In May 1918, a white mob in Brooks and Lowndes County, Georgia, lynched Hayes Turner — accused, with no trial, of being connected to the killing of a white plantation owner known for abusing his Black workers.
His wife, Mary Turner, was eight months pregnant. She was furious. She publicly condemned the lynching and said she would see the men responsible arrested and punished in court.
For daring to speak, the mob turned on her.
The next day, they found her hiding and dragged her to a bridge over the Little River. They tied her ankles, hung her upside down from a tree, and set her on fire. While she was still alive, a man cut open her abdomen with a knife. Her unborn baby was killed on the ground beside her. Then the mob shot her body hundreds of times.
No one was ever charged. At least eleven other Black Georgians were killed by the same mob in the two weeks that followed.
Mary Turner's story is barely taught in American schools — though a historical marker now stands near where she died.
Why do so few people know her name?
#MaryTurner #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #Lynching #historyIn May 1918, a white mob in Brooks and Lowndes County, Georgia, lynched Hayes Turner — accused, with no trial, of being connected to the killing of a white plantation owner known for abusing his Black workers.
His wife, Mary Turner, was eight months pregnant. She was furious. She publicly condemned the lynching and said she would see the men responsible arrested and punished in court.
For daring to speak, the mob turned on her.
The next day, they found her hiding and dragged her to a bridge over the Little River. They tied her ankles, hung her upside down from a tree, and set her on fire. While she was still alive, a man cut open her abdomen with a knife. Her unborn baby was killed on the ground beside her. Then the mob shot her body hundreds of times.
No one was ever charged. At least eleven other Black Georgians were killed by the same mob in the two weeks that followed.
Mary Turner's story is barely taught in American schools — though a historical marker now stands near where she died.
Why do so few people know her name?
#MaryTurner #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #Lynching #history
