Continued Lynchings in Georgia Throughout the 1920s

Georgia recorded 16 lynchings between 1920 and 1929, the highest of any state in the decade, continuing a pattern of racial terror that had claimed over 500 Georgia victims since Reconstruction. Notable cases included the 1921 lynching of John Henry Williams, who was burned alive in Jasper County before a large crowd after being accused of killing a white farmer in a dispute over wages. Georgia governors throughout the period declined to prosecute mob members. The state had no state anti-lynching law and actively obstructed federal investigations. The Klan's political power in Georgia peaked in this period.