1918 – Hayes Turner Lynched in Georgia During a Week of Racial Terror

On May 18, 1918, Hayes Turner was lynched in Brooks County, Georgia, in one of the most brutal racial terror campaigns in American history. Turner, a Black man, was accused without due process and murdered by a white mob. His lynching was part of a weeklong wave of violence where at least 13 African Americans were killed. The very next day, his wife Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was lynched after she publicly condemned the killing of her husband. Her murder was especially heinous and galvanized early anti-lynching activism. The NAACP and Black newspapers documented the atrocity, forcing a national reckoning with racial violence. This grim event underscores the harsh reality of racial injustice and mob rule during the early 20th century in the United States. Remembering May 18 is vital in the context of Black history as it illustrates the cost of speaking truth to power—and the need for systemic change.