She had a husband and a young child. Recy Taylor was an African American woman who was gang-raped by a group of young, white men in Alabama in 1944. Hugo Wilson, the man identified as being the owner of the car, under a $500 bond, and he falsely ia-petabox.archive.org Feb. 14, 1945 | Grand Jury in Alabama Refuses to Indict . The two black women were left with these four white men. Wilson gave up the names of his accomplices: Dillard York, Billy Howerton, Herbert Lovett, Luther Lee, Joe Culpeper, and Robert Gramble. She had been documenting such crimes against Black women and working to ensure that these women had their day in court. Recy Taylor herself, about to turn 98 years old, is frail but powerful. He murdered her and buried her in a shallow grave. "[2]:36 Despite the outcome, the case was considered a major victory for the formation of the civil rights movement because of the successful mobilization of activists across the nation: "The Recy Taylor case brought the building blocks of the Montgomery bus boycott together a decade [before the boycott]. Gamble falsely claimed that he started an investigation of his own immediately after the attack. It was part of a continuous campaign of terror that was just as much a threat to women as lynching was to black men, The Undefeateds Soraya Nadia McDonald wrote earlier this month. One Year of #MeToo. As word spread, several black activist organizations formed the Citizens Committee for Gertrude Perkins. Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old African-American sharecropper, was walking home from church in Abbeville, Alabama, on the night of September 3rd, 1944, when she was abducted and raped by six white. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Their tradition of testimony and protest has changed how sexual violence is understood. The grand jury declined to indict the men. 10 Horrifying Facts about the Sexual Exploitation of Enslaved Black Women You May Not Know. As a grandmotherly figure, all sexual aspects of her character are removed. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Photo Credit: Indian Country Media Network. The court charged Joan Little with first-degree murder. He finally forced her using an ice pick as a weapon to perform oral sex. When the sheriff returned with Wilson and his father, Taylor identified Wilson as one of her attackers, as did the teenage friend. The case could only be reopened via an indictment from a grand jury. Together with four other plaintiffs, Claudette Colvin became a part of Browder v Gayle (1956). Through Rosa Parks and the struggle for justice for Black women, her story is associated with the Montgomery Bus Boycott which is a part of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. Two days later though, after three months in detention, the governor pardoned both boys without conditions or explanation. Black activists in Alabama and throughout the south rallied behind Taylor and demanded punishment for her assailants. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). She not only feared the threats from the angry vigilantes of the town, but also the threats from her attackers the night of the assault. Sexual assault was a personal issue for Parks, as a white neighbor attempted to assault her in 1931. This meant that the only witness for Taylor were her Black friends and family. Shes the one that cut that white boy (Tommy Clarson) in Clopton this evening.[i] Lovett added that the sheriff, George H. Gramble, had sent them to find the alleged assailant. After she was forcibly undressed, Taylor begged to return home to her family, including her husband and an infant child. (Hugo Wilson, Dillard York, Luther Lee, William Howerton, Joe Culpepper, Robert Gamble and Herbert . We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. A car pulled up on the side of the road with seven armed men inside, including US Army Private Herbert Lovett. GREAT NEWS! The grand jury met in early October, but only Taylor and her associates testified, and no indictments were issued. [2]:13 After five minutes of deliberation, the jury dismissed the case. 2017. [14] Taylor received the apologies on Mother's Day in 2011, when she visited Rock Hill Holiness Church in Abbeville, the very church where she worshipped the night of the crime. The other men were not brought in or ever arrested. Public transportation became the target of resistance because it was easier and safer for Black women to stop riding buses than it was to bring their attackers to justice. Taylor's case, despite the involvement of Parks and the NAACP, faded from public attention. His siblings were Mary Emma, J. W., Eugene and Helen. [2]:xvxvii[3][4] Despite the men's confessions to authorities, two grand juries subsequently declined to indict the men; no charges were ever brought against her assailants. Taylors rape was not an exceptional occurrence. Although six of the seven men raped her (only one man actually admitted to raping Taylor), an all-white, all-male jury decided to not indict the men. And some writers drew attention to the fact that America was fighting fascism abroad during World War II while taking no steps to ensure that every citizen at home would be treated fairly and equally under the law. Four years after his release, he tracked down a black American woman that he thought was Betty Jean Owens. The grand jury hearing took place on October 34, 1944, with an all-white, all-male jury. After they were finished, they blindfolded her and dropped her off on the highway. Rosa thus worked relentlessly to ensure justice for other African-Americans. 2018. Recy Taylor (born December 31, 1919)[2] is an African American woman from Abbeville in Henry County, Alabama. When the sheriff returned with Mr. Wilson, Recy Taylor identified Wilson as one of her attackers. The movie contains interviews with Taylor, her brother and sister, as well as talks with family members of the accused rapists, to shine a light on both the attack and what caused such a miscarriage of justice. Though Taylor was known to be a diligent worker and dedicated churchgoer, the sheriff and others would eventually make false claims that Taylor had been jailed and had a history of venereal disease. When Gertrude finally got her day in court, she looked a far cry from the drunken illiterate yob that white locals had made her out to be. To discredit and intimidate Taylor, Gramble took J. V. Kitchens and N.W. I can't help but tell the truth of what they done to me.". [2]:67 Even though three eyewitnesses identified Wilson as the driver of the car, the police did not call in any of the men Wilson named as assailants, and Wilson was fined $250 (equivalent to $3,850 in 2021). While many have chosen silence as a survival mechanism, there is a long and overlooked history of Black women, like Mrs. Recy Taylor, upholding the tradition of testimony and protest. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. In 1958, Monroe, North Carolina, two young African-American boys were charged with rape. . Recy Taylor died on December 28, 2017, a few days before her 98th birthday. With husband Willie Guy Taylor, Taylor had one child: Joyce Lee. Anyway at the first trial in 1944, an all-white, all-male jury dismissed the case after a mere five minutes of deliberation. Try again later. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor, Committee for Equal Justice for the Rights of Mrs. Recy Taylor, "Rosa Parks' political journey didn't begin on the bus", "Recy Taylor, Who Fought for Justice After a 1944 Rape, Dies at 97", "Recy Taylor: the woman whose rape inspired Rosa Parks in 1944, and is inspiring Oprah Winfrey today", "Southern black women find justice elusive for civil rights-era rapes", "Recy Taylor's brutal rape: The NAACP sent Rosa Parks to investigate", "Material related to the case of Recy Taylor, an African American woman who was raped by six white teenagers in her hometown of Abbeville, Alabama", Alabama Department of Archives and History, "After 67 Years, Alabama Lawmakers Apologize to Woman", Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, "Abbeville mayor apologizes for 1944 rape of black woman by white men", "Civil rights-era rape victim revels in White House tour", https://www.therapeofrecytaylor.com/upcoming-screenings/, "Review: 'The Rape of Recy Taylor' Takes a Deep Dive Into Systemic Injustice", "How Recy Taylor Spoke Out Against Her Rape, Decades Before #MeToo", "Recy Taylor, who fought for justice after 1944 rape, dies", "Funeral held for Abbeville civil rights figure Recy Taylor", "Hidden Pattern Of Rape Helped Stir Civil Rights Movement", Historically black colleges and universities, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), Black players in professional American football, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", List of lynching victims in the United States, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, African American founding fathers of the United States, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, William "Froggie" James and Henry Salzner, Elijah Frost, Abijah Gibson, Tom McCracken, Thomas Moss, Henry Stewart, Calvin McDowell (TN), Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes, Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, National Museum of African American History and Culture, "The United States of Lyncherdom" (Twain), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Recy_Taylor&oldid=1130085255, Civil rights protests in the United States, Racially motivated violence against African Americans, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 December 2022, at 14:33. He arrested Wilson, who named Penute Hasting (or Hasty), Skipper Reeves, Dillard York, Luther Lee, and two or . 2014. Astrological Sign: Capricorn, Death Year: 2017, Death date: December 29, 2017, Death State: Alabama, Death City: Abbeville, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Recy Taylor Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/activists/recy-taylor, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: September 15, 2020, Original Published Date: January 8, 2018. She was kidnapped while leaving church and brutally . Gramble claimed she had been treated for venereal disease and was arrested several times upon written request from the county health officer. In the days that followed, the Black community reported the incident to the NAACP in Montgomery. In 2011, the Alabama House of Representatives officially apologized to Recy on behalf of the state for their errors and the way that she was treated. The amount of death penalty cases in North Carolina attracted the attention of anti-death penalty advocates. 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