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the racial fears of a southern white jury by appealing to the stereotype of a sexually deviant and rapacious Black man. The testimony of
Willette Hawkins's husband was that their baby had been sick that night and that neither went to bed before 4 a.m., and then he occupied a back room 25 to 30 feet away from his wife's room. He had apparently heard nothing of this break in and violent assault until his wife came and woke him.
381:(CRC), which mounted a public campaign as well as filing legal appeals of his case. In the local Black community, it was thought that McGee may have had a consensual relationship with Willette Hawkins, but these thoughts were too incendiary to be brought up at trial. The son of the prosecutor in the case has stated that McGee told his father that he had consensual sex with Willette Hawkins.
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houses in Laurel and left a house in "The
Bottoms" about 4:00 am in the truck. He said that he left McGee and the truck at Masonite Drive and arrived at his own home half a block away at 4:15 am. Prosecutors played on the white jurors' racial stereotypes by suggesting that McGee had told another companion a few days before the rape, "I'm going to get me a white woman."
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Testimony alleged that McGee entered
Willette Hawkins's home through an outside window. It was suggested that he then violently assaulted and strangled her. The prosecution suggested that he then raced away in the stolen truck that he had parked some distance from the home. The prosecution played on
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McGee's third trial began on
February 16, 1948. For the first time in Jones County history, African Americans were registered as part of the 18-man grand jury. However, decades after the trial, one of the prosecutors allegedly boasted that they had changed the roll of grand jurors to falsely include
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for stealing a truck owned by the Laurel
Wholesale Grocery, where he was employed. Two of his friends placed him in the vicinity at the time of a rape of a white woman, Willette Hawkins, in her residence, leading to him being questioned about the rape. On November 9, 1945, McGee was charged with the
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After deliberating within less than an hour, on March 6, 1948, the jury returned to the court room with a guilty verdict. When the judge asked if McGee had anything to say, he responded, "Thank you, Judge, I have no fear." The execution was set by Judge F. Burkitt
Collins for Friday, April 9, 1948.
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Trial testimony of the alleged companion of McGee on the night of the assault stated he was on a wild joyride in the wholesale grocery truck McGee was driving. He testified that they drove around and returned to Laurel after consuming three half-pints of whiskey on the jaunt. They visited gambling
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The second trial was set for
November 4, 1946, on the charge of rape which was a capital offense in Mississippi. No white men in Mississippi had ever been sentenced to death for rape, but Black men were often executed when convicted for the rape of white women. McGee again applied for a change of
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that sought to break him out of the Laurel jail. At the time, lynch mobs and vigilante justice were common in the south, and even some liberal southerners tacitly supported mob justice. The trial was conducted under the protection of the troops and a military caravan returned McGee to
Jackson by
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Tell the people the real reason they are going to take my life is to keep the Negro down... They can't do this if you and the children keep on fighting. Never forget to tell them why they killed their daddy. I know you won't fail me. Tell the people to keep on fighting. Your true husband, Will
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The prosecution charged that McGee kept the money from a Laurel
Wholesale Grocery delivery he made, and used it to buy whiskey. The next morning, police claimed that employees of the grocery store found McGee asleep in the delivery truck. He was picked up in Hattiesburg by the police the next
392:, autobiographical book on her time in the American Communist Party, Mitford includes a detailed account of the campaign by the CRC to save McGee's life. Mitford and other women went door-to-door to raise local support for McGee's innocence, including a long interview with the writer
264:. It was reported that he had made an oral confession shortly after his arrest. This confession was attested to by the county attorney and other members of the local political power structure. McGee and his supporters would later argue that any such confession was made under duress.
336:, to be carried out on December 20, 1946. On November 23, 1946, McGee's attorney filed an appeal. Again, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the verdict. This time it ruled that Jones County's practice of excluding African-American citizens from its grand juries violated the
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239:, around 1916 to Bessie and Jasper McGee Sr., who was a laborer at Eastman Gardiner Lumber Company. He had one brother, Jasper McGee, Jr. McGee lived with his parents and brother at 64 3d Red Line, an area of segregated colored company housing. McGee attended local,
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Among the 60 men watching him die were the husband of
Willette Hawkins, her brother, and two of her brothers-in-law. The press was allowed to attend the execution. A crowd of more than 1500 were on the courthouse lawn. The execution was broadcast on radio.
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Justice Sidney Smith of the state's highest court stayed the execution for June 3, 1949. On June 3, 1949, McGee was granted another stay of execution five hours before he was scheduled to die. McGee was then scheduled for execution on July 27, 1950.
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wrote a letter insisting the case against McGee was unproven. His remarks were quoted by McGee's supporters for the purpose of gathering local backing for McGee. Other notable public figures that spoke out were the activist
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Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, ... Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way
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On Monday, December 3, 1945, McGee was indicted by the grand jury on a charge of rape, was arraigned in the circuit court, and a plea of not guilty was entered for him by the district attorney.
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332:(Hattiesburg). At that trial, after 11 minutes of deliberation, the all-white jury again returned a guilty verdict. Judge Burkitt Collins again sentenced McGee to death by
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schools for a short time before working. He married Eliza Jane Patton on April 15, 1935. McGee had four children with Patton: Willie Earl, Della, Gracie Lee, and Mary.
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in 1945 and executed on Tuesday, May 8, 1951, after being controversially convicted for the rape of a white woman on November 2, 1945. McGee's legal case became a
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found that the trial had violated McGee's rights because the trial court failed to consider McGee's motion for a change of venue. A new trial was scheduled.
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Attorney Forrest B. Jackson stated that McGee's constitutional rights were violated during his trial and filed an appeal. Ultimately, the
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639:"The Department of Forgetting: How an obscure FBI rule is ensuring the destruction of irreplaceable historical records"
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The Three Trials & Aftermath of the Willie McGee Case as Reported in the Laurel Leader-Call, Laurel, Mississippi
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on May 8, 1951, by the state of Mississippi, he wrote a farewell letter to Rosetta Saffold (alias Rosalee McGee):
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for only two and a half minutes to return the guilty verdict. On December 11, 1945, McGee was sentenced to death.
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two Black doctors whom they knew would remain silent. Yet again, no Black people served on the actual jury.
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748:""The Eyes of Willie McGee : A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South" by Alex Heard"
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ordered the fourth stay on July 26, 1950, creating an international affair; however the full
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The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist
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The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South
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rape, after initially admitting that he and Hawkins had had a consensual
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A Fine Old Conflict by Jessica Mitford, Quartet Books 1978 Chapter 8
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that attracted worldwide attention, as it was roundly decried as a
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Mississippi newspapers alleged that the segregationist Governor,
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The first trial initially attracted wide attention because
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False accusations of rape as justification for lynchings
621:"Willie McGee and the Travelling Electric Chair Radio"
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667:1930 United States Federal Census for Willie McGee
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377:After his conviction, McGee was defended by the
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251:On November 3, 1945, McGee was arrested in
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832:Braun Levine, Suzanne; Thom, Mary (2007).
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18:African American man executed in 1951
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979:20th-century African-American people
769:"William Faulkner's Southern Guilt"
300:. There were credible rumors of a
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969:American people convicted of rape
767:Kindley, Evan (August 18, 2020).
407:, represented McGee's appeals in
974:Executed people from Mississippi
954:Executed African-American people
803:Mississippi Civil Rights Project
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403:, then a young attorney for the
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949:People from Laurel, Mississippi
597:Horne, Raymond (May 30, 2011).
193:(c. 1916 – May 8, 1951) was an
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637:Heard, Alex (June 24, 2008).
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728:"My Grandfather's Execution"
688:Heard, Alex (May 11, 2010).
486:The night before McGee was
419:cases of her legal career.
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918:My Grandfather's Execution
876:. Macmillan. p. 129.
627:NPR, Retrieved 5 June 2010
98:Executed (May 8, 1951
81:Execution by electrocution
842:Farrar, Straus and Giroux
313:Mississippi Supreme Court
227:Willie McGee was born in
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324:venue. This time, Judge
253:Hattiesburg, Mississippi
338:Equal Protection Clause
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213:miscarriage of justice
100:; 73 years ago
872:Jerome, Fred (2003).
536:The Central Park Five
464:Civil Rights Congress
421:Supreme Court Justice
405:Civil Rights Congress
379:Civil Rights Congress
65:May 8, 1951 (aged 35)
415:in one of the first
281:afternoon. The jury
169: 1935;
898:A Fine Old Conflict
756:. October 12, 2010.
390:A Fine Old Conflict
296:jail to Laurel, in
199:Laurel, Mississippi
77:Cause of death
71:, Mississippi, U.S.
716:. August 25, 2010.
531:Martinsville Seven
435:Fielding L. Wright
428:U.S. Supreme Court
411:and before the US
369:Stays of execution
203:sentenced to death
896:Mitford, Jessica
855:978-0-374-29952-1
439:white supremacist
302:white supremacist
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409:Mississippi
401:Bella Abzug
348:Third trial
308:nightfall.
283:deliberated
273:First trial
237:Mississippi
54:Mississippi
928:Categories
692:. Harper.
547:References
241:segregated
223:Early life
201:, who was
105:1951-05-08
482:Execution
474:activist
466:activist
305:lynch mob
197:man from
504:See also
217:Jim Crow
181:Children
647:. Slate
453:Author
340:of the
257:larceny
229:Pachuta
219:south.
215:in the
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165:(
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136:Death
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653:2020
441:and
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126:Rape
62:Died
46:1916
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