The Lynching of Warren Powell

Marker Text: On September 4, 1889, a white mob abducted a 14-year-old Black boy named Warren Powell in East Point, Georgia, and lynched him. Earlier that afternoon, a white girl reported being assaulted by a Black male. White men in the area soon began “hunting” for the alleged assailant. When they found Warren, they seized him and carried him to the local bailiff. The bailiff placed Warren in a jail that was secured by a single padlock. The mob lingered at the jail and gradually grew in size as others began to congregate. Around 10:00 pm, 15 to 20 masked white men forced their way to the jail door. The men used a hatchet to break down the door and seize Warren. Warren’s tearful parents, who had bravely come to the jail, begged for their son’s life, but to no effect. The mob dragged Warren screaming and pleading across several fields until they reached an oak tree. The mob hanged him there and then returned to the jail, unmasked. A search was later made for his body, which was found the next morning. After the lynching, white men spread rumors that Black East Point residents were planning to retaliate. Using the rumors as justification, white mobs dragged numerous Black men, women, and children out of their homes and attacked them. Though a reward of $100 was offered for the arrest of the mob perpetrators, no evidence indicates that anyone involved in the racial terrorism in East Point was held accountable.