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Struggle & ResistanceAchievement & Excellence

May 1918

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Oppression
Mary Turner Lynched in Georgia at Eight Months Pregnant for Protesting Husband's Murder

Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was lynched by a mob in Lowndes County, Georgia after publicly objecting to her husband Hayes Turner's lynching the previous day and threatening to press charges. She was hung upside down, doused in gasoline and motor oil, burned, then her abdomen was slashed open and her nearly full-term fetus was removed and stomped on. She was one of at least eight Black people killed in a week in that county. Her case became a cause célèbre for anti-lynching campaigners; the NAACP used her murder as Exhibit A in their lobbying for federal legislation.

Events

  1. May 19, 1918
    Mary Turner Lynched in Georgia at Eight Months Pregnant for Protesting Husband's Murder

    Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was lynched by a mob in Lowndes County, Georgia after publicly objecting to her husband Hayes Turner's lynching the previous day and threatening to press charges. She was hung upside down, doused in gasoline and motor oil, burned, then her abdomen was slashed open and her nearly full-term fetus was removed and stomped on. She was one of at least eight Black people killed in a week in that county. Her case became a cause célèbre for anti-lynching campaigners; the NAACP used her murder as Exhibit A in their lobbying for federal legislation.

  2. May 15, 1918
    Henry Johnson, WWI Hero, Denied American Medals; Receives Medal of Honor Posthumously 97 Years Later

    Private Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry single-handedly fought off a German raiding party of approximately 20 soldiers, killing four and wounding several more while himself severely wounded, rescuing a fellow soldier. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm — their highest honor. The US Army gave him nothing. He returned home to poverty, alcoholism, and disability without receiving a single American decoration despite being celebrated as a war hero by French and American media. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2015, 97 years after his actions.

  3. May 15, 1918
    Henry Johnson, WWI Hero, Denied American Medals; Receives Medal of Honor 97 Years Later

    Private Henry Johnson single-handedly fought off approximately 20 German soldiers, killing four and rescuing a fellow soldier while severely wounded. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm. The US Army gave him nothing. He returned home to poverty and disability without receiving a single American decoration. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2015, 97 years after his actions.