| Part ofJim Crow Era | |
 | |
| Date | July 1, 1922 |
|---|---|
| Location | Liberty County,Georgia |
| Participants | A white mob of 50 people lynched in Liberty County, Georgia |
| Deaths | 2 |
James Harvey andJoe Jordan were twoAfrican-American men who werelynched on July 1, 1922, inLiberty County,Georgia, United States. They were seized by a mob of about 50 people andhanged while being transported by police fromWayne County to a jail inSavannah. Investigations by theNAACP showed that the police involved were complicit in their abduction by the mob. Twenty-two men were laterindicted for the lynching, with fourconvicted.
During the Summer of 1921, James Harvey and Joe Jordan, after hiking throughout theDeep South, had stopped inWayne County insoutheast Georgia, performing several months ofagricultural work.[1] Eventually the two men got into an argument with theirwhite employer regarding their wages, with the employer refusing to pay them for their work.[2][1] In September, following the quarrel, the employer's wife pressed charges against Harvey and Jordan, alleging that they had attacked andraped her.[1] Three days after the alleged incident, the men were moved to a jail inSavannah[1] and, while incarcerated, weretried in absentia in Wayne County, where they wereconvicted andsentenced to death.[2] The counsel that had been appointed to defend Harvey and Jordan had made no effort to collect evidence or gather testimony.[1]
Following the trial, Harvey's uncle wrote a letter about the case to the national office of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who then requested their Savannah branch to investigate the matter.[3] The NAACP hired James A. Harolds, a white lawyer fromJesup (in Wayne County), to defend Harvey and Jordan and pushed for aretrial,[4] arguing that the men'sconstitutional rights had been violated and that they had been unable to call witnesses or have any say in thejury selection. Astay of execution was granted as Harolds brought the case before theSupreme Court of Georgia, but the Court reaffirmed the verdict and the men were sentenced to die on May 15, 1922.[3] Following this, several prominent white women in Wayne County petitioned for a new trial,[2] alleging that new evidence had been discovered.[4] Another stay of execution was placed on Harvey and Jordan,[3] but the judge in Wayne County rejected the petition for a new trial[4] and the men were scheduled to be executed on June 30.[3]
Following this, Harvey and Jordan's defense began to petitionGeorgia GovernorThomas W. Hardwick forexecutive clemency in their case.[3][4] This was granted on June 30, the scheduled date of the men's execution.[note 1] The Wayne Countysheriff replied to the governor's order with, "Your order received with much sorrow."[5]
While the trials were held in Jesup, Harvey and Jordan were being kept at the jail in Savannah.[3] A day following the governor's clemency, as the men were being escorted from Jesup to Savannah by adeputy sheriff,[4] a group of about 50 men seized Harvey and Jordan while they were inLiberty County andlynched them byhanging them near the side of the road.[2] Immediately after the discovery of the killings, the NAACP wrote to Governor Hardwick about the event, with Hardwick saying he would issue the largest allowable reward for capture of those involved and would instruct the state'ssolicitor general to present the issue to agrand jury.[3]
The NAACP's Savannah branch also launched an investigation into the lynching, traveling to the scene of the crime, gathering testimonies from witnesses, and collecting evidence.[2][4] They also ensured that Harvey and Jordan received a proper burial.[4] TheCommission on Interracial Cooperation provided some financial assistance for the investigation.[2] According to multiple witnesses interviewed by the NAACP, the two police officers transporting Harvey and Jordan had waited at the scene of the lynching for several hours before the mob arrived, leaving little doubt of their involvement.[4] The event caused outrage among both the black population and prominent local white citizens, as this was the first lynching incoastal Georgia in over twenty years.[2] Thereverend of a localMethodist church in Liberty County condemned the lynching during a sermon and sent a widely distributed letter accusing Wayne County officials of complicity in the event.[2] On September 20, a grand jury in Liberty County issuedindictments for the Wayne County deputy sheriff,city marshal, and the city marshal's brother, as well as two citizens of Liberty County, in connection with the lynching.[6] In total, 22 men were indicted for the murders. On February 23, 1923, five defendants, including Chief of Police I.W. Rhoden, were acquitted for the lynching.[7]
Robertson, Campbell (April 25, 2018)."A Lynching Memorial Is Opening. The Country Has Never Seen Anything Like It".The New York Times.
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