place in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, man, was on his way home when he witnessed Hawthorne approximately 250 miles southwest of Blytheville. There, threatening two other Black men with a knife. Almoina on the morning of December 16, 1945, two black men broke up the fight, arrested Hawthorne, and placed him were found dead in the Clark County jail. The first man in his car. En route to the precinct, the reports allege that was identified by two newspapers by two different names: Hawthorne “jumped” from the car, and Almoina fired three Henry Bailey and Rube Bailey. The second man was iden- shots in the air before giving chase. Almoina claimed that tified by both newspapers as Herman Wilson. Both news- during the chase, his gun fired accidentally and struck papers reported that Herman Wilson had been arrested Hawthorne in the back of the head. Almoina claimed that for public drunkenness. Given the similarity of the facts, the two men Hawthorne had allegedly threatened were and the shared first name of “Herman,” it is possible that also present in the police car and that they fled. this is the case reported by Mrs. Clay. Our investigation is ongoing.

4 A coroner’s inquest was set for Friday, December 9 before asked for payment. Accord- Peace Justice Thomas S. Ferguson, but the result of that ing to witnesses, Coco—a proceeding is unknown. It does not appear that charges member of the Mafia and for- were ever brought against Almoina. The national and lo- mer manager for boxer Rocky cal branches of the NAACP communicated about the case Graziano—argued over the and the possibility of a federal investigation, but it does requested payment. Coco re- not appear that any investigation occurred. However, an portedly went into his apart- attorney secured a $2500 settlement from the city for ment, grabbed a gun, and Hawthorne’s widow. shot Smith two or three times as he worked over a car. He A.C. Hopkins—Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL then stood over Smith as he (Sept. 7, 1947) lay bleeding on the street and On September 7, 1947, A.C. Hopkins was shot and killed fired two or three more bullets by Officer Richard Wiegand as he was patrolling in South into his body. Coco was asleep Miami. According to eye-witnesses, Wiegand entered the in his apartment when the po- neighborhood around 9pm and stopped his car. He saw lice arrived later that morning. Hopkins on the street and ordered him to go home. Hop- A .32 caliber revolver was re- kins said that he had done nothing wrong and refused to covered from a garbage can go home. Wiegand got out of his patrol car and hit Hop- in front of Coco’s apartment. kins with his blackjack. Hopkins hit the officer back and Coco Appeals Life Sentence, First degree murder charges proceeded to walk away. Wiegand then shot and killed The Miami News, June 19, were brought against Coco for Hopkins. 1951. slaying Smith. Coco was con- Weigand was charged with second degree murder but it is victed by an all-white jury of not clear whether he was ever tried or convicted. second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The state attorney claimed it was the first time a white man had been sentenced in Florida for a black man’s death. However, the state’s prosecution of Coco was likely motivated by Coco’s alleged connection to organized crime. Coco appealed his conviction in June 1951 and awaited the appeal while out on bond. In January 1953 the Flori- da Supreme Court granted him a new trial after the high court found an error in the trial court proceedings. Prior to the second trial, several pieces of important evidence dis- appeared in the transfer from the circuit court to the criminal court. Despite the missing evidence, the prosecution proceeded and Coco was again found guilty of second degree murder. Coco was freed shortly after on a $25,000 bond pending a hearing for a new trial requested by his attorneys. Coco’s second appeal was unsuccessful, and the Letter from Marie Bell, Branch Secretary of the Miami Chapter Florida Supreme Court upheld his sentence. of the NAACP, to the NAACP Legal Department reporting on the murder of A.C. Hopkins. Ms. Bell enclosed a newspaper John Sutton—Wayne County, FL (Dec. 25, 1939) clipping from the Miami Herald (right). John Sutton, a teenager, was killed Christmas Day 1939. Sutton reportedly went to the home of Earl Stroud, a white farmer in his thirties, to discuss payment for work he did Johnnie B. Smith—Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL on Stroud’s farm. Reports differ as to the exact order and (Feb. 1, 1951) location of events. According to all accounts, Stroud and Johnnie B. Smith was shot and killed by Edward “Eddie” Sutton argued over the payment, and Stroud picked up a Coco in Miami on February 1, 1951 outside an apartment gun and shot Sutton. Reports indicate that Stroud was ar- complex where Smith worked as a car washer. He was ap- rested and indicted on manslaughter charges but released proximately 43 years old. Smith arrived at the apartment on bail. It is unclear whether there was a trial. complex early in the morning, washed Coco’s car, and

5 CRRJ learned of the murder of Ollie Hunter from a letter sent to Walter White, Executive Secretary of the NAACP, by Sam Raburn. This letter provides the only known written account of the killing. The letter did not mention the victim’s name. CRRJ’s investigation established her identity.

Coroner’s Jury Probes Death of Negro Slain by Colquitt Posse, Thomasville Times Enterprise, October 18, 1935

GEORGIA Ollie Hunter—Donalsville, Douglas County, GA (May 19, 1944) Bo Brinson—Moultrie, Colquitt County, GA (Oct. Ollie Hunter was killed in Donalsonville, Georgia on May 17, 1935) 19, 1944. She was likely in her mid-sixties at the time of Bo Brinson, a farm laborer, was killed outside Moultrie, her death. Her death was reported in a letter to the NAACP Georgia on the night of October 16, 1935 by a posse of on June 6, 1944. According to the letter, Hunter went into white men searching for John Henry Sloan. Sloan was a a local store to purchase oil. She was holding a can when black man accused of killing a white young man, Ottis Gay, the store manager told her not to touch the items, so she and injuring his fiancée. Sometime during the night of Oc- put down the can and left. The manager reportedly picked tober 16, a posse of white men arrived at a farm house in up an axe handle, followed her down the street, and struck the rural section of Colquitt County, looking for Sloan. The her in the head. According to Hunter’s death certificate, home reportedly belonged to Isaac Green, and Brinson her cause of death was “concussion of brain” caused by a was boarding with him at the time. According to a witness, blow to the head. The death certificate classified her death Brinson and two other men were keeping watch when the as a homicide. posse arrived and searched the house. Brinson ran into the open and fought with a member of the mob. The mob beat Curtis James—Darien, McIntosh County, GA (Oct. Brinson, shot him several times in the head and chest, and 7, 1934) left. The witness then covered Brinson with a quilt until he Curtis James was lynched in Darien, Georgia on October could be carried to the hospital, where he died at about 7, 1934. A mob of fourteen masked men arrived at James’ 11:00 the next morning, October 17, 1935. home in the middle of the night, firing shots through the window before entering the home. James and his wife re- Colquitt County Sheriff Tom V. Beard made arrangements portedly pleaded for the mob to kill James at home so he for a coroner’s inquest into Brinson’s death the following could have a funeral. The men shot and killed James and afternoon, October 18, 1935. Three witnesses testified, in- then took his body, which was never recovered. cluding the unnamed witness above, but none were will- ing or able to identify Brinson’s killer or killers. The coro- James had been arrested for bootlegging turpentine prior ner’s jury returned a verdict that Brinson “had come to his to his death but was acquitted at trial. He had implicated death at the hands of parties unknown to this body.” No several white men in the crime, which was likely the mo- other legal action took place in the case. On October 31, tive for the mob. Of the fourteen members of the mob, 12 1936, John Henry Sloan was executed for the murder of were white and 2 were black. Only the 2 black men were Ottis Gay. taken into custody following the killing.

6 Fear Kept Relatives from Reporting Brutal Murder of Navy Vet, The Baltimore Afro-American, January 15, 1952.

Harrison Johnson—Eatonton, Putnam County, on the side of the building. Trammel responded by firing Georgia (July 28, 1946) a shot through her window. Johnson, who was not struck by the shot, returned to his mother’s porch. About an hour Harrison Johnson, a truck driver and father of seven, was later, Bainbridge police officers Amos Martin and James killed by Johnny Holt on July 28, 1946 in Eatonton, Geor- T. Bell arrived at Johnson’s mother’s home, where John- gia. Johnson had run his vehicle into a ditch while in town son, his mother, and sister were sitting on the porch. The and enlisted the help of Holt, a local white tavern-keeper, officers demanded to know who Johnson was and what to remove his truck. Once the job was done, the two began he was doing in Bainbridge. When he told them he was to discuss a fee. When they could not reach an agreement, visiting his family, they threatened to arrest him. Johnson they began to fight. According to Holt, Johnson pulled a responded that they had no right to arrest him without a knife and cut him. Holt responded by pulling out a gun charge against him. Enraged, Martin and Bell drew their and shooting Johnson six times. pistols and attempted to seize him, striking him with their The police were alerted and Sheriff J. L. Paschal reported fists and guns when he tried to pull away. In the struggle, to the scene. He assessed the situation and allowed Holt one of the officers fired his gun, grazing Johnson’s sister. to go free without charging him. The Sheriff declined to Johnson then leapt from the porch amid the hail of bullets investigate the case further and Holt was not charged. from the officers’ guns and ran.

Rufus Johnson—Bainbridge, Decatur County, GA As Johnson tried to escape, Martin and Bell continued (Dec. 5, 1951) firing, striking him with at least four bullets. The officers ultimately caught up with Johnson, threw him in a police Rufus Johnson was shot and beaten to death by police of- car, and transported him to Bainbridge police headquar- ficers in Bainbridge, Georgia on December 5, 1951. John- ters, where police continued to beat him. Police refused son, a 34-year-old Navy veteran and resident of Newark, to let Johnson’s family see him and reportedly told them New Jersey, was visiting relatives in Bainbridge. In October that the mob would come for Johnson unless the family 1951, Johnson had suffered a “nervous breakdown” and had papers to prove that he was a veteran and that he was committed to State Mental Hospital at Trenton, NJ. had been treated in a hospital for the insane. Even after He was discharged in late November and went to visit his a member of the family produced the requested docu- mother in Bainbridge. ments, police prevented Johnson’s family from seeing him for several hours. Finally, family members were shown to On December 5, 1951, Johnson went to the home of Tot the cell where Johnson was kept. There, Johnson’s body Trammel, a white woman who was known to sell liquor to was laying on the concrete floor, nude and covered in cuts, the black residents of the dry town. Johnson knocked on bruises, and blood. The undertaker later reported that the the front door of the Trammel house, and, when no one an- back of Johnson’s head and neck were “beaten almost to swered, shook the screen on a front window and knocked

7 Will Kinsey is listed as one of forty-seven lynchings reported in 1933 by the International Labor Defense (I.L.D). The summary report states that, “Notable in the list, the I.L.D. announcement said, was the fact that in 14 cases of lynching, involving 16 victims, police and other public officials are on record as participants, as having lent material aid, approval, or as being passive spectators.”

a pulp” and that his wounds included a deep, nine-inch Joe Nathan Roberts—Sardis, Burke County, GA long, gash on the back of his head and neck. (May 29, 1947) Johnson’s family consulted with the NAACP and with J. Joe Nathan Roberts, a 23-year-old Navy veteran, was shot Mercer Burrell, a prominent black civil rights lawyer. The and killed by Deputy C.L. McNarrell on May 29, 1947 in Department of Justice created a file on Johnson’s killing, Sardis, Georgia. According to newspaper reports, Rob- but it does not appear that that any legal proceedings en- erts had gotten in an argument with a local bookkeeper, sued. picked up a pistol, and threatened to kill him. Roberts’ father reportedly took the weapon from his son and called Will Kinsey—Warrenton, Warren County, Georgia the sheriff. When Sheriff Otis Cliett and McNarrell arrived, (May 12, 1933) Roberts had returned home. As the officers approached Roberts’ home, Roberts allegedly fired at McNarrell, who On May 12, 1933, 25-year-old tenant farmer Willie Kinsey fired back, killing Roberts. The reports allege that the was shot to death by a 40-50 person mob of “parties un- cause of death was a gunshot wound and the death certif- known.” Earlier that day, Kinsey had argued with his white icate classifies his death as a homicide. landlord, John Pierce English II. Newspapers reported that the men argued because English did not like how the cot- Ball Smith—Georgetown, Quitman County, ton was being plowed. However, in an interview with CRRJ, Georgia (July 12, 1947) Julius Kinsey, Willie Kinsey’s nephew, said that the argument concerned the absence of Willie’s sister from the field Ball Smith was shot and killed on July 12, 1947 in George- due to illness. Willie Kinsey angered his boss because he town, Georgia, at the age of 52. According to newspaper insisted his sister was too ill to work in the fields. Later that reports, Smith was shot by Sheriff H.F. Herrington during evening, a “gun battle” commenced in which both Lamar a gun battle with a group of African American men. The Kinsey and Charles Goodrich English were killed instantly. group was reportedly seeking to prevent the arrest of Will Kinsey escaped wounded and was driven to the local Smith’s son. According to the sheriff, he shot Smith after clinic by a neighbor. Kinsey was kidnapped from the clinic Smith held up a revolver and stated that he would not al- by the mob and shot to death on the side of a road. low Herrington to arrest his son. Smith’s death certificate lists his cause of death as a homicide caused by gunshot Floyd Pearson, Jr—Rutland, Bibb County, GA wounds. The means of injury is listed as “shot by sheriff (Jan. 24, 1942) while resisting arrest.” Floyd Pearson, Jr. was killed on January 24, 1942 in Rut- land, Georgia at the age of 29. According to his death certificate, the cause of death was a “bullet to the heart.” Our investigation is ongoing.

8 Left: Sam Terry pictured with his infant son, James Edward. Right: Sam Terry’s wife, Minnie Kate Terry. Combat Veteran Slain in Jail, Alabama Tribune, March 4, 1949.

Sam Terry’s family standing in front of their 3 bedroom home. Combat Veteran Slain in Jail, Alabama Tribune, March 4, 1949.

Sam Terry—Manchester, Talbot and Merriweather Kate Terry stated that she asked Chief Keeble to do some- Counties, GA (Feb. 26, 1949) thing but he ignored her. Within a few minutes, she heard gunshots, and when the door opened, Sam was bleeding On February 26, 1949, Sam Terry, a World War II veteran from the head. and auto mechanic, was shot in the Manchester city jail. He died after surgery the following morning. Avery, Rogers, and Kiebrow gave a different account of the events that occurred after the group arrived at the jail. They According to his family, whom CRRJ investigators in- claim that as Chief Keeble was searching for the keys to the terviewed, Sam Terry was at home sick with the mumps cell, Sam Terry allegedly pushed Officer Rogers into the ad- when his brother, Tom Baker Terry, and family friend, A.J. jacent lounge room, and the two fought. Avery claims he Middlebrooks, came to visit. During the visit, Tom report- tried to pull Sam Terry off Rogers, but Terry knocked him edly took a dollar out of Middlebrooks’ wallet and gave it down, grabbed a pocket knife off a table in the station, to Sam Terry’s wife, Minnie Kate Terry, to pay a previous and came at Avery with the knife. Rogers told Sam Terry to debt. Middlebrooks left Terry’s home and called the police. drop the knife but he did not comply, so Rogers shot him Police officer Charles Rogers, Fire Chief Emmet Felton -Av in the back. A physician was called to the jail and Sam Ter- ery, and Roy Kiebrow, a volunteer fireman, arrived at Sam ry was transported to his clinic. The physician noted that Terry’s home to investigate the complaint. he had five bullet wounds. He was later transferred to the Rogers arrested Tom, Sam, and Minnie Kate Terry. Accord- hospital and underwent surgery, but he ultimately died ing to a statement from Minnie Kate, Rogers aggressively from gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. grabbed her by the arm and pushed her against the police Minnie Kate Terry filed charges against Rogers and Avery, car, at which point Sam Terry asked them not to push his who were charged with mandslaughter. However, a grand wife. Minnie Kate Terry stated that Rogers and Avery then jury declined to indict and the charges were dropped. The pulled their guns on Sam Terry and told him if he said any- NAACP also became involved and encouraged the U.S. thing else they would kill him. According to Rogers and Department of Justice to investigate. The FBI began an in- Avery, once they were in the car, Sam Terry attempted to vestigation and interviewed witnesses. In May 1950, the pin Avery to the dashboard, and Avery and Rogers threat- DOJ closed the case, finding that there was insufficient- ev ened to kill him if he did not let Avery go; however, they idence to prosecute the case. said that he complied and no further action was taken.

Sam, Tom, and Minnie Kate Terry were taken to the city jail, William Walker—Bartow, Jefferson County, GA where they were met by Chief of Police Keeble. According (Nov. 22, 1933) to Tom Baker Terry and Minnie Kate Terry, Avery and Rog- On November 19, 1933, William Walker was shot by the ers began beating Sam Terry. Avery and Rogers took him town marshal of Bartow, Georgia. The incident alleged- into the adjacent lounge room and shut the door. Minnie ly grew out of a drinking party involving Walker, another

9 black man, and a number of white men. According to one report, Walker was intoxicated and allegedly began shooting at the town marshal when the marshal tried to arrest him. A different report stated that Walker was trying to protect himself and was killed as a result. Both Walker and the marshal were shot during the incident. Upon learning of the incident, men and boys armed with guns and knives formed a lynch mob intending to kill Walker. The mob also threatened C.S. Bryant, a well-known farmer from the area who sought to bring Walker to a hospital. Walker was eventually taken to University Hospital in Augusta, where he remained for two days until he died on November 22, 1933. His death certificate records that he was shot in the abdomen while “resisting arrest.”

Walker’s killing was part of a reign of terror that gripped Bartow in late 1933 and early 1934. Within three months of Walker’s death, at least two other black men were killed and two were beaten.

Slaying Charge is Filed Away Against Louisville Patrolman, The KENTUCKY Courier-Journal, Oct. 10, 1947. George Kelly—Louisville, Jefferson County, KY LOUISIANA (Sept. 2, 1947) George Edward Kelly, 30, was beaten, shot, and killed by a Thomas Knighton—Pineville, Rapides Parish, LA police officer in Louisville, Kentucky on September 2, 1947. (Sept. 13, 1941) Kelly was at a confectionery counter with his father and Tom Knighton was beaten to death by a highway patrol brother and may have been drinking a milkshake at the officer in Pinesville, Louisiana on September 13, 1941. He time of his death. Patrolmen John Womack and Herbert H. was 21 years old. Knighton’s death certificate indicates Turley entered the store and accused Kelly of causing a dis- that he had a fractured jaw and bruising on his head and turbance. The store’s proprietor denied that Kelly caused neck at the time of his death. any disturbance. According to an NAACP file, Womack pointed his revolver at Kelly, who knocked it from the of- Willie Osborn—Ouachita Parish, LA (Oct. 17, ficer’s hand. Turley then attacked Kelly from behind with 1944) a night-stick and beat him unconscious. Womack emptied Willie Osborn, a 19-year-old soldier, was shot and killed his gun into Kelly as he lay on the ground. The officers on October 17, 1944. Osborn reportedly got into a fight claimed that Kelly ripped Officer Turley’s pistol and holster with John Sheldon Sullivan, the City Marshal of Lake Prov- off and tried to shoot the gun, causing Womack to shoot idence, Louisiana while attending a show in Lake Provi- him. dence. According to statements obtained by the Provost Local police termed the shooting “necessary” and efforts to Marshal’s office, Osborn was standing outside the show have Womack indicted were unsuccessful. A manslaugh- when Sullivan arrived with his wife and child. Sullivan re- ter charge was dismissed without a hearing in Police Court portedly brushed against Osborn and the two exchanged on October 9, 1947. The prosecutor informed the judge words. After his wife and child were seated, Sullivan left that a coroner’s jury had previously held the shooting the show and went back to his home. When he returned, a justifiable, and the judge stated that Police Court “usual- fight broke out between Sullivan and Osborn. During the ly respects the verdicts of coroner’s juries.” The judge dis- altercation, Sullivan shot and killed Osborn. missed the charge even though attorneys for Kelly’s family The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of justifiable homi- said four witnesses were available to testify that Kelly was cide, finding that Osborn had been drinking and that Sul- unconscious when he was shot. livan shot in self-defense. Sullivan claimed that Osborn knocked him down twice, and that Sullivan fired while he was on the ground. However, an investigation by the Pro- vost Marshal’s office found that Sullivan had no bruises or 10 Thomas Knighton’s headstone at the Merryville Community Cemetery in Merryville, LA injuries and that Osborn was shot in the back. According MARYLAND to the Provost Marshal, his investigation suggested that Sullivan shot Osborn without sufficient justification, and Baltimore Police Killings he recommended that action be taken against Sullivan. It CRRJ is investigating mid-twentieth century police vio- is unclear whether any such action was taken. lence against African Americans in Baltimore. At present our file comprises 48 homicides committed by police of- John White—Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, LA ficers between 1930 and 1960. All but one of the victims (Sept. 26, 1933) were black. John White was lynched in Opelousas, Louisiana on Sep- tember 26, 1933, after he was accused of attacking a woman a few days earlier. According to local news reports, on MISSISSIPPI September 23, Mrs. A.B. Castille claims she was attacked by a man who had come to her door asking for a glass Robert L. Cobb—Columbus, Lowndes County, MS of water. Mrs. Castille described the alleged assailant. On (Feb. 26, 1952) September 26th, Durio received a tip that John White, a On February 26, 1952, near Columbus, Lowndes County, young black man working on a nearby farm, matched the Mississippi, Robert L. Cobb was hunted down and shot description and had been seen near Mrs. Castille’s resi- to death by a mob of 100 to 400 law enforcement agents, dence the morning of the attack. deputized civilians, and non-deputized civilians. Cobb was in his thirties and was a World War II veteran who had Deputy Durio took two men with him and drove to the previously served time for the murder of an African Amer- farm where Mr. White was working. They found White in ican man. On February 26, Cobb allegedly shot and killed the field. White reportedly attempted to flee from the pos- 62-year-old John Allison Hardy, the owner of Lone Pine se. Durio gave chase, sending one of the men with him Plantation and director of the New Orleans Federal Land back to town in his car “for help.” The chase lasted about Bank. According to newspaper reports, Hardy was called twenty miles before Durio and his companion caught to the home of his African American cook—who some White. Durio took White to Mrs. Castille’s residence and she newspaper reports identified as Cobb’s wife—to respond alleged that White was her attacker. to reports of an argument. According to Hardy’s son, J.A. Hardy, Jr., Cobb allegedly opened the front door and shot At that point, Durio claimed he was overpowered by per- Hardy Sr. point blank in the head. Cobb then fled into the sons unknown, stating that someone hit him from behind woods. Hardy Sr. died a few hours later at a Columbus hos- and that he called Sheriff Thibodeaux for help. When Thibo- pital. deaux arrived, he was told White’s body was in the woods, and he soon located the body. White had been shot nine Lowndes County Sheriff Charles E. Farmer and Deputy times in the body and twice in the head. Later that night, Sheriff Tom Glover deputized up to 100 civilians to search the body was stolen, and the next morning it was found for Cobb. Hundreds more civilians joined the search. Un- hanging from a telephone pole on the main street. der Mississippi law at the time, any citizen was allowed to arrest any person known to be wanted in connection with The lynching of John White was memorialized in the poem, the commission of a felony. Additionally, 17 State High- Let Us Suppose, by Sterling A. Brown, published in 1935 in way Patrolmen erected road blocks within a 50-mile radius Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, a publication featuring of the crime scene. The 14-hour manhunt was also com- the work of Harlem Renaissance artists. prised of “practically all county and city officers” and two bloodhounds.

11 The Civil Rights Congress announced that the murder of Tobe Falkner would be added to its petition to the United Nations.

Cobb was eventually found by a group of six to eight pos- ports, the civilian spectators also fired into the house and se members in a hedge row about three miles west of the used a range of weapons, including submachine guns. Hardy plantation on Highway 82. As he made a run across Canisters of tear gas were fired into the house. Falkner sup- an open field, he allegedly turned to fire his gun and was posedly continued firing from inside his house. Two men, fatally shot. Stephens (Falkner’s boss) and James (the patrolman), were reported wounded by Falkner. Edward Swiney Cook—Tutwiler, Tallahatchie County, MS (Mar. 20, 1940) At around 5pm the officers “stormed” the house. Falkner had been shot to death in a chair. He was shot several Edward Swiney Cook was 23 years old when he was killed times. on March 20, 1940 in Tutwiler, Mississippi. The perpetrators were allegedly three white men, Jessie Lay, Clarence Versie Johnson—Prentiss, Jefferson Davis Flanagan, and Rubin Well. Cook and another black male County, MS (Aug. 1, 1947) were accused of taking property, clothes and other valu- ables, from a local store, Wagon Wheel, which was owned Versie Johnson was killed in the town of Prentiss in Jeffer- by Jessie Lay. Lay was arrested and charged with murder son Davis County, Mississippi on August 1, 1947. Johnson but was found not guilty because there were no eye-wit- was accused of raping a white expectant mother. John- nesses. son was identified by the woman as the perpetrator and brought to the local jail. Hearing of the arrest, a crowd of Tobe Falkner—Newton County, MS (Feb. 20, approximately 75 people quickly gathered. The mob re- 1952) portedly demanded that the sheriff, G.O. Berry, get a confession from Johnson by 8 pm that evening. Berry, along Tobe Falkner was killed on Feb. 20, 1952 in Newton Coun- with Patrolmen J. Spencer Puckett and Andy Hopkins, ty, Mississippi. Falkner was a 64-year-old tenant farmer. At then brought Johnson into the woods back to the scene about 2pm on that day, Curtis Stephens, who was the op- of the alleged crime. They demanded that Johnson tell erator of the farm where Falkner worked, reportedly went them what had happened, but Johnson maintained his in- to talk to Falkner about a cow. The Civil Rights Congress nocence. Berry claimed Johnson attempted to attack the believed that there was an argument because the cow officers, at which point all three fired upon him, allegedly had eaten Falkner’s flowers. According to the sheriff, as in self-defense. Stephens approached the house and reached the porch, Falkner fired a rifle at him, wounding him in the shoul- After Berry declared that no inquest would be held, District der. Sheriff Hansel Reeves and several other policemen Attorney E.B. Williams filed manslaughter charges against approached the house and ordered Falkner to come out. Berry and the two patrolmen. Press reports indicated that When there was no answer, Patrolman G.E. James report- a preliminary hearing was to be held on August 6, 1947. edly broke down the door, at which point Falkner fired a On August 2, however, Williams stated that he considered shot gun, hitting James in the left hand. James’ left pinky the pending trial to be “a mere formality,” and expressed finger was eventually amputated. his opinion that the officers “were perfectly justified in what they did.” Williams went on to state that the trial was The officers formed a ring around the house and began merely meant to “clear the names of the white men.” It is firing into it. Falkner returned fire. A thousand spectators unclear whether a trial was ever held. gathered on Highway 80 to watch. According to some re-

12 Eleanor Rush’s death certificate lists her cause of death as “Dislocation of cervical vertebrae resulting in compression of spinal cord.”

NORTH CAROLINA prehended him, placing him in the back of their car with another black man, Isaac Mayo, whom they had arrested Henry Andrews—Warrenton, Warren County, NC at a bus stop in a neighboring town. The officers claimed (June 7, 1947) that during the trip to the jail, Andrews attacked them and they were forced to defend themselves, shooting him to Henry Andrews, a 25-year-old World War II veteran, was death. Mayo claims he was asleep when the altercation killed by police chief W.N. Carter near Warrenton, North and shooting occurred and that he had no knowledge of Carolina on June 7, 1947. Andrews was in a country store it. NAACP investigators believed that he was afraid to re- and reportedly had a conflict with the store owner, who late the truth and worried that the NAACP did not have called the police. Officers, including Carter, came and ap- the necessary resources to protect him if he did tell the true story.

A coroner’s inquest determined that Andrews was shot to death by police in self-defense. The NAACP informed the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice about the case. No records could be found of any investigation by the DOJ.

Eleanor Rush—Raleigh, Wake County, NC (Aug. 20, 1954) Eleanor Rush, a prisoner in the North Carolina women’s prison outside of Raleigh, was killed on August 20, 1954 while in solitary confinement. Rush was imprisoned for forcible trespass. The superintendent of the prison stated that Rush attempted to attack a prison matron and was placed in solitary confinement. On the night of August 20, 1954, the guards claimed that Rush was yelling and swearing. According to Mabel Wright, who occupied the isolation cell across from her, the prisoners were protest- ing a lack of food. The guards applied gags and restraints to Rush, killing her in the process. Her spine was dislocat- ed and her spinal cord cut by the vertebrae. The following morning, many prisoners gathered to protest Rush’s death. A letter sent to the NAACP from David Williams in Warrenton, North Carolina reported on the killing of A medical examiner determined that Eleanor Rush’s inju- Henry Andrews. ries could not have been self-inflicted. However, a coro-

13 ner’s jury concluded that Rush’s death was brought about and Sheriff J.C. Greer testified that they did not recognize by her own struggles against the restraints. In proceedings any of the mob members. Jenkins’ widow pursued a claim before the State Industrial Commission, the state Highway against the county for statutory damages of $2,000 based Commission, which operates the state’s prisons, was found on a state anti-lynching law. As of April 1932, she had not negligent and Rush’s estate was awarded $3,000. The state received the settlement. appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court of North Car- olina, which upheld the lower court’s findings that the Jenkins’ murder was one of the most publicized lynchings prison guards had been negligent in their application of in the nation, garnering coverage from more than 100 na- restraints to Rush, resulting in her death, and that she had tional newspapers from New York to Hawaii. not been contributorily negligent in her death. George Jeter—Clinton, Laurens County, SC (Feb. 19, 1933) SOUTH CAROLINA On February 19, 1933, in Clinton, South Carolina, four white men kidnapped George Jeter from the local jail and Dan Jenkins—Union, Union County, SC (June 21, flogged him to death in a nearby forest. The four men– 1930). Stamp Floyd, Jim Hancock, Jim Patterson, and W.M. Hitt– On June 21, 1930, 22-year-old Dan Jenkins was shot to accused Jeter of stealing their bootleg whiskey and resell- death by a mob of 30 to 100 men on a roadside about six ing it. The men were arrested, indicted for Jeter’s murder, miles south of Union, South Carolina. Jenkins’ body was so and released on bond of $1,000 each. An inquest was to be “riddled with bullets” that he was decapitated as a result. held, but the outcome is unknown. Jenkins, a traveling construction worker from Beaufort County, South Carolina, had been accused of sexually as- James Walker, Jr.—Elko, Barnwell County, SC saulting 16-year-old Mary Eleazer Shipman and 23-year- (Aug. 12, 1946) old O.L. Shipman, her sister-in-law. However, according to James Walker, Jr. was killed on August 12, 1946 on the some in the African American community, O.L. Shipman, porch of his father’s house in Elko, South Carolina. Walk- who was married, accused Jenkins of assault after they er had traveled from Charleston to Elko to visit his fami- were caught having an affair. ly. Walker reportedly got involved in an altercation with a group of white men at a bar near Elko, and he was either According to local newspapers, Jenkins jumped out of the asked to leave or run out of the establishment. bushes and sexually assaulted the two white women. Hav- ing escaped, Shipman returned home to fetch her brother. Shortly thereafter, a pick-up truck occupied by a group When the brother arrived at the scene, Jenkins allegedly of white men drove by. According to John McCray, presi- fired a shot at him and fled. Local law enforcement initi- dent of the South Carolina Progressive Democratic Party, ated a night-long manhunt that consisted of about 1,000 a group of four to eight white men had followed Walk- people, some of whom were searching miles away from er home, and they shot Walker in the back as he leaned the scene of the lynching. When Jenkins was found the against the porch railing. Walker was wounded, and when next day, he was taken to the side of the road, where the he tried to get up the group fired again, killing him. two women identified him as their assailant. When it became clear that a lynching was about to occur, the pub- Walker’s father, James Walker Sr., arrived home to find his lisher of the Union Daily Times, Lewis M. Rice, telephoned son dead. Sheriff Black responded to the shooting, and Governor John G. Richards asking him to deploy the Na- Walker Sr. asked him what happened. Black responded by tional Guard. Governor Richards deployed the National threatening to beat him with a club. Black claimed that he Guard, but they were 20 minutes too late. investigated the case and found that Walker, drunk, had threatened the white men with a gun. Jenkins’ body was transported to the local African-Ameri- can Maple Ridge church, and National Guard troops safe- One of the assailants, William Craig was arrested and re- guarded his body to prevent locals from burning it. His leased on a $2,500 bond. At a coroner’s inquest on August body was buried in a Union County poor farm in a pauper’s 19, 1946, Craig was exonerated and the killing deemed grave. justifiable. The official report asserted that Walker stepped off his family’s porch with a shotgun and shot himself. Spartanburg Solicitor and future Governor Ibra C. Black- wood commissioned a local investigation of the murder, but it yielded no significant results. A coroner’s jury was also held. At the hearing, local policeman W.A. Robinson

14 TEXAS telling them that if he caught Roan, he “would take care William (Bill) Roan—Benchley, Brazos County, TX of him.” Baker admittedly (June 19, 1930) had contact with the mob on Tuesday night. Yet after On the morning of Wednesday, June 19, 1930, the body Roan’s body was discovered, of William Roan was found near a pasture near Benchley authorities initially claimed in Brazos County, Texas. Roan was a wage laborer for a lo- that they did not know the cal white farmer, Henry Bowman. That Sunday, Bowman identities of the members of had reportedly beaten Roan for being “sassy” with his wife. the mob. Bowman allegedly took Roan to his barn, stripped him, and brutally whipped him with a wet rope. The next day, Some legal proceedings oc- Monday, Roan was accused by Bowman’s wife of attempt- curred in the aftermath of ing to assault her. Although local law enforcement officers Roan’s murder, but details were apprised of the accusations, they did little to investi- are limited. On June 28, the gate. Houston Chronicle reported that evidence as to the iden- Following the accusations on Monday afternoon, a posse tities of the men in the mob of over a dozen white men gathered to search for Roan. was being taken by a court He was reportedly hunted for three days across Brazos, of inquiry, to be presented Burleson, and Robertson counties. Allegations of his killer to a grand jury at the Sep- vary, with some reports claiming that he was killed by a tember term. The grand jury nearby farmer, and others claiming that he was found by proceedings were reportedly the posse in Robertson County. He was then either killed held in December 1930. The in Robertson County and carried over the county line or district attorney suggested taken into Brazos County to be shot. When his body was that members of the local found, one of his arms was “almost torn off by buckshot” black community had suffi- and he had “a gaping wound in his chest.” Roan’s body cient evidence against mem- was found by two white men, Columbus Seale and John bers of the mob to secure O’Connor, on the farm of R.H. Seale. It is believed that the indictments, if not convic- two men already knew where the body was and had gone tions, but that they were too to retrieve it. Both gave conflicting stories as to why they afraid to come forward. Ulti- were out that morning and what they were doing when mately, no indictments were they found Roan’s body. brought. Local authorities were largely apathetic. Deputy Sheriff Negro Found Slain After C.L. Baker alleged that the posse had dispersed on Tues- Hunt by Posse, The Houston day night. Baker claimed that he had sent the men home, Chronicle, June 18, 1930.

FEATURED CASES

BIRMINGHAM POLICE KILLINGS In sum, law enforcement officers committed violence against African Americans with impunity. Full and thor- A large number of the killings captured in the CRRJ Archive ough investigations of these incidents were rare. When include matters where law enforcement officers were im- investigations did occur, most were cursory and largely plicated as alleged perpetrators or accomplices. Some of adopted the officers’ version of events as the uncontro- the killings occurred during an informal interaction or an verted truth. Grand jury indictments of officers were infre- attempted arrest, while others occurred while the victim quent. In the few cases where officers were charged and was already in custody. Further still, with varying degrees tried for their roles in these crimes, typically the result was of complicity by law enforcement, many African Ameri- a swift acquittal. Officers who committed violence against cans were abducted from jails or during transit by private African Americans rarely faced any career ramifications. To citizens who carried out the killings. the contrary, these officers were frequently promoted, re-

15 ceived awards, and went on to have long careers in law enforcement.

This historical racial violence continues to shape interac- tions between law enforcement and impacted communities today. Seeking to use its Archive to demonstrate the connection between the past and the present, CRRJ launched the Historical Injustices and Present Policing Project (HIPP), in partnership with several other Northeast- ern University programs, to better inform law enforcement personnel about historical racial violence. This project is discussed in more detail on page 26.

The Birmingham Police Department was a particularly egregious site of racist policing. Between 1948 and 1950 alone, at least 21 black men were killed by Birmingham police. CRRJ is investigating a number of additional cases of police killings in Birmingham from 1939 to 1968. The cases here illustrate the devastating history of police violence in one city.

Susie Dandridge (Sept. 12, 1949) and Walter Dandridge (July 29, 1949)—Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL Susie Dandridge and her son Walter Dandridge were killed following an encounter with police at their home in July 1949. Susie Dandridge was a mother of eleven. She worked on a farm with her husband and children. 5th Birmingham Man in 11 Months Slain by Policemen, The According to police, Detectives T.E. Lindsey and J.R. Davis Baltimore Afro-American, December 30, 1950. were searching the Dandridge home in connection with reports of an illegal lottery game. When the officers entered the home, Susie Dandridge (age 60) and her sons Walter (age 32), John (age 44), and James Dandridge (age quarters, Perryman was turned over to detectives Henry L. 24) were all at home. According to the officers, while they Darnell and C.L. Stevens. The two detectives claimed that were detaining the family, one of the Dandridge sons at- Perryman admitted to Laminack’s murder and told them tacked Officer Lindsey with a fireplace poker, resulting in he gave the murder weapon to a taxi cab driver. Perryman a fight and a shooting. Susie, John, and Walter Dandridge allegedly agreed to go with the detectives to recover the were shot, and James and Lindsey suffered head lacera- weapon from a taxi stand. While en route, a fight suppos- tions. Walter Dandridge died on July 29, 1949. Susie Dan- edly broke out between Perryman and Stevens, who were dridge died two months later as a result of her injuries. both sitting in the rear of the vehicle. Darnell shot Perry- John and James Dandridge were charged with assault man several times, killing him. with intent to murder the police officers who shot and Perryman’s murder was the subject of a brief police inves- killed their mother. tigation and was ruled a “justifiable homicide” by the coroner. Fred Perryman—Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL (Dec. 19, 1950) Atmas Shaw—Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL On December 19, 1950, Fred Perryman, a 28-year-old lum- (Apr. 17, 1948) ber company worker and father of a four-year-old daugh- Atmas Shaw died on April 17, 1948 following an encounter ter, was killed in police custody. Perryman was arrested with police the previous day. On April 16, 1948, Shaw, a and detained by officers D.E. Chauvin and J.M. Settle of 42-year-old husband and father of three, was walking to the Birmingham Police Department. He was suspected the Birmingham bus station to catch the early morning of the murder and robbery of Gordon Laminack, a night bus to Eutaw, AL. He was going to visit his children and to manager at a local filling station. Once at police head-

16 Roosevelt Shaw, son of Atmas Shaw. In an interview with CRRJ, Roosevelt Shaw described Atmas Shaw’s conversation with his brother Frank Shaw when Atmas was at the hospital: “[Frank] would have been sitting at the foot of the bed with him, and he’s talking to [Atmas], and he told him—says that, ‘They beat me, they beat me, they beat me. And they told the doctor, ‘don’t do anything for him.’”

On April 27, 1948, the Birmingham Branch of the NAACP called for an emergency Birmingham Conference of Community Leaders. This followed the killings of three black citizens, including Atmas Shaw in a 21 day period.

make a payment on the family homestead he had inherit- the Detective Division in 1959, and he served in the Bir- ed from his father. Shaw was carrying about one thousand mingham Police Department until at least 1963. dollars. Before he could make it to the bus, he was accost- ed by the police. The police claimed that Shaw fled after The story of Officer Lambert’s career is emblematic of the a fight with officers. Officer Steve Wideman caught up to broader pattern of violence within the Birmingham Police Shaw and the two fought. Both men fell and, according to Department. CRRJ has identified several other cases where the officers, Shaw’s head hit the base of a stone building. the same officers have been implicated in multiple killings of African Americans. Shaw was admitted to the hospital. Daisy Shaw and Frank Shaw, his brother and sister, received a call that their Officer Lambert was involved in the deaths of four black brother was at the hospital. Frank Shaw spoke to his broth- men: er when he was still alive. He reported that Atmas Shaw said the police beat him badly and warned the doctors not Walter Weston, Jr.—Birmingham, Jefferson County, to provide any medical assistance for him. The police nev- AL (May 29, 1948) er returned to the family the thousand dollars taken from On May 29, 1948, Lambert shot and killed Walter Weston, Jr. Atmas Shaw. Atmas Shaw died at 3:15am at Jefferson Hos- Lambert and his partner, H.W. Brewer, arrived at Weston’s pital. home in response to a call that Weston had beaten his wife, Mary, with an iron poker. When the officers entered CRRJ interviewed Atmas Shaw’s relatives and is continuing his home, they found Weston lying on a bed. The officers to work with them on the investigation. claimed that when they tried to wake him, Weston attacked them with an ice pick, and Lambert fired three shots in re- FOUR HOMICIDE VICTIMS OF OFFICER sponse, hitting Weston in his chest and abdomen. Weston was pronounced dead at the hospital. His death was ruled JESSE LAMBERT a justifiable homicide. Weston was, according to the Bir- In 2018, CRRJ student Alex Stein investigated the death of mingham World, the seventh black person killed by police Charlie Howard, who was killed by Birmingham Police Of- in the Birmingham area in that year. ficer Jesse Lambert on March 18, 1950. The investigation of this case revealed that Lambert was involved in the deaths Charles Wright—Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL of at least three other black men between 1948 and 1950. (Sept. 5, 1948) It does not appear that Lambert ever faced any repercus- Less than four months later, on September 5, 1948, Lam- sions for his involvement in these homicides. On the con- bert shot and killed Charles Wright, a 35-year-old black trary, Lambert was promoted to a Plain Clothes Officer in man. Wright had just left a store and was walking down

17 the street when Lambert’s partner C.W. Milwee told Wright her husband lying on the ground. Of- to stop. According to the officers, Wright pulled out a razor ficers told her not to go near him. and approached the officers. The officers fired “four or five” shots, hitting Wright in the leg. Lambert’s account differed from Lillie Mae Howard’s. Lambert admitted to William Hudgins—Birmingham, Jefferson County, calling Howard a “n....r” but said that AL (Dec. 31, 1948) after Charlie Howard responded, “you Lambert was involved in the death of 16-year-old William can’t call me that,” he hit Lambert in Hudgins on December 31, 1948. Lambert and his partner the face at which point Lambert hit C.W. Milwee responded to a call from a girl’s boarding Howard with his nightstick. Howard house that allegedly a black man was at the bedroom win- grabbed a brick, Lambert claimed, at dow. Lambert claims to have seen Hudgins at a first-floor which point Lambert shot Howard. window and chased him to the backyard, where Milwee One bullet hit Charlie Howard in the was waiting. The officers reported that Hudgins attacked right side of his chest, killing him. An- Milwee. The Birmingham News stated that Milwee was other bullet ricocheted off a wall and grazed by a brick and that Hudgins then jumped on him. grazed a bystander, M.R. Kirkland, Milwee then shot and killed Hudgins. who survived with a minor injury to his neck.

Charlie Howard—Birmingham, Jefferson County, Lambert claimed he received a severe AL (Mar. 18, 1950) blow to the head and was transport- Charlie Howard was killed on March 18, 1950. Charlie How- ed with Kirkland to the white hospi- ard served in the Army in World War II before moving to tal, West End Baptist, for treatment. Birmingham, where he worked as a truck driver for an elec- Charlie Howard’s body was brought trical contractor. On March 18, Lambert was at the Lincoln Officer Lambert’s to the black hospital, Jefferson Hill- Inn on 4th Avenue North with his partner, J.S. Isbell. Lam- photo in The man, where he was pronounced bert and Isbell were called to the back of the restaurant to Birmingham News dead on arrival at 6:45 p.m. The respond to a fight between Charlie Howard and his wife on March 19, 1950. shooting was reported on the front Lillie Mae Howard. page of both the Birmingham World and the Birmingham News. Lambert’s picture graced the According to Lillie Mae Howard, Lambert approached the front page of the 130-page Sunday edition of the News, couple and told them to get out of the alley. After the cou- the white newspaper. ple said that they were waiting for a taxi, Lambert referred to Charlie Howard using a racial slur. Charlie Howard re- The Jefferson County coroner concluded that Charlie sponded “you can’t call me that” and cursed at Lambert. Howard had attacked Lambert with a brick. The case was Lambert approached Charlie Howard and began to search then put on the grand jury docket for March 28, 1950. Sev- him from behind, and Charlie Howard told Lambert to let en witnesses were listed for testimony, including several him turn around. At that point Lambert got his blackjack police officers, Lillie Mae Howard, and the coroner. How- and began beating Charlie Howard. Lillie Mae Howard left ever, it is unclear whether the grand jury hearing ever the scene and walked approximately two blocks before happened, and it does not appear that Lambert was ever she heard gunshots. She returned to the scene and saw indicted on any charges.

STUDENTS

2019 Summer Clinic Summer Interns Seventeen students worked on 55 cases on the summer This summer, CRRJ hosted three summer interns: Ifeacho docket. The students presented their cases to a panel of Awachie, Vassar ‘20; Rabiyatu Jalloh, Pennsylvania State academics, CRRJ students, faculty, staff and other invited University ‘19; and Uchenna Nwodim, Pennsylvania State guests at the Grand Rounds session on August 13 and 14. University ‘21. The interns were assigned to investigate several racially motivated homicides. Under the tutelage of faculty and staff, our interns unearthed new facts, con- nected with families, and presented their findings to a

18 Vassar students (left to right) Jonah Frere- Holmes, Itamar Ben- Porath, Alexandria Ortiz and Amelia Cabrera review the archives of the Birmingham World newspaper on microfilm at the Boston College Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Library. panel of academics and practitioners. The interns also de- veloped scripts for podcasts and worked on other special projects.

Vassar Intensive In 2019, CRRJ partnered with Vassar College on the CRRJ-Vassar Intensive program. Four Vassar students will work with CRRJ over the course of the 2019-2020 academic year investigating police killings in Birmingham, Alabama and planning a conference to be held in that city in March 2020. This program is spearheaded by CRRJ Visiting Schol- Brigitte Meyer (NUSL ‘20) discusses the case of Bo Brinson. ar and and Vassar Professor of Sociology, Diane Harriford.

The four students—Itamar Ben-Porath ‘20, Amelia Cabre- ra ‘21, Jonah Frere-Holmes ‘22, and Alexandria Ortiz ’22— spent a week at Northeastern learning about CRRJ, begin- ning their case investigations and experiencing life in law school.

CRRJ student and genealogy expert Noah Lapidus (NUSL ’20) presents on the case of Captain Leonard Butler. CRRJ Students Travel to Alabama Three CRRJ students travelled to Alabama in May 2019 to expand their research and explore restorative justice possibilities. Beth Patel, MacKenzie Speer, and Larisa Zehr (NUSL ’20) all participated in CRRJ as clinic students in the Fall 2018 and returned to their cases in Spring 2019.

During their travels through the Black Belt region, Patel, Speer, and Zehr conducted on-the-ground archival re- 2019 summer interns Ifeacho Awachie, Rabiyatu Jalloh, search, site visits, and in-person interviews. Their investi- and Uchenna Nwodim following their Grand Rounds gations focused on three cases: Robinson Family/Emelle presentations. Massacre, George McClain, and Russell Charley. Two mem-

19 Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act On January 8, 2019, President Trump signed the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018. of 2018. This marks the first occasion that a group of high school students engineered a bill through Congress. Stuart Wexler, a teacher at Hightstown High School in New Jersey, en- gaged students in his Government and Politics class in this project over several years. Wexler and his students participated in CRRJ’s conference on Alabama cases in Selma in March 2018.

During their study of the civil rights era, Wexler’s students discovered that a number of racially motivated cases re- main unsolved. The class filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain federal records in these cases and At the Pickens County courthouse, the county clerk shows found the process frustrating. As Alabama Senator Doug Patel, Zehr and Deborah Love, President of the Black Belt Jones describes, “FOIA, as implemented, has prevented African American Historical and Genealogical Society, his- the timely and adequate disclosure of executive branch torical court records. records, and congressional records are not subject to public disclosure under FOIA.” When the students realized that bers of the Robinson family were killed by a mob in July FOIA often hinders families from accessing information on 1930 following a dispute between members of the Rob- the racially motivated murders of relatives, they drafted inson family and a white man. George McClain was killed a bill to streamline the process. Their draft was modeled by a group of white men on May 30, 1931, likely because after the President John F. Kennedy, Jr. Assassination Re- he was a suspect in the burning of a white family’s house. cords Collection Act of 1992. Russell Charley was lynched on May 8, 1954; his death was recorded as a suicide in what may have been a cover-up. Senator Jones introduced the bill on the Senate floor with Wexler’s students in attendance. The Civil Rights Cold Case During the course of this research trip, Patel, Speer, and Records Collection Act authorizes the National Archives Zehr conducted research in Birmingham, Pickens Coun- and Records Administration (NARA) to collect unsolved ty, Sumter County, Wilcox County, Monroe County, and civil rights case files. A board will decide which records Montgomery. The students examined the archives of the should be released to the public. When it is implemented Birmingham Public Library, Tuskegee University, and the the new law should allow CRRJ, the families with whom it Alabama Department of Archives and History, where they works, and other researchers to access federal records that identified important primary and secondary sources. are not currently available. The students also had the opportunity to meet with family members and residents of the communities where these killings took place. These conversations revealed previously unknown facts as well as context on the contemporary effects of legacies of historical violence. CRRJ Restorative Justice Project Director Kaylie Simon, CRRJ Founder and Director Margaret Burnham, Hightstown High Beth Patel, Larisa Zehr, and students Prarthana Singh and Anna Trancozo, Stuart Wexler MacKenzie Speer at the Edmund and Vickie Rothbaum of the Elmore Bolling Foundation Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in March 2018. 20 After Senator Jones introduced the bill on the Senate floor, students from Hightstown High School posed for a photo with Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala), center, and teacher Stuart Wexler, far right.

CRRJ Director Margaret Burnham was quoted in several articles about the students who advocated for the creation of the Civil Rights Cold Case Collection Act. “NJ Teens that Tweeted Their Civil Rights Bill Into Law Will Now Lobby for Federal Funding,” Fox News, March 7, 2019; “Teens Tweet Trump, Find Senate Ally, Score Civil Rights Win,” AP, February 23, 2019; and “‘From Students in high School All the Way to the President’s Desk.’ How a Government Class Fought for the Release of Unsolved FBI Civil Rights Case Files, Washington Post, February 23, 2019.

EVENTS

The film was followed by a conversation between Marga- ret Burnham and former Chief Justice of the Massachu- setts Supreme Judicial Court, Roderick Ireland, now Dis- tinguished Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Danielle Ponder, a former CRRJ student and a 2011 grad- uate of the Law School, now a well-known vocalist, per- formed at the event.

Prior to the event, CRRJ and the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute presented I May Not Get There With You: A Murder in Mobile, The Legacy of Rayfield Davis. This pre- lude event featured Chelsea Schmitz, who opened the investigation of the Rayfield Davis case in 2013 when she was a CRRJ student; Kaylie Simon, who organized the Mo- bile events; and Nichole Ulmer, Rayfield Davis’ great-niece. The panel was moderated by Shytierra Gaston, Professor A TRIBUTE TO THE DREAM of Criminology. On Friday, January 25, 2019, Northeastern University Pres- ident Joseph E. Aoun hosted A Tribute to the Dream: A Cele- bration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The ELAINE TRUTH-SEEKING COMMISSION event featured the premiere of a documentary on a CRRJ On February 5, 2019, Professor Burnham was a commis- case, produced by Northeastern filmmakers Adam Fischer sioner at the Elaine Massacre of 1919 Remembrance event and Benjamin Bertsch and titled Murder in Mobile. The film, in Arkansas. Family members and experts gave testimony discussed in more detail in the Special Projects section on about the 1919 Elaine massacre. The hearings were spon- page 26, tells the story of the murder of Rayfield Davis, a sored by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and the 53-year-old resident of Mobile, Alabama who was beaten Elaine Legacy Center. to death by Horace M. Miller, a 20-year-old co-worker, on March 7, 1948.

21 Left to Right, back row to front row: Adam Fischer, CRRJ Director Margaret Burnham, Mrs. Zeina Aoun, Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun, Nichole A. Smith Ulmer, Benjamin Bertsch, Kimberly Ivey, and Tchenevia Moffett.

The 1919 Elaine Massacre was one of the bloodiest racial Over a hundred people were indicted in the aftermath of assaults in US history. The precipitating cause was a cam- the massacre and twelve black men, tried for the murder paign by black sharecroppers and tenant farmers to form of a white man, were sentenced to death. The Supreme a union to get market prices for their cotton. In the spring Court’s decision in Moore v. Dempsey led to their release. of 1919 the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of No one was charged in connection with the lethal pogrom America initiated an organizing campaign among black against the black community. Elaine farmers, many of whom were WW I veterans. On September 30, 1919, during a union meeting in Elaine, CRRJ has played a role in recent inquiries into the massa- gunfire erupted between PFHUA members and white cre. In 2011 Colleen Youngdahl (NUSL 2012) researched men, resulting in a white man’s death. The sheriff formed the case on a co-op in Little Rock under the supervision a large posse of whites who trekked from Louisiana, Mis- of Professor Adjoa Aiyetoro (Bowen School of Law, Little sissippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri to attack the Rock), and in 2012 Jessica Yamane (NUSL 2014), also on co- area’s black residents. Arkansas Governor Charles Hillman op, interviewed residents in Elaine. Brough brought in federal troops who, together with the white mob, began killing African Americans. Although of- HISTORICAL INJUSTICES AND PRESENT ficial reports place the death toll at an estimated 237 black POLICING TALK residents, some scholars believe many more were killed. Griffin Stockley, author of Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine On April 16, 2019, the Historical Injustices and Present Po- Race Massacres of 1919, estimates 856 black people were licing Project (HIPP)—a joint project of the Civil Rights & killed in the massacre. Restorative Justice Project, the Institute on Race and Jus- tice, the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, NuLawLab and NULab for Texts, Maps and Networks—hosted a talk at Northeastern University School of Law.

Speakers included: Karen Branan, author of The Family Tree: The Story of a Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth; Visiting Assistant Professor and CRRJ Fellow Melvin Kelley; and Tara Dunn (NUSL ’17), Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General. The panel discussed the long shadow past killings cast over present-day police-community relations.

The conversation highlighted Ms. Branan’s desire to share her family’s history of racial violence. Ms. Branan’s grand- father, M.D. Hadley, was the Harris County sheriff when Commissioners consider the testimony of Elaine Massacre Police Chief William H. Buchanan shot and killed Henry Gil- descendants. bert in his jail cell. Sheriff Hadley failed to protect Gilbert

22 Restorative Project Director Kaylie Simon, Nichole Ulmer, Attorney Chelsea Schmitz (NUSL ’13), and Professor Shytierra Gaston speak at the event, I May Not Get There With You: A Murder in Mobile, The Legacy of Rayfield Davis.

together “historians, activists, social practice artists, digital humanists, and community members whose maps reveal new histories, new knowledge and new ways of co-creat- ing artwork in and with specific localities.”

As presenters on the “Mapping Racial Violence” panel, Burnham, Nobles and Sandson introduced a prototype of a digital interactive map titled Silenced Histories: The Archive of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, 1930-1955, which compiles cases of racially motivated homicides from the CRRJ Burnham-Nobles Archive. The “Silenced Histories” Digital Map is part the Historical Injus- tices and Present Policing Project (HIPP), discussed in more detail on page 26.

The conference presentations showcased how maps can Left to Right: Karen Branan, Professor Melvin Kelley, and Tara serve as one tool to preserve and disseminate the vast Dunn. amounts of information that racial redress projects have compiled on historical racial violence. from the abuse he suffered during his several days in the jail. Tara Dunn uncovered the Gilbert case when she RACIAL REDRESS CONFERENCE was a CRRJ student. Ms. Branan, who participates in ra- On October 25-26, 2019, CRRJ Associate Director Rose cial reconciliation efforts, wrote a letter to Recie Moss, the Zoltek-Jick and Program Coordinator Lauren Hawkes par- daughter of Henry Gilbert, and apologized for her grand- ticipated in the U.S. Local Racial Redress convening hosted father’s involvement in the death of Mr. Gilbert. by the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Colum- bia University. CRRJ joined family members, policymakers, RADICAL CARTOGRAPHY NOW: DIGITAL, lawyers, faith-based leaders, museum curators, and scholars to explore avenues for pursuing racial redress in the US. ARTISTIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE APPROACHES TO MAPPING VIOLA! On September 27, 2019, CRRJ Director Margaret Burn- ham, Dean Melissa Nobles (MIT) and CRRJ Legal Fellow On November 7 and 8, CRRJ Director Margaret Burnham Katie Sandson presented at the Radical Cartography Now: and former staffer Fraser Grier visited Pensacola, Florida for Digital, Artistic and Social Justice Approaches to Mapping the premier of Viola! hosted by Pensacola’s Kukua Institute. conference at Brown University. This gathering brought Viola!, a song cycle, is based on the story of Viola Edwards, a nurse who opened the first African-American hospital

23 James Darrell Broach, grandson of Samuel Mason Bacon, and Sheila Moss, granddaughter of Lauren Hawkes, Sheila Moss, James Darrell Broach, and Henry “Peg” Gilbert. Professor Rose Zoltek-Jick at the Racial Redress Conference.

in Pensacola in 1922 and who was unfairly prosecuted by state and federal authorities. Edwards fled Pensacola after her hospital and home were burned by arsonists and her life threatened. Burnham and Grier’s investigation of the case brought it to the attention of community leaders in Pensacola, leading to the opera project.

BROOKS HISTORICAL MARKER On November 9, 2019, the family and descendants of Roy- al Cyril Brooks, in partnership with CRRJ, unveiled an historical marker. The State of Louisiana approved the marker for installation near where 44-year-old Royal Brooks was killed by a Gretna police officer on February 27, 1948. Roy Leo Brooks Jr. and Ira Brooks, grandchildren of the victim, unveiled the marker at the Ferry Landing Terminal in Gret- na. It was there that Royal Brooks was taken off a bus by Left to right: Roy Leo Brooks Jr., Kaylie Simon, Margaret Patrolman Alvin Bladsacker after he offered to trade fares Burnham, Gretna Mayor Belinda Constant, Councilman with another passenger. Bladsacker struck Brooks in the Michael A. Hinyub, Ira Brooks, and State Representative Kyle head with his gun and shot him twice. Bladsacker was in- M. Green Jr. dicted by a grand jury but acquitted of a homicide charge at trial. The marker represents a significant step in the ra- apology issued in April 2018 by Mayor Belinda Constant cial history of Gretna. It is said to be the first marker honor- and the unveiling of a gravestone in his honor. ing an African American in the city. It follows upon a public

On October 8 local news station WWL TV released a story, “Justice for Royal: 70 Years Later, An Innocent Man Gunned Down by Gretna Police Memorialized.” On November 10, WUPL54 aired a story about the unveiling of the marker featuring footage of the event and interviews with relatives of Royal Brooks. The Louisiana Weekly published an article on November 18, “City of Gretna Takes Step to Right a Fatal Mistake with Historic Marker in Honor of Royal Brooks”

24 WORKSHOP SERIES: The CRRJ Workshop Series brings together researchers, stu- Studies Laboratory at Vanderbilt University presented on In- dents, and invited guests in the fields of civil rights and his- terpretive Limitations of Genetic Ancestry Testing and the Case torical injustice to discuss research projects in an informal for Reparations. Exploring the intersection between genetic setting. In 2019, CRRJ hosted five workshops featuring work ancestry testing and calls for reparatory justice, Professor by a researcher or practitioner on methodological, design, or Torres argued that the application of genomic data compli- theoretical challenges: cates notions about biological continuity and belonging but is nevertheless compatible with conceptions of how people Virginie Ladisch, Breaking the Silence: Art as a Tool imagine themselves and histories in relation to geographic for Addressing Legacies of Injustice origins. In March, CRRJ hosted Breaking the Silence: Art as a Tool for Addressing Legacies of Injustice with Virginie Ladisch, Director Jennifer Llewellyn, Where Restorative Justice and of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) Pro- Human Rights Meet gram on Children and Youth. Ladisch explored the intersec- In July, CRRJ hosted Jennifer Llewellyn, Professor of Law at tion between art and youth activism in addressing legacies Dalhousie University, whose topic was Where Restorative Jus- of injustice, drawing on her work in Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, and tice and Human Rights Meet. Professor Llewellyn discussed the Gambia. her work as a commissioner of the Restorative Inquiry for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children. In 2015 Premier Mc- Jim Emison, State Legislative Initiatives Addressing Neil initiated a three-year inquiry into human rights abuses Civil Rights-Era Crimes at this provincial school. The Restorative Inquiry designed by In May, CRRJ and the Center for Public Interest Advocacy Llewellyn and others examines the experiences of former res- co-sponsored Attorney Jim Emison’s presentation on State idents and analyzes the impact of systemic racism on African Legislative Initiatives Addressing Civil Rights-Era Crimes. Found- Nova Scotians historically and in the present, focusing on so- er of the Tennesseans for Historical Justice, Emison advocated cial programs serving children and families. for passage and implementation of legislation that created the Tennessee Civil Rights Crimes Information, Reconciliation Anna Robinson-Sweet, Record Making for and Research Center. The center created by the law will serve Reparations: A Call to Action in the Archive as a repository for information on civil rights cold cases. Fol- In November, Anna Robinson-Sweet, Associate Archivist at lowing the bill’s passage, a joint commission arranged for the the New School addressed the topic Record Making for Rep- testimonies of descendants and victims of civil rights crimes, arations: A Call to Action in the Archive. Sweet explored how including the case of Elbert Williams, the first known NAACP archives can support the cause of reparations for slavery. She official to be killed for his activism. Emison is principal re- discussed the Archive as evidence and the use of archival searcher of the Elbert Williams case and worked to reopen a evidence to hold oppressive states accountable, examining prosecutorial investigation into the lynching. methods by which archivists can apply the core functions of their work—appraisal, description, and access—in support of Jada Benn Torres, Interpretive Limitations of Genetic reparative justice for communities. Ancestry Testing and the Case for Reparations In June, Jada Benn Torres, Associate Professor of Anthropolo- gy and Director of the Genetic Anthropology and Biocultural

SPECIAL PROJECTS

MURDER IN MOBILE In January 2019, the documentary film Murder in Mobile by Horace M. Miller, a 20-year-old co-worker, on March 7, was premiered at A Tribute to the Dream, an event host- 1948. Miller abandoned Davis’ body in a drainage ditch on ed by the Office of the President at Northeastern Uni- the side of the railroad tracks. CRRJ’s Kaylie Simon success- versity. Murder in Mobile was produced by Northeastern fully petitioned the Mobile City Council, on behalf of the filmmakers Adam Fischer and Benjamin Bertsch. The film Davis family, to recognize Davis with a street sign on the tells the story of the murder of Rayfield Davis, a 53-year- road where he was killed. A commemorative event was old resident of Mobile, Alabama who was beaten to death held in Mobile in August 2018.

25 In 2019, Murder in Mobile was screened at 16 film festi- Film Festival, and Best Documentary and Best Director at vals around the world. The film also won several awards, the 2019 Online New England Film Festival. including Best Documentary Short at the 2019 Charlotte

HISTORICAL INJUSTICES AND PRESENT POLICING CRRJ leads the Historical Injustices and Present Policing trauma and are available for use in law enforcement Project (HIPP) in partnership with the following Northeast- training programs. Using case studies, the guides de- ern University affiliates: the Institute on Race and Justice, scribe law enforcement participation in historical racial the George Lewis Ruffin Society, NULab for Texts Maps violence and examine restorative justice approaches and Networks, and NuLawLab. HIPP’s focus is the role of to address this legacy. The training materials focus on law enforcement in historical racial violence. Leveraging historical cases in Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL; Bos- lessons gleaned from the materials housed in the CRRJ ton, MA; Hawkinsville, GA; and Gretna, LA. The materi- Burnham-Nobles Archive, HIPP brings awareness to these als are suitable for use by any law enforcement agency. incidents and explores their impact on the experience of • The Intergenerational Trauma Toolkit: The Toolkit pro- intergenerational trauma. In 2019, the HIPP project provides background information to assist law enforce- duced the following materials: ment officials and instructors in training their personnel on historical injustice and its contemporary effects. • The “Silenced Histories” Digital Map: led by NuLawLab, It is designed to be used along with the training mate- HIPP produced a prototype of an interactive map that rials and digital map. features cases from 1930-1955, drawing on data from the CRRJ Archive. • Law Enforcement Training Materials: HIPP produced a training guide and presentations for a one-hour training and a four-hour training for law enforcement personnel. These materials address intergenerational

26 Reverend Otis Moss Jr, cousin of Henry Gilbert’s wife, Mae Gilbert interviewed by CRRJ Visiting Scholar Diane Harriford (not pictured).

CRRJ PODCASTS In the Summer 2019 clinic journalism students Terrence then hung on a bridge trestle. The podcast follows the Johnson and Collyn Stephens and law students Colleen efforts of Moore’s mother to seek justice after her son’s Maney and Thera McAvoy produced two podcasts based lynching. on CRRJ cases. The second podcast presents the case of Hosea Carter who One podcast tells the story of sixteen-year-old Freddy was killed in Marion County, Mississippi in 1948. Carter was Moore, who on October 11, 1933 was taken from his jail shot to death by a mob after he was observed talking to a cell in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, killed by a mob and married white woman.

DOCUMENTARY FILM, HENRY “PEG” GILBERT AND GUS DAVIDSON In collaboration with Professor Mike Beaudet and Zachary ing a documentary on the case of Henry “Peg” Gilbert and Ben-Amots (NEU School of Journalism ’19) CRRJ is produc- Gus Davidson. It is scheduled for release in 2020.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

On April 4, 2019, Keene State College featured the story “At the Academic Excellence Conference: Restorative Justice Curriculum Project,” describing CRRJ’s partnership with a group of education majors at Keene State to develop a high school social studies curriculum based on CRRJ cases.

In 2019, CRRJ alumnus Samantha Lednicky (NUSL ’15) was part of the team awarded a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Research for her work on the documentary Dawnland, which explores a truth and reconciliation commission investigating the impact of child welfare practices on tribal communities in Maine. Lednicky was a CRRJ researcher for the filmmakers.

27 NEW AT CRRJ

THE CRRJ TEAM GROWS CRRJ Legal Fellow CRRJ Project Director, In September 2019, Oral Histories CRRJ welcomed a Christopher Bazen, a CRRJ new Legal Fellow, Ka- alumnus (2019), joins the tie Sandson. Prior to CRRJ team as Project Direc- joining CRRJ, Sand- tor for Oral Histories. Bazen son served as a clini- is an associate at Ameche cal fellow at the Har- Law Group, a boutique law vard Law School Food firm in Atlanta, GA. His Law and Policy Clinic practice focuses on person- (FLPC), a division of al injury and social security/ the Center for Health disability law. Other areas Law and Policy Inno- of interest include studying vation. At FLPC, she historical domestic terror- provided legal and ism of African Americans policy guidance to during the Jim Crow era and current human rights vio- community advocacy groups and nonprofits working to lations in West Africa. Bazen’s legal education includes a improve their communities’ food systems and mentored paralegal certificate from Georgia Piedmont Technical Col- students enrolled in the clinic. Sandson received her B.A. lege, a JD from West Coast School of Law, and an LLM from from Washington University in St. Louis and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. Harvard Law School.

GRANTS CRRJ’s Historical Injustice and Present Policing project is Justice, Restorative Truths in June 2019. In September supported by a $50,000 Northeastern University Tier One 2019 the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded to CRRJ grant awarded in September 2018. The Ford Foundation $750,000 to expand and professionalize its archive of inci- awarded to CRRJ $300,000 for the project, Restorative dents of racial terror.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS & RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROJECT NETWORK

Margaret Burnham, Director. Rose Zoltek-Jick, Associate Honorary Advisors Rita L. Bender, Fania Davis, David J. Director. Melvin Kelley, Zitrin Teaching Fellow and Dennis, Robert P. Moses, Charles Ogletree Jr., Ruby Sales, Visiting Assistant Professor. Katie Sandson, Legal Hollis Watkins. Fellow. Christopher Bazen, Project Director, Oral History. Lauren Hawkes, Program Coordinator. NU Faculty Advisors Brook K. Baker, Karl E. Klare, Daniel Diane Harriford, Visiting Scholar. Nancy Earsy, Victoria S. Medwed, Michael Meltsner, Jeremy R. Paul, Deborah A. Rothbaum, Ann Baum, Editors. Ramirez, James V. Rowan, Emily A. Spieler.

Partners Michael Beaudet, Laurel Leff, Jonathan External Advisors Ifetayo Belle, Janeen Blake, Tasmin Kaufman NUSL School of Journalism. Melissa Nobles, Din, Tara Dunn, Geraldine Hines, Kaylie Simon, Mary Massachusetts Institute of Technology John Pierre, Nguyen, Melissa Nobles, Rashida Richardson. Angela Allen-Bell, Southern University Law Center. Josephine Bolling McCall, Vickie Rothbaum, The Elmore Research Collaborators Alfred L. Brophy, David Bolling Foundation. Dan Jackson, Jules Rochielle Cunningham, Jay Driskell, Jennifer Llewellyn, Monica Sievert, NULAWLAB. Giordana Mecagni, Sarah Sweeney, Martinez, RJ Ramey, Margaret M. Russell, Geoff Ward, NU LIBRARIES. Nan Elizabeth Woodruff.

28 CONTRIBUTE We rely on donors like you to continue our work. Donations are used for litigation expenses, field research, and reconciliation and restorative justice projects. With your help, we can continue training tomorrow’s civil rights lawyers, filling in the gaps in US history, and informing our national dialogue about race and criminal justice.

Visit https://crrj.northeastern.edu/donations/ to donate to the Civil Rights & Restorative Justice Project, or send us a check made out to NUSL-CRRJ at: NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW Civil Rights & Restorative Justice Project 120 Dockser Hall 360 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115

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