Lynching rampage in South Georgia

1. Lynching rampage in South Georgia Made by Bj Smallwood Olivia Cone Emi Pallotti Sarah Thompson

2. Lynching's • There were so many lynching's in 1880 and 1930 that sociologists have called this period the lynching era. • Literally thousands of men, women, and children were murdered at the hands of mobs. • The NAACP reported 3,224 lynching's between 1889 and 1918, while the Tuskegee institute counted 4,587 for the years 1882-1930.

3. Lynching's • The first of the mobs victims was Will Head, one of the employees who had helped plan the killing. • Head was captured early Friday morning, May 17, near Barney. • Reports suggested that the mob wanted to capture all those involved in the plot, take them to the scene of the crime, and lynch them all together.

4. Lynching's • Hangings were often preceded by beatings, shootings, burnings, and sadistic torture that included dismemberment and mutilation. • The causes of lynching in the South are just as difficult to pin-point as the exact number of victims. • The mobs eighth and ninth victims, lynched on Sunday of May 19, Two were killed in the most sensational, brutal, and barbaric manner in this south Georgia tragedy.

5. Georgia • The lynching of women was common in Georgia. • Ten women were lynched in Georgia between 1880 and 1930-but this episode stands out as being particularly gruesome. • It is also an indication that the mob would spare no person in exacting its revenge, even if it meant killing an unborn child.

6. Women Weren't Safe • The mob tied Mary Turner’s ankles together hung her to a tree head down, and automobile gas was poured on her. Mary’s clothes were burnt off her body then a mob member cut open her stomach where her unborn child fell.

7. Final Kill • The final confirmed victim of the mob violence, the thirteenth to die, was the man who actually shot Hampton Smith, Sidney Johnson. • On the evening of May 22, Valdosta police officers, led by Chief Dampier, went to the house, located at south troupe and south streets to arrest the suspect.

8. Brooks County • There were more lynching's in Brooks County than in other county in Georgia. • Fitzhugh Brundadge has suggested that the county was the most mob prone county in the entire south.

9. Brooks County Lynching

10. Street Battle • In the evening of May 22, Valdosta police officers, led by Chief Dampier, went to the house, located at South Troupe and South Streets, to arrest the suspect. • Johnson opened fire when the officers entered the house and a gun battle ensued. • Chief Dampier was wounded, as was Patrolman Dampier and Dixon Smith.

11. The Mobs Stop • Sidney Johnson was the last confirmed victim of the mobs rampage through Brooks and Lowndes counties. • This lynching spree confirms Brooks County’s place as the most mob-prone county in Georgia.

12. There were no legal repercussions for the mob, and no one was ever held accountable for their actions. The foreman of the Brooks County grand jury in May 1918 was William A. Whipple, one of the leaders of the mob. This ensured that no charges would be brought against anyone involved. No Repercussions

13. The Ruthless Mob • The Brooks County mob carried out swift summary justice waiting to hear from the man who shot and killed Hampton smith. • Brooks County was the most mob prone and lynched prone county.