- Mary Turner
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Mary Turner (died 1918) was an African-American victim of lynching in Valdosta, Georgia.
In May, 1918, 31-year old white plantation owner Hampton Smith, known to abuse and beat his workers, was shot and killed by one of his black workers on the plantation, 19-year old Sydney Johnson. After a few days on the plantation, Johnson had been beaten by Smith for not working while he was sick.[1]
A week-long mob-driven manhunt soon ensued, in which at least 11 people were killed; among those killed was another black man, Hayes Turner. Distraught, his eight-month pregnant wife Mary publicly opposed her husband's murder and threatened to have members of the mob arrested. This caused the mob to turn against her.[1] She was taken from her home by a mob of several hundred, had her ankles tied, was hung upside down from a tree, doused in gasoline and motor oil and set on fire.[2]
While Turner was still alive, a member of the mob split her abdomen open with a knife, and the unborn child fell to ground, where it was stomped on and crushed. Finally, Turner's body was riddled with bullets.[3]
After the incident, the Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made "unwise remarks" about the execution of her husband, and that "the people, in their indignant mood, took exception to her remarks, as well as her attitude".[4]
See also
- Nadir of American race relations
- Mass racial violence in the United States: War and Inter-War Period: 1914 - 1945
References
- ^ a b Remembering Mary Turner
- ^ Re-Living Memories: Picturing Death - IJELE: ART EJOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN WORLD
- ^ Strangefruit.org (Mary and Hayes Turner)
- ^ The Culture of Make Believe By Derrick Jensen, page ix
External links
- Remembering Mary Turner
- Contemporary account of Walter White in The Crisis
- The Anti-Lynching Crusaders, Digital History
- Mary Turner and the Memory of Lynching
- Mary Turner at Find A Grave
Lynching in the United States Victims Will Brown (1919) · Cordie Cheek (1933) · Joe Coe (1891) · Anthony Crawford (1916) · Michael Donald (1981) · Wesley Everest (1919) · Leo Frank (1915) · Raymond Gunn (1931) · Sam Hose (1899) · Ed Johnson (1906) · Frank Little (1917) · Steve Long (1868) · Laura and Lawrence Nelson (1911) · Mack Charles Parker (1959) · George Parrott (1881) · Ell Persons (1917) · Henry Plummer (1864) · Robert Prager (1918) · Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith (1930) · Bill Sketoe (1864) · Henry Smith (1893) · Hyrum Smith (1844) · Joseph Smith (1844) · Lamar Smith (1955) · Joseph Standing (1879) · Emmett Till (1955) · Mary Turner (1918) · Jesse Washington (1916)
Incidents Duluth lynchings (1920) · East St. Louis Riot · Omaha Race Riot of 1919 · Reno Gang (1868) · Tulsa race riot · Rosewood massacre ·Issues Songs Writers James Allen · Ida B. WellsCategories Lynching in the United States · Lynching deaths in the United StatesCategories:- 1918 deaths
- 1918 crimes
- American murder victims
- Murdered pregnant women
- Female lynching victims
- 1918 in the United States
- Racially motivated violence against African Americans
- People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Lynching deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Murdered African-American people
- African American women
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