George Hughes Burned Alive in Sherman, Texas Courthouse

On May 9, 1930, a mob in Sherman, Texas attempted to seize George Hughes, a Black farmhand accused of assaulting a white woman, from the courthouse. After failing to break through, the mob set the courthouse on fire with Hughes inside, then lynched his burned body. The mob then burned Black-owned homes and businesses in Sherman's Black district. Texas Rangers and National Guard restored order but no one was prosecuted for the courthouse burning or the subsequent destruction of the Black neighborhood.