Mary Turner (died 1918) was an African-American lynching victim in Valdosta, Georgia.
In May, 1918, 31-year old White plantation owner Hampton Smith, known to abuse and beat his workers, was shot and killed by one of his black workers on the plantation, 19-year old Sydney Johnson. After a few days on the plantation, Johnson was beaten by Smith for not working while he was sick.[1]
A week-long mob-driven manhunt soon ensued, in which at least 13 people were killed; amongst those killed was another black man, Hayes Turner. Distraught, his eight-month pregnant wife Mary publicly opposed her husband's murder and threatened to have members of the mob arrested. This caused the mob to turn against her.[1] She was taken from her home by a mob of several hundred, had her ankles tied, was hung upside down from a tree, doused in gasoline and motor oil and set on fire.[2]
Whilst still alive, a member of the mob split her abdomen open with a knife, and the unborn child fell to ground, where it was repeatedly stomped on and crushed. Finally, Turner's body was riddled with bullets.[3] After the incident, the Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband.[4]
  | Contemporary account - Readings from The Crisis 1918: The work of a mob | New Crisis, The | Find Articles at BNET |
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