The Moore’s Ford Lynchings, also known as the 1946 Georgia lynching, refers to the July 25, 1946 mass murders by a white mob of four young African Americans: two married couples — George W. and Mae Murray Dorsey, and Roger and Dorothy Malcom — in Walton County. Tradition says that the murders were committed on Moore's Ford Bridge in Walton and Oconee counties between Monroe and Watkinsville, and they are often referred to as the Moore's Ford lynchings. But the four victims were shot and killed on a dirt road in Walton County near the bridge.
The case attracted national attention and catalyzed large protests in Washington, DC and New York City. President Harry S. Truman created the President's Committee on Civil Rights and his administration introduced anti-lynching legislation in Congress, but could not get it past the Southern Democratic block. The FBI investigated in 1946 but was unable to discover sufficient evidence for the US District Attorney to prosecute anyone. Publicity about the case in the 1990s led to a new investigation starting in 2000 by the FBI and the state. The state of Georgia and the FBI finally closed their cases in December 2017, unable to prosecute any suspect.[1]
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History
In the aftermath of World War II, there was considerable social unrest in the United States, especially in the Southern United States. African-American men who were veterans, resented being treated as second-class citizens after returning home. But many white supremacists resented them and wanted to reestablish dominance. The number of lynchings of black people rose after the war, with twelve lynched in the Deep South in 1945 alone. The states' exclusion of most black people from the political system had been maintained since the turn of the century, despite several court challenges.
In April 1946, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that white primaries were unconstitutional, making way for at least some African Americans to vote in Democratic Party primaries. In Georgia, some black people prepared to vote in the summer's primary, against the resistance of most whites. In the 21st century, some commentators have related this to the lynchings as a voting rights issue.[2]
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_Ford_lynchings
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Summer of 1946 J. Loy Harrison hired #GeorgeWDorsey a recent World War II veteran and his wife Mae Murray Dorsey, who was then seven months pregnant. The other couple was Roger Malcom and his wife Dorothy Malcom.
Roger Malcom allegedly stabbed a white man named Barnette Hester. He is arrested and detained.
On July 25, Mr Harrison (employer) drove Malcom's wife Dorothy and the the Dorsey couple to pay the $600 bail for Roger Malcom.
On the way back to the farm Harrison was stopped by an armed white mob that blockaded then ambushed the vehicle. carrying two African-American couples, dragged them out and shot them to death. One of the men, George Dorsey, was a military veteran who had recently returned from serving five years overseas in World War II. His wife, Mae Murray Dorsey, was also killed.
They were dragged to a tree and shot over 60 times at very close range. Dorothy Malcom, the other woman in the car, was seven months pregnant.
The mob cut her open and removed her unborn child. Her husband, Roger Malcom, had just been bailed out of jail after he was accused of stabbing a white man. A coroner estimated people in the crowd fired more than 60 shots at the two couples, at close range. The horrific attack was carried out near Walton County, Georgia, not far from Moore’s Ford Bridge. It became known as the Moore’s Ford lynching, and sparked a national outcry, prompting President Harry Truman to push for civil rights reform. The FBI also investigated, but no one was ever convicted of the four murders.
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