Howard W. Gillispie, a World War I veteran, came home after hunting in the woods. The FBI compiled a 130-page investigation file, which has never been disclosed publicly until now. The rope connecting his wrists was loose. Try to imagine the victims life before death was captured in a postcard. His feet, bound with baling wire, were attached by a second rope to three other saplings, and his hands were tied behind him. The headline read, Negro Soldier Killed by Lynchers.. There is no record of follow-up questioning of witnesses or any other effort to distill the truth from the conflicting information, no attempt to get to the bottom of what transpired at the mill. Yet for the next four months, the War Department and authorities at Fort Benning told the public that they were investigating the possibility that Halls death was a suicide. Capt. He was a man by the book, she said. In contrast, five white people, including four civilian sawmill employees and one soldier, reported knowing nothing of a fight between Hall and Henry Smith. Smith, who died in 1951, was never named as a suspect. 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She was 12 at the time, a white girl living with her family in the Bradley Area neighborhood of the post. Thats why I dont come down this way.. He had grown half an inch and gained 15 pounds in the five months since enlisting. In short, the accounts provided by the black soldiers who in the Jim Crow South would ordinarily have been afraid to tell a white investigator anything they knew about the hanging of a black man were simply set aside. Freedom-Lovers' Pledge. Both the sawmill manager and clerk concurred with Smiths account. Seventy-five years after Halls life was cut short, Americans are wrestling again with questions about the value placed on the lives of young black men and the ability of the criminal justice system to transcend its historic double standard. There is no known photo of Hall taken when he was alive. James C. Hodges. He settled in New York, returning just two years ago to Millbrook to be near his younger sister. Hall went home to Alabama for Christmas in 1940. He spent the bulk of his time advocating for elite black soldiers to rise in the ranks and trying to integrate troops of different races into the same units. Those documents were turned over to Northeasterns School of Journalism, prompting a year-long investigation into the lynching and the governments failure to see justice done. He said that he couldnt remember the last date he had seen Hall at work, that hed never argued with a black soldier and that he did not manage black soldiers. I said, What do you mean, Mama, Ill get in trouble? , She said, You dont know what happened to Poss. , I said, Lynched? I said, Whats that? . Felix Hall, and a reason to commit this crime in the manner in which it was committed, according to the FBI. Pvt. Hastie, an African American, had already been a successful lawyer and a federal judge when Roosevelt appointed him to the War Department in 1940 as civilian aide to the secretary. Frank O. Williams, who had trained Hall, and reported his impressions: WILLIAMS stated that he was very familiar with [Halls] habits, and considered him an all right individual; that he had no trouble with him during training, and that his discipline was good, although at times HALL seemed to be more of a kid than a soldier, as he was usually playing pranks on others, and almost always in a very jovial mood. FORT BENNING, Ga. Pvt. Pvt. Hall was . A wreath displayed at City Hall in memory of lynching victim Joseph McCoy, pictured in 2021. . virtual.museum@abhmuseum.org, ABHM On-Site In a telephone interview, she remembered her father as a drunk a man who would beat her and her siblings, then lapse into tears. My grandfather said Felix was a ladys man, Thomas recounted in an interview. Kenneth Thomas grew up with a similar understanding, even though he is from a different branch of the family tree. "Coming Up From the River" and "Young Girl by Birch Tree". Pvt. I want to move you, the viewer, beyond typical politically correct thoughts and feelings about race and race relations. We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors adults and youth can exchangeinformed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits. Halls family and friends nicknamed him Poss.. His father moved to Montgomery to find work, leaving Hall and his two brothers to be raised by their grandmother, still remembered in the town as a small, well-loved woman full of energy. Inscription on reverse in brown ink: "Lee Hall col, lynched Saturday Feb, 7th 1903 about 11 o'clock P.M." Two years before his death. In 1897, more than two documented lynchings occurred every week in the United States [Dray 2003]. His skin was peeling away. In Virginia, the southern state with the fewest lynchings, W. Fitzhugh Brundage found . There is no mention of such a report in the file. I wouldnt doubt it. Margaret Burnham, the first African American woman jurist in Massachusetts and a restorative justice pioneer, explains why it is important to examine cases like Felix Hall's, where the perpetrator or perpetrators have long since died. The elevator man handed his leaflet to Walter White, the executive secretary of the NAACP. But local black leaders and some white residents are convinced that 23-year-old Timothy Charles Lee was lynched--perhaps by a splinter of the Ku Klux Klan . The post exchange was within clear sight of the sawmill, but Hall never made it. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened. The FBI continues to withhold this information, citing a legal exemption designed to prevent the disclosure of information that would be considered an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Daniels was white, and a segregationist, but he vigorously opposed lynching and added his voice to those insisting on a sincere investigation into Halls killing. Hundreds were killed for interacting with white women, sometimes after nothing more than a glance. Biography: . Benjamin Thomas was reportedly 20 years old when he died, but he could have been as young as 16. Souvenir Postcard of Lee Hall, lynched in a trash dump in Wrightsville, Georgia. The only work available to black teenagers in Millbrook was picking cotton. Museum Community FREE Days: Sat, Feb 25th 10am to 5pm CT & Sun, Feb 26th 12 to 5pm CT Published for the benefit of the family of Henry Vance (Paris, Texas, 1893), 19; At the 1916 lynching of Jesse Washington in Waco, Texas, a local photographer named F.A. Between 1890 and 1900, lynching peaked both nationally and in the state of West Virginia; during that period ten blacks met their fate at the hands of a lynch mob in the state. Five black soldiers told investigators that Hall had been in a fight with his boss. The lynchings were among 4,743 reported nationwide during the same period [Lynching, Whites and Negroes, 1882-1968, Tuskegee University.] His lynching was an inconvenient reminder of violence against black servicemen at a time when the military was working hard to recruit young men of all races for a looming war. Sometimes he met girls out on the town. Soldiers traipsed through them to frequent bars and pick up prostitutes in an Alabama town just across the Chattahoochee River. City Hall will be illuminated in purple, the color of mourning, throughout the weekend. Hall was known to speak with white people of both genders and all ages, more casually than was considered appropriate at the time, Fenderson recalled in an interview. The lynching of Lee Hall, his body hung from a tree, bullet hole in head, ears cut off, discarded cookstove and trash. Willie Ellison reported to the FBI that hed heard from two people that Smith had threatened to kill Hall if he did not call him Sir. According to Sgt. But two paragraphs detailing Hodgess possible motive remain redacted from the investigation report 75 years after they were written. Felix Hall was a man from Alabama who, at age 19, was lynched, probably by fellow soldiers in Fort Benning, Georgia. This show will take you on an epic, unexpected American exploration of family, history and cultural identity. I wouldnt doubt it. Thousands of African Americans were lynched during the Jim Crow Era, between the 1880s and the Second World War. Felix Hall was found hanging in a shallow ravine near the . His mother and other older relatives told Fenderson that Halls ghost still roamed the railroad tracks in Millbrook. All that time, Halls body was just out of sight, no more than a 15-minute walk from the bustling center of the post. Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media. If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is. Over the summer months, members of the public had been writing to the White House, the War Department and Fort Benning demanding that Halls killers be found. The painting is of a female victim who is down on her side, her skirt is wrinkled and close to her hips, and her head is tilted to the right. Both men lived in Block W, where Hall was last seen alive. This piece examines the lynching of women. Her body is positioned so the viewer does not see the atrocity (rape) that took place before she was lynched. Pvt. Ms. Scott is affiliated with several organizations in Chicago, including the Chicago Society of Artists, South Shore Cultural Center Creative Artist Association, the Chicago Artist Coalition, and the American Indian Center. I was afraid the people were going to lynch me, too, he said. One week later, he had a routine physical exam at Fort Benning. But in an interview earlier this year, a retired social worker who grew up on base revealed that her stepfather had found the body of a black man hanging in the same location in the woods in early 1941 and that he had reported it. Attention local KISS fans, get your face . He turned 19 on Jan. 1. But instead of fighting in the Pacific, as his . Lynching was the widespread occurrence of extrajudicial killings which began in the United States' pre-Civil War South in the 1830s and ended during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Lee Hill: Wrightsville - Georgia: Feb/7/1903: Thomas Hill: Spring Place - Georgia: Mar/1/1893 . As the months passed and accounts mounted of other black soldiers being beaten or shot on military bases, Hastie grew increasingly frustrated. Then, while he still had breath, he desperately scraped dirt loose from the ravine wall, trying to scoop out enough of the sienna-colored earth to build up a mound beneath his feet that he could stand on to take the strain from his neck, the FBI would later report. Hall didnt seem the kind of person to go AWOL. Lynchings were less common in northeast Georgia and along the coast. At Fort Benning, he was training for the possibility of fighting overseas in a unit of African American soldiers. Hall was 18 years old, 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds when he went to the recruiting station in Montgomery in August 1940 to enlist in the Army. Last week, police found a 17-year-old Black boy hanging from a tree in an . In my paintings, the colors are vibrant. By then, Halls company of African Americans had long since shipped overseas to the Pacific and gone to war. In 1905, the sociologist James Cutler observed, "It has been said that our country's national crime is lynching". Above: Pvt. Five black soldiers told investigators that Hall had been in a fight with his boss. The last major wave occurred during the 1930s at a time when public interracial efforts to overturn Jim Crow were just beginning in the state. Green and his brother-in-law, Sgt. Felix Hall allegedly had an argument with his boss at the sawmill, where he had been assigned for about one month. Hundreds were killed for interacting with white women, sometimes after nothing more than a glance. On Feb. 12, he went to work as usual at the sawmill, where he was detailed by the Army, assigned to keep the fire burning. From the position of the body and the location in which it was found, the FBI report said, it does not appear that one man could have committed the crime.. Lets go. He was a coward. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. It is our hope that this April 23, 2022 memorialization will provide belated accountability, reconciliation and respect for Joseph McCoy. Felix Hall earlier that year. It was early in 1941, eight months before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and with World War II already raging overseas, the United States was recruiting young men to serve their country. Thomass grandfather, the family storyteller and comedian, would turn somber every time he talked about Halls brief life. I agree with Philip Dray who wrote, Until we understand how pervasive and socially accepted the practice [of lynching] wasand, more important,why this was soit will haunt all efforts at racial reconciliation.2, "Three Generations," "The Impossible" and "My Son, My Grandson". When Fenderson was 15, his mother warned him against becoming too friendly with a white boy in Millbrook and used Halls death as a life lesson. He liked to go to a bar and get a drink in the evening, but he was never seen drunk. The second suspect was Sgt. At bugle call the next morning, for the first time during his military service, Hall did not report for duty. After the "opening" they reviewed the performance. While the investigation file takes note of these different accounts, there is no sign that the FBI pursued the information provided by the black soldiers. Felix Hall, the victim of a violent lynching 75 years ago the FBI never solved and the agency is still redacting documents related to the case Author of the article . The investigation report, along with War Department correspondence, raises questions about whether federal authorities were serious about finding his killers. Gildersleeve was notified in advance that the lynching would take place on the City Hall lawn; in preparation for the event, he left his camera in City Hall beforehand. The FBI ultimately found its two best suspects in Block W. March 28: Halls body was found hanging in the woods about six weeks later. Marcus Gaveys idea was probably the best alternative to continued abuse in Christian and Muslim nations. Robert Hall: Newton - Georgia: Jan/30/1943: Albert Hamilton: Cordele - Georgia: Jan/30/1912: Balam Hancock: Gibson - Georgia: . Maggots were eating his flesh. But over the following months and years, the government released only a fraction of its findings. Sometimes he met girls out on the town. Seventy-five years later, the lynching of a black Army private at U.S. base remains unsolved, Michael Higgins: 'A lot of reason to be afraid,' says censured teacher critical of the woke revolution in classrooms, U.S. border states on alert for wild Canadian 'super pigs' that devour animals and crops, Chinese embassy decries 'baseless' claims Beijing interfered in Canadian elections, Opposition parties plan motion demanding public inquiry on foreign interference, FIRST READING: How China allegedly spent the last 10 years trying to influence Trudeau. In an interview, she said she remembered the spring day in 1941 when her stepfather, Army Sgt. Im peculiar about ghosts, Fenderson said. Read more about cookies here. When scary things happened, they were hushed up.. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors adults and youth can exchangeinformed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits. Their banners carried a plea. In the reports compiled by the FBI and the War Department, there is no record of investigators asking Halls friends and cousins whether they had looked for him after he disappeared or whether they suspected foul play. Green admitted that he had a gun and that he had said he would kill any black Peeping Tom who came to his window. The FBI ultimately identified two best suspects in the lynching. He was last seen alive about 4 p.m. in Block W, a poor, all-white neighbourhood between the mill and the exchange. On Sept 8, 1941, William H. Hastie wrote a memo to his boss, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, raising concerns about several cases of violence against black soldiers, including Hall. Halls case may be cold, but it still resonates. Although he appears to have vanished after walking through a white neighborhood on base in the middle of the afternoon, investigators did not identify anyone who could detail his movements. Lynchings were violent public acts that white people used to terrorize and control Black people in the 19th and 20th centuries . In short, the accounts provided by the black soldiers who in the Jim Crow South would ordinarily have been afraid to tell a white investigator anything they knew about the hanging of a black man were simply set aside. The lead of the story Omaha mob lynches man, tries to lynch mayor, burns courthouse . Fort Benning officials and military police also had a part in the probe. Jesse Lee Bond was lynched in Arlington,Tennessee on April 28, 1939--in broad daylight, on the town square. James Fenderson, 80, was 6 when his cousin Felix Hall was lynched. Kevin Lee Updated Mar. That really stuck in my mind. On one page, he declared his love for Miss Ada Mae. Both men lived in Block W, where Hall was last seen alive. The official did not say who they were. But at the time,the FBI conducted a tag-team investigation over the course of 17 months. His father, James Hall, and grandmother Sarah Hall received $5,000 from the government and $1,000 from the life insurance company, paid in monthly installments of approximately $30. Sergeant WILLIAMS knew of no trouble in which HALL had been involved, and knew no one that disliked [the] victim.. Now 87, Follett is a retired social worker with short white hair and pale blue eyes. Walter White, the executive secretary of the NAACP at the time, was one of the people who received a flier in April 1941 with news about the lynching of Pvt. Felix Hall joined the Army in 1940, just as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression and on the verge of deploying millions of troops to fight in World War II . But two paragraphs detailing Hodgess possible motive remain redacted from the investigation report 75 years after they were written. Sponsored by American Family Insurance. Howard W. Gillispie, a World War I veteran, came home after hunting in the woods. West . Memorial to the Victims of Lynching. He settled in New York, returning just two years ago to Millbrook to be near his younger sister. digitized with permission of the Kansas State Historical Society. Maryland has a long bloody history of lynching and attempted lynching of African Americans. Hodges died in 1961. Residents of the post often hunted in the woods for food or sport. He was assigned to Fort Benning in neighboring Georgia, where he would join the 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-black military units, organized after the Civil War. Scotts work has also been displayed in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Up-State New York, Providence, and Minneapolis. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. World War II: Felix Hall Lynching FBI Files, Newspaper Articles, Historical Material893 pages of material covering the lynching of Private Felix Hall at Fort Benning in February of 1941.On February 12 . Read, Negro Soldier killed by Lynchers in 1941 when her stepfather, Army Sgt i was afraid people... Thomas was reportedly 20 years old when he died, but he was never named as a suspect and about. And Muslim nations not see the atrocity ( rape ) that took place she... Life before death was captured in a trash dump in Wrightsville, Georgia What happened to Poss in. Jesse Lee Bond was lynched as Young as 16 Tom who came to window! Southern state with the fewest lynchings, W. Fitzhugh Brundage found in 1941 when her stepfather, Army Sgt they! 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