Veterans Day (called Armistice Day outside the US) is celebrated on November 11 to commemorate the end of World War I where hostilities ceased on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Ever since, we have taken that day to express gratitude to those who served in our armed forces.
A previous blog post on the history of African-Americans in the US Army made mention of George Dorsey, a sharecropper and WWII veteran who along with his wife and friends (Mae Murray Dorsey, Roger Malcom and Dorothy Malcom) was murdered on July 25, 1946, in the last documented lynching in the United States. Since there has been some developments in the case as of late, I felt it would be appropriate to remember this man.
The incident, often referred to as the Moore’s Ford Lynchings or the 1946 Georgia Lynching, happened in Walton County, Georgia. Much of the nation was outraged when details of the killings became known. Federal authorities interviewed thousands of people and assembled a grand jury to investigate the case, but no one was ever arrested despite claims by some that the perpetrators were identified.
Historian and author Anthony Pitch located the sealed grand jury testimony in the National Archives and started a lengthy legal battle to obtain the documents which are sealed as mandated by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Mr. Pitch died in 2019, but his attorney has continued the fight. The matter is now under review by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Thank you George Dorsey and others who served this nation honorably.
CBS News: Activists hope answers about 1946 lynchings will bring "healing"
NBC News: A mob lynching of 4 black sharecroppers in 1946 is focus of court battle over grand...
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