29:
111:
Soon anonymous notes were warning him to leave town if he wanted to wear his uniform. Days later, a mob attacked him as he greeted friends congratulating him on his achievements. He was found beaten to death on the outskirts of town. He was wearing his uniform. He had survived the war only to be
160:
published editorials on May 15 and 29. The latter asserted that "No negro has been lynched in this county because he refused to take off his soldier uniform" and that Little was still alive and employed on a farm. On May 24, the editor of the
83:
date. Reportedly, Little was still in uniform beyond that date. He was one of many
African-American servicemen of the time who were subjected to violence for continuing to wear their uniforms after being discharged from the military.
227:
to
Blakely to investigate the incident. On June 7, 1919, Work sent a telegram to NAACP officer J. R. Shillady stating "Have investigated report. Blakely, Georgia, lynching does not appear to have occured [
237:
and the subsequent investigation by Work led the NAACP to delay publication of the Wilbur Little story. However, the organization eventually rejected the recommendation of their investigator, publishing the story in
406:
510:
1058:
1043:
594:
1038:
99:
Little returned to
Blakely wearing his military uniform, and was seen at the train station by a group of white men, who demanded he remove the uniform. He was threatened with
253:
1063:
1048:
1018:
28:
258:
585:
1028:
1023:
315:
341:
702:
563:
448:
207:. Assertions were made that the original reports erroneously mixed up the lynching of Little with another murder, that of Clifford Hughes.
524:
91:
and burned. Another states he was beaten to death. The lack of authoritative information about these types of killings was not uncommon.
553:
504:
434:
76:
1053:
407:"Red Summer: In 1919, white Americans visited awful violence on black Americans. So black Americans decided to fight back"
202:
465:
761:
233:]." Work concluded his investigation by recommending that allegations of a lynching be dropped. The denial by the
1033:
781:
440:
606:
994:
117:
849:
822:
964:
734:
879:
626:
87:
Little was killed by
Blakely residents, but the details of his death are uncertain. One source says he was
188:
171:, again denying the lynching had occurred, and objecting to a letter run by The Sun several days earlier.
633:(published April 5, 1919). Century News Service. April 4, 1919. p. 1. ProQuest document ID 493381239
182:
931:
382:
959:
732:
Davis, David A. (2008). "Not Only War Is Hell: World War I and
African American Lynching Narratives".
147:
377:
865:
795:
288:
743:
675:
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598:
470:
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194:
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clothes, was allowed to return to his home in uniform. According to historian Isabel
Wilkerson:
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708:
698:
559:
475:
444:
351:
905:
769:
718:
667:
167:
72:
68:
587:
Coming from Battle to Face a War: The
Lynching of Black Soldiers in the World War I Era
411:
80:
56:
1012:
679:
653:
602:
176:
37:
17:
201:
all ran variations of a story questioning the accuracy of an April 20 report in the
654:"The Platform: How Pullman porters used railways to engage in networked journalism"
346:
33:
671:
152:
In May of that year, a number of other papers ran reports that the lynching was a
224:
60:
240:
991:"Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (3rd Ed. 2017)"
712:
479:
355:
990:
263:
695:
The Warmth of Other Suns : The Epic Story of
America's Great Migration
525:"Navy admiral gets it all wrong about Kaepernick at Pearl Harbor ceremony"
529:
342:"Jim Crow lynchings more widespread than first thought, report concludes"
104:
64:
747:
79:
regulations to wear their service uniforms for three months after their
75:. Servicemen who had been discharged from the army were permitted under
378:"The meanest little town...: A lingering humiliation from 96 years ago"
88:
100:
436:
1919, The Year of Racial
Violence: How African Americans Fought Back
220:
27:
282:
The date is likely incorrect. April 20, 1919 was a Sunday; the
153:
229:
511:
National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
145:
The story of Little's death appeared in the April 5, 1919
912:. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. May 13, 1919. p. 4
823:"A Denial That a Negro Soldier Was Lynched in Blakely"
837:– via Library of Congress: Chronicling America.
595:
Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences
289:"Library of Congress: Chronicling America collection"
254:
African-American veterans lynched after World War I
940:. Raleigh, North Carolina. May 15, 1919. p. 4
116:The lynching of Little was memorialized by poet
503:Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt (July 1919).
122:
109:
716:. Cites "Army Uniform Cost Soldier His Life,"
1059:Aftermath of World War I in the United States
1044:African-American United States Army personnel
259:List of lynching victims in the United States
133:Where from the hell of war he never flinched,
8:
886:. Kingston, New York. May 8, 1919. p. 4
850:"The Lynching of a Negro Soldier in Georgia"
165:, W. W. Fleming, wrote a letter to the
135:Because he cried, 'Democracy,' was lynched.
120:in "The Black Draftee from Georgia" (1922):
1039:United States Army personnel of World War I
802:. Blakely, Georgia. May 29, 1919. p. 4
631:The Chicago Defender (Big Weekend Edition)
215:A month after the article appeared in the
131:Maimed, in the duty done on foreign shore,
127:His heart was white and loyal to the core;
762:"Genesis and Nemesis of a Lynching Story"
129:And when to his loved Dixie he came back,
25:1919 hate crime in Georgia, United States
1064:Military history of Georgia (U.S. state)
1049:Deaths by person in Georgia (U.S. state)
968:. Taylor, Texas. May 19, 1919. p. 2
506:The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races
466:"Opinion | The Soldiers We Leave Behind"
1019:Lynching deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)
304:
275:
125:What though the hero-warrior was black?
433:Krugler, David F. (December 8, 2014).
16:Not to be confused with jazz musician
621:
619:
579:
577:
575:
340:Gambino, Lauren (February 10, 2015).
320:African American Experience in Athens
7:
821:Fleming, W. W. (May 28, 1919).
652:Richardson, Allissa (January 2016).
627:"Army Uniform Cost Soldier His Life"
498:
496:
316:"The Lynching Project: Early County"
310:
308:
552:Fessenden, Tracy (April 27, 2018).
14:
1029:1919 murders in the United States
67:in April 1919 in his hometown of
1024:African Americans in World War I
932:"A Lynching That Never Occurred"
405:Onion, Rebecca (March 4, 2015).
376:Gilbert, Tony (March 25, 2015).
848:Holden, Wm. H. (May 21, 1919).
464:Klay, Phil (November 9, 2019).
810:– via Newspaper Archive.
555:Religion Around Billie Holiday
286:was not published on Sundays.
1:
906:"Negro Agitators Cause Riots"
672:10.1080/1461670X.2015.1110498
71:, for refusing to remove his
920:– via Newqspapers.com.
796:"A Matter of Fact and Truth"
948:– via Newspapers.com.
894:– via Newspapers.com.
782:Georgia Historic Newspapers
584:Mikkelsen, Vincent (2007).
156:. Most notably, Blakely's
32:Map of Blakely on a map of
1080:
682:– via Research Gate.
441:Cambridge University Press
284:Philadelphia Public Ledger
211:Investigation by the NAACP
204:Philadelphia Public Ledger
15:
800:Blakely Early County News
772:. May 15, 1919. p. 4
568:– via Google Books.
453:– via Google Books.
995:Equal Justice Initiative
118:Carrie Williams Clifford
856:. p. 10 (column 6)
829:. p. 12 (column 6)
735:African American Review
55:in some sources) was a
965:The Taylor Daily Press
884:Kingston Daily Freeman
868:: Chronicling America.
722:, April 5, 1919, p. 1.
186:(May 13), the Raleigh
177:Kingston Daily Freeman
138:
114:
41:
1054:Early County, Georgia
910:Winston-Salem Journal
612:on February 27, 2020.
183:Winston-Salem Journal
31:
597:. pp. 139–140.
558:. Penn State Press.
244:three months later.
866:Library of Congress
693:Wilkerson, Isabel,
659:Journalism Studies
533:. December 9, 2016
471:The New York Times
443:. pp. 41–42.
386:. Blakely, Georgia
235:Early County Times
195:Taylor Daily Press
192:(May 15), and the
42:
1034:April 1919 events
960:"A Baseless Yarn"
937:News and Observer
880:"A Baseless Yarn"
766:Early County News
704:978-1-4915-4542-3
565:978-0-271-08720-7
450:978-1-316-19500-0
383:Early County News
189:News and Observer
158:Early County News
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770:Blakely, Georgia
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742:(3/4): 477–491.
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719:Chicago Defender
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605:. Archived from
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509:. Vol. 18.
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217:Chicago Defender
148:Chicago Defender
73:military uniform
69:Blakely, Georgia
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984:Further reading
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112:killed at home.
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513:. p. 155.
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225:Monroe N. Work
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142:
141:Claims of hoax
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81:demobilization
77:War Department
57:black American
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180:(May 8), the
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45:Wilbur Little
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18:Wilbur Little
998:. Retrieved
970:. Retrieved
963:
954:
942:. Retrieved
935:
926:
914:. Retrieved
909:
900:
888:. Retrieved
883:
874:
864:– via
858:. Retrieved
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843:
831:. Retrieved
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804:. Retrieved
799:
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780:– via
774:. Retrieved
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635:. Retrieved
630:
607:the original
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535:. Retrieved
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483:. Retrieved
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416:. Retrieved
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381:
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359:. Retrieved
347:The Guardian
345:
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323:. Retrieved
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168:New York Sun
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34:Early County
22:
666:: 398–414.
61:World War I
59:veteran of
36:(left) and
1013:Categories
300:References
241:The Crisis
860:August 8,
833:August 8,
713:881023508
680:148325904
637:August 3,
603:161488986
480:0362-4331
356:0261-3077
264:New Negro
1000:July 26,
972:July 28,
944:July 20,
916:July 20,
890:July 20,
806:July 28,
776:July 29,
748:40301248
537:July 20,
530:Andscape
485:July 20,
418:July 20,
390:July 27,
361:July 27,
325:July 26,
248:See also
199:(May 19)
105:civilian
95:Lynching
854:The Sun
827:The Sun
593:(PhD).
65:lynched
53:Wilbert
49:William
40:(right)
38:Georgia
746:
711:
701:
678:
601:
562:
478:
447:
354:
101:arrest
89:hanged
47:(also
744:JSTOR
676:S2CID
610:(PDF)
599:S2CID
591:(PDF)
270:Notes
223:sent
221:NAACP
1002:2020
974:2020
946:2020
918:2020
892:2020
862:2020
835:2020
808:2020
778:2020
709:OCLC
699:ISBN
639:2020
560:ISBN
539:2020
487:2020
476:ISSN
445:ISBN
420:2020
392:2020
363:2020
352:ISSN
327:2020
219:the
174:The
163:News
154:hoax
668:doi
230:sic
51:or
1015::
993:.
962:.
934:.
908:.
882:.
852:.
825:.
798:.
768:.
764:.
740:42
738:.
707:,
674:.
664:17
662:.
656:.
629:.
618:^
574:^
527:.
495:^
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468:.
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409:.
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344:.
318:.
307:^
63:,
1004:.
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670::
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365:.
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150:.
20:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
