No Execution for Willie McGee: 1951
Demonstrators protesting the pending execution of Willie McGee chain themselves to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. May 6, 1951.
McGee, charged with raping a white woman in Missisissippi in November 1945, was executed two days later despite a six-year campaign by the Civil Rights Congress that involved protests and legal maneuvering that resulted in two re-trials and numerous postponements.
The demonstrators pictured had earlier picketed the White House.
McGee wrote to his wife the night before his execution, “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 truly husband, Will McGee.
McGee was executed May 8, 1951.
For more information and additional images, see flic.kr/s/aHsk2FV8xQ
Photograph by Washington Daily News staff photographer. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
No Execution for Willie McGee: 1951
Demonstrators protesting the pending execution of Willie McGee chain themselves to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. May 6, 1951.
McGee, charged with raping a white woman in Missisissippi in November 1945, was executed two days later despite a six-year campaign by the Civil Rights Congress that involved protests and legal maneuvering that resulted in two re-trials and numerous postponements.
The demonstrators pictured had earlier picketed the White House.
McGee wrote to his wife the night before his execution, “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 truly husband, Will McGee.
McGee was executed May 8, 1951.
For more information and additional images, see flic.kr/s/aHsk2FV8xQ
Photograph by Washington Daily News staff photographer. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.