. The sentences were carried out in February 1951, the largest group of executions for crimes against a single victim in state history and one of the largest in U.S. history. Meanwhile, other demonstrators picketed the White House in support of the sevcen. Do I see a pattern here? The judge ruled that there was no evidence that discrimination was involved in imposing the Martinsville death sentences. Try again later. At age 37, World War II veteran Francis DeSales Grayson was the oldest of the defendants. She said that she had been raped at least 13 times. The rapes occurred on Saturday, January 8, 1949, after Ruby Stroud Floyd, a 32-year-old white woman, entered a black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, to collect money for clothing she had sold. Tony L. Millner, vice president of the Martinsville NAACP chapter, said he was a child when it happened. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. By the spring of 1949, all seven men were charged with rape. "I remember the very day the police came to the door. Listen to these niggers holding up seven rapists as though they were victims of some kind ! The Martinsville Seven were a group of seven African American men from Martinsville, Virginia, who were convicted and executed for raping a white woman in 1949. Their petition does not argue that the men were innocent, but says their trials were unfair and the punishment was extreme and unjust. A better quality image can be found in the Fight for Racial Justice: the Civil Rights Congress (Gale) that can be accessed online through the D.C. Public Library databases, among other methods. On the stand, each of the defendants at least partially rejected his confession. What the Martinsville case lacked in legal import, it made up for politically by drawing national and worldwide attention to the death penalty as a civil-rights issue. Blacks makeup 13% of the population but commit the majority of violent crimes in this country. The "Martinsville Seven" were convicted of raping 32-year-old Ruby Stroud Floyd, who had gone to a predominantly Black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 1949, to collect money . They noted the assaults of Floyd had no evidence of homicidal intent. Though our words can do little, we hope our thoughts and prayers will encourage you this period and always as you mourn, the passing soul. Mrs. [4] Authorities showed increased professional conduct and procedures since the controversial arrest and execution of Odell Waller during World War II (he was initially represented at trial by the Trotskyite Revolutionary Workers League and ultimately executed).[5]. The remaining three were executed on February 5, 1951. She passed four men at the railroad tracks and continued into the neighborhood, where she was later assaulted by some of those four and other men. ). Based on her account, in which she claimed to have been raped by 13 black men,[3] the police quickly arrested Frank Hairston Jr. and Booker Millner. The Martinsville 7 were charged with the rape of a white woman, Ruby Stroud Floyd, in a black neighborhood of Martinsville, Virginia on January 8, 1949. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. All seven men were convicted and sentenced to death within eight days. A presentation of a bouquet of flowers is a special way of showing youre thinking of them and their loss, as the bright colours reflect the personality of the passed loved one. The juries were all white and all male. [2], The officials separated the men. Despite the letter-writing campaigns, editorials, and local vigils, newly-installed Virginia Governor John S. Battle refused clemency. Every single one of the 45 men executed by Virginias electric chair for the crime of rape at that point in time were African American men charged with assaulting white women. "I was maybe 10 years old, and it was very, very, very hush-hush," he said. At the time, rape was a capital offence. Four of the men were executed in Virginia's electric chair on February 2, 1951. Three days later, the remaining three were also electrocuted. Two weeks after Whittle's warning, the Martinsville defendants were convicted and sentenced to join them. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Four more suspects were arrested that night, based in part on the first two men's confessions. He is now in his 70s and lives just outside the city of Martinsville. SHELBY- Annie "Ruby" Raines Stroud, 89, of 329 Reece Road, Shelby, departed this life on April 11, 2015, at Hospice of Wendover. The trial lasted for eleven days, during which the jury heard testimonies from both sides, including medical evidence of Floyds physical injuries and accounts from black witnesses whom Floyd appealed to for help after the assault. Why Movieland says you have to be 17 to attend a movie after 7:30 p.m. Ashland dairy farm announces Farmview Creamery to help modernize business, Farmville native caught with 42 lbs of cocaine, $862K in drug money gets 17 years, Diablo Doughnuts dishes up Unicorn Farts and more yeast doughnuts in Glen Allen, Norment, long among the most powerful in the Capitol, is retiring, Bezos 'ban' may speed up Commanders sale as league meeting looms, Mechanicsville man charged with 10 child porn counts, Millions at Risk of Slipping Into Poverty as COVID-Era SNAP Benefits Set to End, More than 300 words have been added to the English dictionary, Citizens travel to Peru's capitol Lima to protest against Boluarte, Russia accuses U.S. of intent to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Ruby Stroud Floyd I found on Findagrave.com. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? All of them were tried by all-white juries. 10 free downloads. Suggest Edits . He and his older brother (below) were not related to Frank Hairston Jr. Francis DeSales Grayson, age 38 and of Richmond, Virginia, denied having sex with Floyd; only defendant without local ties. The Civil Rights Congress defended the men originally, and later conducted two marches and other attempts to raise awareness and conduct a public campaign on behalf of their agenda. The CRC in turn criticized the NAACP for its reliance on a legal strategy that had a dubious chance of success in a southern state where rigid Jim Crow was enforced. View Source. Later, three other men, Francis DeSales Grayson, John Clabon Taylor and James Luther Hairston joined the other four in the assault, according to the confessions. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. All but one were young and single, and all were employed three in a sawmill, one a plasterer's helper, one a stonecutter and one a foundry man. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. JavaScript is disabled. The Civil Rights Congress and the Virginia Committee to Save the Martinsville Seven publish a flyer November 8, 1950 explaining why the Virginia case of seven black men sentenced to death was important for the fight against white supremacy. Martin and the NAACP also agreed to represent the men in an appeal for the Seven with the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She said her father, her uncle and Hampton's brother visited Hampton at the jail while he was awaiting trial and that Hampton told them they were making him sleep on the cement floor without clothes. Grayson said he was fouryears old when his father was executed. Virginia Gov. Baseball legend Jackie Robinson's name misspelled as "Jakie" on road sign, Serena Williams honored at NAACP Image Awards, City, family reach $2 million settlement in Florida fatal police shooting, How these 3 hashtags from Black Twitter changed America, announced new steps to streamline the pardon process. John S. Battle to grant clemency to no avail. I'm grateful to the advocates and families of the Martinsville Seven for their dedication and perseverance. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. The trial transcripts show that on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 8, 1949, Ruby Stroud Floyd, the 32-year-old wife of a department-store manager, entered a black area of the city to collect money owed her by Ruth Pettie, a woman to whom she had sold clothing. Before their executions, protesters picketed at the White House, and the governor's office received letters from around the world asking for mercy. While we can't change the past, I hope today's action brings them some small measure of peace.". Execution of black teen in 1944 shouldn't have occurred, U.S. judge rules, Man freed from prison, over racial bias in jury selection, will not face 7th murder trial, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Two of the men were tried together. Previous actions by civil rights attorneys had resulted in changes in the Virginia process, improving their procedures. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. All they are celebrating is the dismantling of White laws, laws which have held . In denying appeals to commute the Martinsville 7 death sentences, Virginias Governor John S. Battle said, that the wave of messages that flooded his desks was cosponsored by the Civil Rights Congress and the Communist Party. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Former NFL star Chad Johnson says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium for 2 years. During the eleven-day trials, juries heard testimonies from both sides, including medical evidence of Floyds physical injuries and accounts from black witnesses whom Floyd appealed to for help after the assault. Please enter valid email address to continue. "It's such a raw wound," said Naomi Hodge-Muse, president of the Martinsville chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Deputies in Davidson County rushed to help a 69-year-old man they'd found unresponsive in his house following a welfare check. John S. Battle. He said none of the men had attorneys present while they were interrogated. He kissed us and they took him away," he told The Associated Press in an interview after the announcement. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Try again later. [9][10] An editorial in New York's Amsterdam News read, When we consider the fact that in the entire history of the Old Dominion state, no white man has ever received capital punishment for rape, then of necessity we must conclude that the death penalty for seven men for a singular crime was neither righteous, nor compassionate, nor wise. What makes the Justices so elite? If people like George Floyd really did die "simply for being black," how can we doubt that black men in the . Mrs. Thurman B. Towill, of Governor Battle's office, looks at stacks of protest letters regarding the Martinsville Seven case. W.F. The first four were executed at 15-minute intervals on February 2. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). In 1908, Virginia became the fifth state in the U.S. to use the electric chair, and executions were carried out by the Virginia Department of Corrections at the State Penitentiary in Richmond. How To Unsubscribe From Emails and Push Notifications. Man died Wednesday. Joe Henry Hampton, 21, was the first man tried. A group of young Black men executed after being convicted by all-White juries of allegedly raping a White woman have been pardoned in Virginia 70 years after their deaths.