Martinsville Seven Executed for Rape in Virginia

In February 1951, Virginia executes seven Black men, Frank Hairston Jr., Booker T. Millner, Howard Lee Hairston, John Clabon Taylor, James Luther Hairston, Francis DeSales Grayson, and Joe Henry Hampton, for the rape of a white woman. NAACP lawyers document that Virginia had never executed a white man for rape. The seven are electrocuted over two weekends. Their case illustrates the racially discriminatory application of capital punishment.