Willie McGee | |
|---|---|
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| Born | c. 1916 Pachuta, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | May 8, 1951 (aged 35) Laurel, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
| Known for | Controversial conviction and execution |
| Criminal status | Executed (May 8, 1951) |
| Conviction(s) | Rape |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Spouse |
Eliza Patton
(m. 1935; div. 1946) |
| Children | 4 |
Willie McGee (c. 1916 – May 8, 1951) was an African American man from Laurel, Mississippi, who was sentenced to death in 1945 and executed on Tuesday, May 8, 1951, after being controversially convicted for the rape of a white woman on November 2, 1945.[1] [2][3] McGee's legal case became a cause célèbre that attracted worldwide attention, as it was roundly decried as a miscarriage of justice in the Jim Crow south.
- ^ Horne, Raymond (May 30, 2011). The Three Trials & Aftermath of the Willie McGee Case as Reported in the Laurel Leader-Call, Laurel, Mississippi.
- ^ "Willie McGee and the Travelling Electric Chair Radio", Radio Diaries, NPR, Retrieved 5 June 2010
- ^ Heard, Alex (June 24, 2008). "The Department of Forgetting: How an obscure FBI rule is ensuring the destruction of irreplaceable historical records". Slate. Slate. Retrieved September 15, 2020.